NEW YORK (AP) — A possible strike by Instacart workers highlights the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the grocery delivery business, where workers are worried about their safety as they try to meet a surge in demand for online groceries.
Luddite that I am, hadn’t previously heard about this grocery App.
Amazing times.
Not snarky, but do you go grocery store shopping?
I set myself up for curbside pick up at my local grocery store chain. When I tried to reorder my usual stuff it wasn’t available, sooo I went to the store and there it was.
So still no TP in the one store, not that I’m out or anything, but I walked passed that aisle.
Been online grocery shopping more now…and in 2 instances, items in my cart are “Out of Stock” before I get to check them out!
LOL…gives a new meaning to in a NY minute…BUT a sobering reminder of the troubling times we are in!
Save Lives, Stay at Home…
AND no matter what your eyes and ears will hear and see, DO NOT believe in the Covidiot Trump and it’s mouthpiece!
You gotta admire the chutzpah of a company that’s making enormous numbers delivering to people sheltering in place and then making workers pay for their own PPE.
Not. (And the kindness of offering temporary paid sick leave for people who are literally keeping others in the company from dying…)
I snap on the latex and go to the stores. Most of the major chains in my area: Meijers, Krogers, Target are practically empty which means social distancing is not a problem. Self serve checkout means you don’t have to deal with a cashier. I go out to get a change of scenery so cabin fever doesn’t set in. But I go out as a way to relive the insta shoppers and others that shop for the public of the burdens they have been experiencing. My daughter has been using this kind of service for months before the home arrest, which is what it feels like, so when the stay at home order was announced in Michigan she placed an order because she hadn’t done her shopping for the week. She’s had the same young lady shopping for her off and on for months but was surprised when her shopper told her it would be a couple of days before she could get to her order because she had 70 orders ahead of her. We got in the car, went to the store and was back home in about an hour. She shopped while I stood in the long line so when she was done the wait was about 20 minutes.
These shoppers are overwhelmed and you can see it on their faces in the stores. They are pushing sometime 3 carts with multiple orders trying really hard to not mix things up. If the companies don’t pay them higher wages I can see many of them quitting. Better conditions and MORE MONEY.
Apparently it isn’t a big thing down here, either. So this young woman setup a free delivery service instead.
Can’t source it, but I recall reading something by an historian who was looking at the aftermath of the Black Death in Europe in the late 1340’s. Given that it killed off at least one-third of the population, he was expecting to see rather massive dislocations in European civilization. What he found, instead, was that life simply went on, in many cases with no indication that anything momentous had happened. What did change, however, was that the peasantry started demanding, and receiving, better pay for their labor.
And Uber makes you use your own car.These companies rely on desperation economics. It’s a gig and very very flexible. The app finds you clients and facilitates payment. That is revolutionary in a way. But the risk is all on the employee. Uber is counting on the fact that you are desperate enough for a job that you will use your own car. Ditto for instacart shopper providing their own protection.
The tipping part if particularly galling. The app should tell you exactly what the person is getting paid and let you tip as generously as you want (default of 5%, really). A few of the delivery services were actually stealing tips (that is they’d use the tip to offset the hourly pay).
