Looney, Duff: Stop & Shop workers deserve hazard pay

NEW HAVEN — State Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney and Majority Leader Bob Duff Tuesday shared their displeasure with Stop & Stop’s decision to end coronavirus-related bonus pay for employees, noting grocery store workers are still risking themselves to serve the public during the pandemic.

Stop & Shop previously provided 10 percent raises to employees across the Northeast, describing it as “appreciation pay.” The company ended the program July 4.

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, grocery store workers have effectively kept our society going. They’ve faced risks to health and safety to ensure members of the community could access food and other essential products,” Looney, D-New Haven, said in a statement.

“After months of risk, workers have suffered significant health consequences from COVID-19. Since the risk they face is not over, the additional compensation they deserve in light of that risk must continue as a matter of fairness,” Looney said. “Stop & Shop has reported sales increases during the COVID-19 pandemic; the least it can do is support the employees who risked themselves and their families to keep the doors open.”

Duff, D-Norwalk, said Stop & Shop employees “deserve true hazard pay while they continue to risk exposure to COVID-19. It’s clear the company labeled its program ‘appreciation pay’ so it could end the pay increases as soon as the coast was clear, even as the virus clearly has not disappeared.”

“Despite the fact that rising COVID-19 infections in more than 60 percent of the country represent a continued threat to our communities, Stop & Shop opted to end this pay program employees deserve — and over a holiday weekend spurring high sales, to boot,” Duff said, “The hazard and risk of COVID-19 is not over, and Stop & Shop should share its financial gains with the employees who ensured it could achieve them.”

The choice to end “appreciation pay” came despite the objection of a union that represents employees at Stop & Shop locations in Connecticut and western Massachusetts, which tried to negotiate with the chain to keep the program in place before the company declined to continue it, according to a letter from Ronald Petronella, interim president of the union.

“We are disgusted by this decision, especially while confirmed cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in much of the country, and several states in the Northeast have announced that they will be delaying planned reopenings,” Petronella said.

Stop & Shop spokeswoman Maura O’Brien previously said the pay program was implemented amid “mounting public concern over the pandemic” and increased foot traffic in stores.

Now, the Northeast states Stop & Shop serves are reopening more fully, and consumer demand is returning to normal, O’Brien said.

O’Brien said in a statement Tuesday that members of Stop & Shop management “deeply appreciate the vital role that our associates have played in the communities we serve throughout the pandemic.”

“Since March, Stop & Shop has invested more than $110 million in increased pay, extended health care and leave benefits, access to critical safety equipment, and other measures to keep our associates safe and to recognize their efforts,” O’Brien said. “Stop & Shop shares profits with its associates through competitive compensation and benefits, and we are pleased to have now extended this pay and benefits to 11,000 newly hired associates.”