Workers’ COVID cases spike at area Krogers
Nearly 350 Houston-area Kroger workers caught COVID-19 since Dec. 28, and two have died, the union representing grocery workers said.
The Cincinnati-based grocery chain regularly updates United Food and Commercial Workers Local 455 about the number of cases in the area, and the union said January saw the largest surge among Houston-area workers todate, with 347 cases reported by the company.
A Kroger statement called the union’s information misleading. The company said one of the two deaths has not been confirmed as due to COVID-19 and the other death was not established as a result of workplace exposure.
“We believe our stores are as safe — if not safer than — what associates, and customers are experiencing outside of our stores in the general public,” the statement said.
Still, UFCW leaders are calling on the retailer to “deep clean” stores daily, enforce mask rules and reinstitute hazard pay — the $2 per hour pay bump workers received in the early months of the pandemic.
“Given the growing and dangerous health hazards and risks they face, Kroger workers need and deserve the health, hazard pay, health care and increased safety protections that recognize the incredibly dangerous and essential work they are doing for Houston families during this crisis,” the union said in a statement.
The push comes as union members 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 grocer.
Brandon Barrow, associate communications and engagement manager for Kroger, said the rise in cases among staff mirrors infection trends in the area.
“We have encouraged and continue to work with federal and state governments to have our associates included on the priority list for the vaccine,” he said.
Kroger employs 18,000 people at 100 stores in Southeast Texas and Louisiana.