Workers at the Kroger warehouse in Memphis — and across the country — will strike today, demanding safer conditions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The strike is a coordinated effort among food supply chain workers, including those who work at PepsiCo and Tyson Foods.
The workers are demanding that production lines be adjusted for social distancing; a plan for testing, tracing, shielding, and treating workers be put in place; paid sick and family leave, hazard pay, access to PPE, and testing capacity; and that contact tracing must maintain worker confidentiality for undocumented workers and their families.
According to a statement issued in support of the food supply chain workers, nationally, more than 5,000 of those workers have tested positive for COVID-19 and more than 20 have died.
Early in the pandemic, members of Teamsters Local 667 held a walk out at the Kroger Memphis distribution center. Kroger responded with a $2 hazard pay. It was later announced that they are taking that away.
The strike is a coordinated effort among food supply chain workers, including those who work at PepsiCo and Tyson Foods.
The workers are demanding that production lines be adjusted for social distancing; a plan for testing, tracing, shielding, and treating workers be put in place; paid sick and family leave, hazard pay, access to PPE, and testing capacity; and that contact tracing must maintain worker confidentiality for undocumented workers and their families.
According to a statement issued in support of the food supply chain workers, nationally, more than 5,000 of those workers have tested positive for COVID-19 and more than 20 have died.
Early in the pandemic, members of Teamsters Local 667 held a walk out at the Kroger Memphis distribution center. Kroger responded with a $2 hazard pay. It was later announced that they are taking that away.
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