AMZN Amazon.com Inc

By Jaewon Kang 

Dozens of workers at Whole Foods Market stores across the U.S. skipped their shifts to call attention to demands for better pay and more safety measures to protect them during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a group that organized the action. Business continued as usual at the chain, which employs more than 95,000 people.

The group, called Whole Worker, is asking Whole Foods for expanded sick pay, hazard pay and health care coverage for part-time and temporary workers. The group is also asking for more sanitation equipment and the closure of any store where an employee tests positive. Whole Foods is owned by Amazon.com Inc.

"They are scared of their health. They are scared of infecting other people. They are scared they might not be able to pay rent," said Matthew Hunt, an organizer with Whole Worker who worked at a Whole Foods store until 2017.

A Whole Foods spokeswoman said there was not an elevated level of absenteeism at the chain's more than 500 stores on Tuesday and that they all operated without interruption. Whole Foods has raised hourly pay by $2, raised overtime pay and implemented two weeks of paid sick time for workers who are in quarantine and have tested positive for Covid-19.

"There is no higher priority for us than taking care of our team members, which is why we have rolled out extensive measures to keep them safe at work," the spokeswoman said.

Supermarket chains are navigating how to add safety protocols as states implement lockdowns and consumers buy more food to eat at home. They are also addressing cases of their own workers testing positive for the virus. Grocers including Whole Foods, Kroger Co., Albertsons Cos., and Trader Joe's have reported cases of the coronavirus among their staffers.

Some Whole Foods workers have pushed in the past to unionize to address changes at the chain since Amazon acquired the grocer in 2017.

After Amazon's acquisition, Whole Foods stopped offering stock options to lower-level staff and curtailed health care benefits to part-time employees. Whole Foods and Amazon have opposed organizing efforts in the past.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Whole Foods and other grocers have added plexiglass guards at cashiers, stopped taking returns and put markers throughout its stores to indicate where customers can stand. Whole Foods this week also began daily temperature checks for workers and its delivery staff.

One Whole Foods employee in the Midwest who has been staying at home because of concern about exposure since last weekend said $2 of additional hourly pay wasn't adequate compensation for the higher risks workers are facing. Another said she feels nervous coming to work but has been showing up for her shifts.

"We are risking our lives every day to be a part of a pandemic that we didn't ask to be a part of," said one organizer of Tuesday's call-out action, who said she works at a Whole Foods store in southern California.

Write to Jaewon Kang at jaewon.kang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 31, 2020 18:45 ET (22:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.