GHOULISH: Sen. Bernie Sanders Promotes Instacart Grocery Delivery Service Worker Strike During Pandemic

In perhaps one of the most ghoulish moves during the coronavirus pandemic, Senator Bernie Sanders has promoted a worker strike at Instacart.

Instacart is a grocery delivery service that is essential for millions of American seniors. 

At a time when Americans are supposed to be staying home and avoiding crowds whenever possible, the longshot presidential candidate urged grocery delivery workers to strike. 

.@Instacart was last valued at nearly $8 billion. A company of this size should not be forcing its workers to put themselves — and us all — at risk. I stand with the workers, and encourage Instacart to meet the their demands.https://t.co/x7Jid1NvWH

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 28, 2020

In a tweet on Saturday, Sanders linked to a Vice article about a worker strike at the company and wrote, “Instacart was last valued at nearly $8 billion. A company of this size should not be forcing its workers to put themselves — and us all — at risk. I stand with the workers, and encourage Instacart to meet the their demands.” 

What kind of unAmerican Ghoul promotes a strike of food delivery people during a pandemic? https://t.co/UkZVghBjvg

— Mark Young (@MarkYoungTruth) March 29, 2020

As Americans are losing their jobs, and more people depend on grocery deliveries instead of leaving their homes, Instacart is currently looking to hire 300,000 more gig workers in the next three months—more than doubling its current workforce.

According to Vice, the striking workers are demanding additional $5 an order, free safety gear (hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and soap) to workers, and expands its paid sick leave to include workers with pre-existing conditions who have been advised by their doctors not to work at this time. Workers say the strike will last until Instacart agrees to these terms.

“The health and safety of our entire community — shoppers, customers, and employees — is our first priority,” a spokesperson for Instacart told Motherboard. “Our goal is to offer a safe and flexible earnings opportunity to shoppers, while also proactively taking the appropriate precautionary measures to operate safely. We want to underscore that we absolutely respect the rights of shoppers to provide us feedback and voice their concerns. It’s a valuable way for us to continuously make improvements to the shopper experience and we’re committed to supporting this important community during this critical time.”