Letter to Gordon Reid, CEO of Stop & Shop - Massachusetts Lawmakers Urge Stop & Shop to Reconsider Terminating Hazard Pay for Frontline Workers as COVID-19 Rates Continue to Rise

Letter

Dear Mr. Reid:

We write to urge you to reconsider the decision to discontinue hazard pay for your frontline employees during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. While we appreciate that you began providing a 10% pay increase to Stop & Shop employees across New England in March to compensate them for the additional risk they take on as essential workers during this public health crisis, we are concerned that your decision to terminate this hazard pay while the threat of coronavirus continues strips your workers of compensation and recognition of the extra risk they currently encounter in their jobs. We also agree with the sentiment your company expressed in a joint statement with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) in April 2020, that "Stop & Shop associates are essential workers and they deserve essential protections." Your workers are no less deserving of essential protections and hazard pay now than they were at the beginning of this pandemic. We ask that you consider the UFCW request for an extension of hazard pay for Stop & Shop employees.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, grocery store workers have played a critical role in keeping the country fed, but doing so has put them at higher risk of exposure to COVID-19. As the pandemic continues to affect communities, it is imperative that essential workers have the rights, protections, and benefits they need and deserve to remain safe and appropriately compensated for the risks they take to serve your business and their communities. Grocery store workers are designated essential employees in Massachusetts, and approximately 25,000 Massachusetts workers are on the frontlines in grocery stores, including 15,000 UFCW grocery workers at Stop & Shop. With exposure to a high volume of customers and extended workdays, grocery store workers experience increased risk to their health and safety every day. At least 100 grocery workers nationally have already died from COVID-19, including several Massachusetts residents

As Massachusetts COVID-19 cases have steadily decreased over the past several weeks, the number of new coronavirus cases in the United States continues to rise. Massachusetts is currently in Phase 3 of their reopening process, and we know that as Massachusetts reopens while the pandemic is ongoing, our frontline workers are still at risk and continue to work through challenging conditions. The extra stress, fear, and risk workers face about their health and safety has not abated, and we believe they should continue being compensated for that additional hazard.

We ask that you reconsider the decision to deny hazard pay to those still taking extraordinary risk and honor UFCW's request. Thank you for your consideration and we would appreciate your prompt response to this request.

Sincerely,