Some Instacart shoppers walk out over safety

In the US, some Instacart shoppers walked off the job Monday, demanding greater safeguards against the coronavirus, even as the company are speed-hires hundreds of thousands of new workers to handle a surge in delivery orders.

The one-day strike had little impact on consumers, but the unrest called attention to mounting discontent among low-wage workers who are on the front lines of the pandemic, serving the needs of those who can keep safe working from home.

Some Amazon workers also walked out on Monday. Whole Worker, a workers group for Whole Foods employees, is calling for a nationwide “sick out” on Wednesday.

Many workers in high demand are part-time or contracted employees, lacking in benefits such as paid sick time off or health care.

In addition to demands for more protection against coronavirus, workers are citing longstanding grievances over practices that keep wages low and part-time workers from getting more hours.

Online grocery-delivery service Instacart and Amazon say they are working to equip their workers with sanitation gear and have taken steps to increase pay and extend paid sick time.

Instacart said Sunday that it would make hand sanitizer available to its workers upon request and outlined changes to its tip system, but strikers said it was too little too late.

"I make about an average of 200 dollars week working full time and my new job is to stay alive using my mask that I shop in and getting my hands on any hand sanitizer I can find," Instacart shopper Matthew Telles told San Francisco TV station KGO.

San Francisco-based Instacart said it is nearing its goal of hiring 300,000 more workers - more than doubling its workforce - to fulfill orders it says have surged by 150% over last year's levels in the past weeks.

In the past week, Instacart said 250,000 people have signed up to work as full-service shoppers - “gig" workers who make multiple trips a day to groceries stores to get and deliver groceries that people order on its app.

The company said about 50,000 of those workers have actually started shopping.

Telles says the new wave of hiring proves that there is a problem with the working conditions.

"And if all Instacart did was pay the 200,000 shoppers they have correctly now.. they won't have to hire 300,000 more, which is creating half a million potentially asymptotic and carrying vectors that might not have the proper utensils to do safe deliveries."

Instacart said the strike had no impact on its operations Monday, with 40% more shoppers using its platform compared to the same day last week.

Instacart workers are demanding $5 in hazard pay per order and a tip default on the app to at least 10%.

The company instead announced Sunday that it would change the tip default to the amount last paid by the client, saying workers are seeing a surge in tips amid the pandemic.

The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.