We Say Supermarket Workers Are Essential Workers, But Are They Being Treated That Way? via @PhilLempert

A new analysis of U.S. supermarket chains’ formal policies for their workers, which were put in place during Covid-19, was released earlier today by the nonprofit group Oxfam that works to end injustice of poverty. The analysis shows that most retailers need to improve their policies.

The past few months is the first time in many of our lives that we have experienced empty shelves in our supermarkets and as a result much attention has been focused on our grocery workers and seen how much we depend on them. As a result we have seen grocery chains temporarily boost their hourly wages, give them bonus pay, and other organizations showcase them and thank them in their TV ads and in store. Texas retailer H-E-B announced yesterday ‘Texas Proud Pay’ the largest wage increase in the company’s history permanently. Many shoppers, also for the first time, are taking the time out to say “thank you” to these workers.

All this would seem to have those who work in supermarkets smiling from ear to ear; but the Oxfam analysis portrays a very different picture. As a result of their analysis, Oxfam is calling on supermarket chains to adopt “a fundamentally new worker-focused corporate policy that ensures workers can exercise their voice and influence decisions that impact and protect their lives, along with customers”

The nonprofit’s analysis looked at the five key areas they felt most important: paid sick leave, hazard pay, protective gear, engagement with workers and worker representatives and gender and dependent care. Oxfam worked with labor unions and others to identify gaps between each company’s stated policies and implementation – they also reached out to each of the companies they analyzed for comment: of the 5 companies analyzed only Albertsons, Kroger and Walmart offered responses, Costco and Whole Foods/Amazon did not respond.

It is important to note that there are also many regional and smaller grocery chains, and independent grocers that were not analyzed that have differing policies that are not included in this report.

The post: We Say Supermarket Workers Are Essential Workers, But Are They Being Treated That Way? via @PhilLempert appeared first on https://www.forbes.com/

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REVEALED: The new Bolton supermarket set to open this summer via @josephtiman

A NEW supermarket set to open in Bolton this summer has revealed its frustration after facing delays with construction in the last year and a half.

Venus Foods was first granted planning permission to convert the old United Carpets store in Manchester Road into a new outlet and in-store cafe.

When complete, it will be the third supermarket of the family-owned company, which already sells Mediterranean goods at its Manchester and Leeds stores.

After more than 18 months of construction work, neighbours have reached the end of their tether with the noise and have complained to the council.

But Omur Esengul, the supermarket’s senior manager, said the whole experience has been “nothing less than frustrating” for the firm too.

She said: “Unfortunately, one of our new neighbours has been quite unhappy with our presence. This is sad and we really hope he will change his mind once we are up and running.

“Every construction project has its own pace of completion depending on the size of the project undertaken.

“Any serious commercial project is also heavily regulated with all the planning permissions and regulations that have an impact on completion time.

“Big construction companies may speed up their processes with their networks, legal teams and giant budgets, but for us, it is a project we can only finish at our own pace.

“We applied to all regulatory state bodies and ticked all the boxes for safety standards. This has taken its normal time.

“In our case, our unhappy neighbour’s bombardments of complaints to pretty much all state bodies with wrongful accusations have brought the project on hold on several occasions.

“We can proudly say none of the accusations were correct. The wrongful accusations have cost us quite considerable time and additional costs that delayed the completion time. Not to mention the delay caused by COVID-19.”

David Price, who lives just a few yards away from the supermarket site, said he has been woken up nearly every morning by builders starting work at 7.30am.

But Mr Esengul said loud construction work does not start until 8.30am after early briefings, security checks and preparatory work take place first.

Work finishes at around 5.30pm, according to the supermarket spokesman.

He added: “We agree construction work might cause disturbances, but we try our best to limit that effect within reason and governmental guidelines.

“We understand our neighbour is extremely frustrated and unhappy with our presence.

“We hope his feeling will change in time when he realises, we only wish to finish the project as soon as possible and serve our community.

“But so far, the frustration has been mutual, and we have also suffered both mentally and financially from our neighbour’s consistent complaints and actions.

“In our opinion, his claims are unfounded and do not represent the bigger picture.”

The company hopes construction will be complete and the supermarket will be open to trade from August.

The post: REVEALED: The new Bolton supermarket set to open this summer via @josephtiman appeared first on https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk

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Monday Moan: Covid supermarket shopping brings out the worst in us all via @CamillaTominey

Some friends have started calling the supermarket their sanctuary - a welcome hour away from the hen house to browse everything from avocados to Viakal....

The post: Monday Moan: Covid supermarket shopping brings out the worst in us all via @CamillaTominey appeared first on https://www.telegraph.co.uk/

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How the rise of supermarkets left out black America via @NathanielMeyersohn

If you're like most Americans, you probably think of going to the supermarket and stocking up on groceries as a normal thing, and you take it for granted.
But 60-plus years of corporate strategies, white flight and stereotypes about black Americans have made it significantly harder for many black people to access a supermarket than it is for most white people, according to leaders of big cities across the country as well as food policy advocates, historians and urban studies experts.

The post: How the rise of supermarkets left out black America via @NathanielMeyersohn appeared first on dition.cnn.com
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Watch yourself: the self-surveillance strategy to keep supermarket shoppers honest via @ProfRetail

Retailers have tried many overt tactics to limit theft, such as signs that display images of CCTV cameras, threats to prosecute offenders, bag checks, checkout weighing plates and electronic security gates.
These tactics are extremely costly and have failed to stamp out retail theft.
Now supermarkets are trying a different tactic, that's part overt surveillance but also encourages "self-reflection" on any impulse to exploit loopholes in the bagging and payment systems.

The post: Watch yourself: the self-surveillance strategy to keep supermarket shoppers honest via @ProfRetail appeared first on https://phys.org
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It’s a new scene for grocery shopping as pandemic changes behaviors via @SN_news

The arrival of coronavirus in the United States upended Americans’ grocery shopping habits, triggering more store visits and online purchases as consumers tried new ways of shopping and shifted to eating at home, according to the FMI-The Food Industry Association’s annual U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends study.

The post: It’s a new scene for grocery shopping as pandemic changes behaviors via @SN_news appeared first on supermarketnews.com
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How worrying is Britain's debt? Surprisingly, we economists say: not very via @EthanIlzetzki

The coronavirus pandemic has taken a calamitous toll on the economy, with unemployment in April 2020 rising faster than in any month on record. The Treasury has responded with unprecedented measures to support workers, businesses and the self-employed, leading to a public deficit of £300bn this year.
The post How worrying is Britain's debt? Surprisingly, we economists say: not very via @EthanIlzetzki appeared first on theguardian.com
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