Shoppers for Shipt, a grocery-delivery company owned by Target, said they were going to walk off the job on Tuesday unless the company met their demands for pay and protection during the coronavirus outbreak.
Shortly after COVID-19 reached the U.S., Shipt announced that it intended to hire around 100,000 full- and part-time positions across the country in order to meet a surge in demand. This included up to 2,000 new shoppers in the Twin Cities.
But the growth hasn't gone according to plan. In a post on Medium, a group of Shipt shoppers said that for the past several weeks, the company has ignored shoppers' requests for hazard pay, personal protective equipment and other needs.
They say that the company also issued a pay cut lowering the payout for canceled orders. The Hill reported that Shipt began paying workers on how much work they had completed on delivering the order. Previously, workers were paid a flat fee for canceled orders. This was usually between $10 and $20 depending on the size of the order and distance traveled. But under the new system, Shipt paid as low as 29 cents in some cases.
In response to this and other issues with the delivery company, Shipt workers said they would halt work on Tuesday and encourage customers to boycott the app on Friday unless shoppers' demands are met.
It is unclear whether any Shipt shoppers in Minneapolis actually walked off the job on Tuesday or how many participated nationwide. Last week, one of Shipt's competitors, Instacart, faced a similar walkout. But it's difficult to tell what impact it had, if any, on the company.
Among other things, workers are seeking hazard pay of $5 per order; transparent and immediately dispersed tips; a return to the original pay structure; and PPE for every shopper. The group says that Shipt is currently only offering PPE at Target stores and not the other grocery stores that use its service.
While Shipt has taken some measures to protect its workers, many shoppers feel the company needs to do more, North Texas Inno reports.
“We would like for them to proactively address COVID-19; the efforts they’ve taken so far are subpar and behind the curve and putting shoppers’ lives at risk for profit,” a shopper told Inno.
