Safeway, Vons and other stores owned by Albertsons Companies will lay off delivery managers – and in their place, from third-party managers of the app-based delivery service DoorDash from 27 February.
“While we know this step will help us create a more efficient operation, it was not a decision we made gently or without much consideration,” said Wendy Gutshall, a Northern California Safeway representative. SFGATE said. “This decision will enable us to deliver more effectively in the growing home market.”
Gutshall added that the company is “placing all affected employees in shops, plants and distribution centers”. They also reward drivers who stay until the transition is completed with ‘incentive bonuses’.
The Los Angeles-based activist news agency Knock.LA, which first made the news on Monday, confirmed the elimination of internal delivery workers after talking to two separate employees in the Southern California area.
Proposition 22, which passed with 58.6% of the vote during the November election, allowed people like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Postmates to classify managers and other workers as independent contractors and prevent them from receiving full-time employee benefits.
San Francisco was one of the few cities in the state to reject the bill, as nearly 60% of voters opposed it.
Marc Perrone, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, said in a statement on Wednesday: “The exploitation of Prop. 22 to destroy the well-paid jobs of these dedicated frontline workers in the midst of this public health crisis , is simply wrong. ”
“As a union for grocery workers in California, UFCW calls on Albertsons to discontinue these plans immediately and to put the health of their customers first by protecting the work of these brave essential workers at a time when our communities it needs it the most. “
Taylor Bennett, a representative of DoorDash, told SFGATE that the partnership – which spans nationwide – was made before the 22nd statement. “DoorDash has always supported local economies, and as e-commerce and delivery have become even more important to many businesses during these times, we remain committed to helping local brick-and-mortar retailers reach consumers with the best of their environment. , ‘he said in a statement.