Publix said Friday it will give a $ 125 Publix gift card to all of its more than 225,000 employees who will be vaccinated against. COVID-19. The supermarket chain is the latest major employer to entice its workers to immunize themselves against a virus that kills more than 495,000 Americans.
The gift cards are being offered to current employees who submit an internal form and proof of vaccination, the company said in Lakeland, Florida. Publix said it was encouraging, but not that workers should be vaccinated.
“We care about our employees and customers and believe we can be vaccinated to take us one step closer to returning to normal,” Publix CEO Todd Jones said in a news release. “We encourage our staff to be vaccinated when they are eligible and doses are available.”
Publix operates 1,266 stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, along with nine distribution centers and 11 manufacturing facilities.
No access for many people
Despite the incentives, it can be said more easily if vaccinated for the country’s 3 million grocery workers, as they are not at the forefront of prioritizing who is vaccinated. Only 13 states – California, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia – have started vaccinating supermarket workers, according to United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents 800,000 U.S. grocery workers.
“Essential workers in grocery stores and meat packaging plants in many countries are not prioritized for access to vaccines, and they are still facing delays that further endanger their health,” Marc Perrone, the union’s international president, said in a statement. statement said. “Simply put, the failures in the early distribution of vaccines under the recent government have left millions of Americans and essential workers defenseless.”
According to the UFCW, there are 137 deaths due to grocery workers due to COVID-19, and more than 30,100 grocery workers have been infected or exposed.
Carrots instead of sticks
The move by Publix comes two days later Tyson Foods – the country’s largest poultry producer – has offered its 12,000 workers up to four hours of regular pay if vaccinated outside their normal service or by an external source. Others that offer up to four hours of extra compensation for the recording are Aldi, Darden Restaurants, Dollar General, McDonald’s and Target.
Target, with 350,000 workers, also said it would cover Lyft rides of up to $ 15 per direction to tackle after and from vaccinations.
Yogurt maker Chobani pays workers up to six hours to be vaccinated, while Amtrak spends $ 3 million to give employees the equivalent of two hours of extra pay once they show they have been vaccinated.
Kroger, the country’s largest supermarket chain, and the meat processing company JBS are both offering workers $ 100 to be vaccinated. Lidl, which operates 125 grocery stores in nine states, is offering $ 200 to employees who receive the vaccine; Petco is offering its 26,000 employees $ 75 and the grocery delivery service Instacart is offering $ 25.
The idea of giving potential reluctant employees a financial incentive to be vaccinated also extends to the medical industry. In Texas, Houston Methodist plans to give its 26,000 workers an extra $ 500 next month, as long as they are vaccinated.
Employers can generally require workers to be vaccinated, as they must ensure a safe workplace in which “an individual will not pose a direct threat to the health or safety of individuals in the workplace”, according to the Equal Rights Commission jobs.