Instacart worker and Gig Workers Collective organizer Sharen Goen said Friday that the grocery delivery app was not doing enough for its employees to ensure their safety during the coronavirus outbreak.
“We’re in danger out there, we’re endangering our lives everyday,” Goen, who is currently on strike, told Hill.TV.
She added: “We’re making less than minimum wage; it’s not right, it’s not fair, something has to change.”
On Monday, Gig Workers Collective, a labor activism group led a walk-off as Instacart workers demanded personal protection equipment (PPE), hazard pay and expanded sick pay benefits.
In response, Instacart on Thursday said that it would give each full-time shopper a reusable face mask, hand sanitizer and a thermometer.
“We’re singularly focused on the health and safety of our shopper community,” Instacart President Nilam Ganenthiran said in a statement.
The labor group called the move “a step in the right direction, but still a far cry from adequate.”
“Some Instacart Shoppers, even under the best of conditions and with PPE, will still contract COVID-19,” the group said in a statement. “There is still no meaningful progress in protections for the Shoppers who will fall ill.”
Delivery apps like Instacart have seen a surge in popularity as many states have issued stay-at-home orders for their residents to combat the spread of COVID-19.
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