Nearly100Krogeremployees haveCOVID

Union says chain isn’t doing enough, with 94 Houston-areaworkers infected since Dec. 28

United Food and Commercial Workers 455, which represents workers at area Kroger stores, said 94 Kroger workers in the region have been infected with COVID-19 since Dec. 28 as part of a postChristmas surge.

David Lee, a deli manager the Kroger store in Galveston, is almost certain he caught the virus at the store, where he said maskless customers regularly crowd his counter.

Lee and other grocery workers in the Houston area are urging Kroger to better enforcemask policies, provide more PPE and restore the hazard pay bump that made taking risks on the jobmore worthwhile. The union is also calling on Kroger to disclose the full extent of worker infections during the pandemic.

The push comes as unionmembers voted in November to authorize a strike against Kroger in an ongoing struggle over hazard pay and against health insurance premium increases. The union has thus far opted to continue negotiating with the Cincinnati-based grocery chain.

More than 29,000 Texans have died from the disease, including nearly 5,000 in the Houston area. On Tuesday, a sustained nine-day increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations triggered business restrictions. On Thursday, Harris County officials confirmed the more contagious coronavirus variant has begun spreading locally.

The tally of infections, disclosed by the union, was compiled by Kroger.

Clara Campbell, Kroger’s regional corporate affairs manager, said safety is a priority for Kroger, which employs 18,000 people at 100 stores in southeast Texas and Louisiana. Every front-line Houston associate will receive a pay increase within the next six months, she said.

“We would not operate stores that are hazardous to the health of our associates and customers,” she said in an email, “which iswhy we’ve invested $1.3 billion to both reward associates and to implement dozens of safety measures, including the installation of plexiglass partitions at check lanes, social distancing decals and providing protective masks and gloves for all associates. We began implementing these safety measures early in the pandemic and since that time have only strengthened our vigilance and resolve.”

But while employees are masked, many customers aren’t, workers said. And Kroger has only

intermittently offered sanitary wipes for fuel center associates to use, said Frances Hubbard, who works at a store in Galveston.

She tested positive for COVID-19 on Dec. 28, she said.

“I guess they didn’t have them on the shelf, but that’s not a good enough excuse for me,” she said, noting between coughs she touches everything customers touch. “If I can find them at other stores, Kroger should have them, too.”

According to the union, both Harris and Galveston counties have a Kroger location with at least six infections, four stores in Harris County with at least three infections, and Galveston County has three stores with at least three infections. UFCW 455 also pointed to worker cases at stores in Montgomery, Walker and Fort Bend counties.

Lee and Hubbard said Kroger gave them two weeks of paid leave to recover from the virus, but both are still coughing and fatigued and fear what will happen if they’re not better by early next week.

Kroger offers free COVID-19 testing to all frontline associates, Campbell said. As part of its contract negotiations with the UFCW, it has offered pay increases ranging from 90 cents to $2.45 an hour over the life of the three-year contract, depending on the position, amounting to $56 million in wage increases and benefits.

“We also continue to support our associates through benefits like paid emergency leave and our $15 million Helping Hands fund that provides financial support to associates experiencing certain hardships due to COVID-19,” Campbell said. “We are proud and appreciative of our dedicated associates who are serving our customers when they need us most.”

Kroger leaders say the pay they’re offering is competitive, but workers pointed to H-E-B, which continues to pay frontline staff the $2-per-hour pay bump its started at the beginning of the pandemic. Kroger discontinued its bonus pay in May.