Supermarkets provide big pay raises for their workers
$2 per hour increases at Safeway, Target
PLEASANTON >> Safeway workers and other employees of supermarkets owned by Albertsons Co. have gained hefty pay raises as they scramble to keep shelves stocked with food, household items, and other key products amid panic shopping in response to the coronavirus.
The pay raises amount to $2 an hour for employees of Safeway, Vons, Albertsons, and Pavilions supermarkets, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers labor union and Albertsons Co., owner of the grocery chains.
“After close talks between Safeway and UFCW, the union representing over 1.3 million grocery store and food processing workers, we are proud to support the significant wage increase adopted by Safeway, one of America’s largest supermarket companies,” said Marc Perrone, UCFW international president.
Shoppers have raced to buy an array of items amid restaurant shutdowns and concerns of widespread restrictions on gatherings and orders to shelter in place, a wave of binge buying that has kept some key items in short supply.
Grocery chain Smart & Final also announced Monday they were boosting associate pay $2.25 an hour, retroactive to March 9 and extending to April 5. The company has hired more than 750 new store and warehouse employees in the past six days to keep up with the crush of coronavirus business.
Smart & Final stores are open at 7:30 a.m. for seniors, expectant mothers and people with disabilities. Store hours for the general public have been shortened to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to allow staff to clean and disinfect the store.
Target also bolstered pay and bonuses for its employees.
“We continue to experience incredible demand across our business, and Target’s ability to help our guests in this unprecedented time would not be possible without the strength of our team,” said Brian Cornell, Target’s chief executive officer.
Target raised wages $2 an hour until at least May 2. Store and distribution center hourly full-time and part-time Target workers will earn $240 to $480 more during that time frame.
“In ways that we could not even imagine, overnight, our country changed,” said Vivek Sankaran, president of Safeway owner Albertsons Co. “As a result, it changed the way our teams conduct business.”
Despite the heightened workloads, employees at Safeway and the other chains owned by Albertsons Co. performed nimbly to meet the growing demands, the retailing behemoth said.
“Our teams did not skip a step,” Sankaran said. “In our manufacturing plants, distribution centers, and in our stores, our associates are working tirelessly to serve our customers.”