Union calls for safety changes after increasing number of grocery store worker deaths

(FOX 2) - After a number of grocery store workers across the country have died from COVID-19, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union has launched a new campaign to increase their workers’ safety.

This comes on the heels of the grim reality here in metro Detroit that a handful of grocery workers have died from the coronavirus. Meijer announced at least one of its workers died from COVID-19 and Kroger says at least four of its employees from metro Detroit-stores have also died.

“This is about life or death. Workers are being exposed and they are dying,” Marc Perrone from the USCW Union said in a press call Monday.

The country's largest food and retail union spoke on behalf of its members about the dire circumstances many grocery store workers are facing in the global fight against the virus.

“At least 30 of our members have died across all industries and nearly 3,000 are no longer at work,” Perrone said.

“You can't believe the impact this has had on me and my coworkers. We're scared,” Aaron Squao told us, who works at the Kroger meat department in Roseville.

Now the union, which represents 1.3 million workers, wants action.

“USCW has lobbied over 40 states across the country to designate food workers as temporary first responders to ensure they are prioritized in getting testing, and when equipment is available for them to get equipment as well,” Perrone said.

The union is also calling on the federal government to get personal protective equipment to food workers.

“We know that Kroger had a shipment that supposed to be in on April 1, and that shipment was diverted to Italy. So they couldn't even get the masks,” Perrone said.

The union is also launching a nationwide awareness campaign called Shop Smart because they need all hands on deck, including customers.

The union wants shoppers to not shop if they are sick, and when they do shop to wear a mask and gloves, and to place them in a trashcan after use – not in the grocery cart. They also want customers to practice social distancing.

Perrone said ideally, their hope is that federal and state leaders mandate those safety steps.

Meanwhile, Kroger has issued a statement on behalf of its four metro Detroit workers who died of the virus.

We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of four Kroger family members who worked at our stores in Northville (425 North Center), Troy (3125 John R), Grosse Pointe (16919 Kercheval), and Livonia (30935 5 Mile Rd), Michigan. We are mourning along with their families during this extraordinarily difficult time.

We are coordinating with local health departments and taking steps to support and safeguard our associates and customers. We are making mental health and grief counselors available to support our associates. We continue to employ rigorous sanitation and physical distancing procedures in all of our facilities.

Additional steps we are taking include:

• Enhancing our daily sanitation practices, including increasing the frequency of cleaning commonly used areas such as cashier stations, self-checkouts, credit card terminals, food service counters and shelves.
• Encouraging our associates to wear masks and gloves if they wish to do so.
• Installing plexiglass partitions at check lane, pharmacy and Starbucks locations to further limit close interpersonal contact between associates and customers during this time.
• Adding floor decals and signage to promote safe physical distancing. This includes One-Way aisles.
• Adopting limits to the number of customers entering our stores at one time.