What have others said about the situation
From shoppers to senates the common ideal is that the company is not doing the right thing by its delivery drivers ,They aren’t being provided with extra backup from the company in the times of the pandemic. Elizabeth Warren said “these workers perform essential delivery work and are critical to serving customers who cannot leave home during the pandemic” and “you (instacart’s CEO) have a responsibility to protect their health and the public’s health”. Instacart worker Sarah Polito stated in an interview to Market-watch “While we believe we deserve more, we believe the customer deserves more, too,” she said, adding: “Anybody who works at this point deserves hazard pay.” . Another Instacart employee Heidi Carrico calls the current situation “It’s been an absolute sh*t show.” and says the company is “exploiting desperation” essentially taking advantage of the situation.
All these people have provided what are agreeable and educated comments on the situation, Many customers who use instacart are people who would be at risk. The elderly , those who have a preexisting condition , Those who work as nurses and so on and so forth. So many different individuals are taking advantage of the app and traveling much less which helps slow the spread . Despite the increase in revenue instacart is still being finicky with what the right choices are for its workers. Heidi has the most detailed and accurate representation of what it’s like to shop batches will be double and triple orders but the pay will be ill-proportionate to the effort time and work. Customers themselves have also had complaints of me showing up to deliver the orders they placed early, sometimes up to three days, while others are reporting that orders have been late and delayed.
https://slate.com/technology/2020/03/an-instacart-worker-on-why-shes-striking.htmlh
Ethical Standpoint 
10 replies on “Blog #4”
I personally think Instacart is great especially in this crisis right now for the elderly. Elderly are at more risk then the younger generations. But also I agree that there should be hazard pay because these essential workers are risking their health as well. But also, this is helping Instacart too because so many individuals are taking advantage of this app to social distance and not go to public places.
LikeLike
Exactly ! , The point is to have people whom are at less risk of fatality do the shopping and even though its a job you choose to do the company offering a hazard pay gives more incentive and hence more orders get done quicker. The curve will get smaller as well because there will be less people out overall.
LikeLike
I agree and think that Instacart is good for the elderly too, but how are we supposed to know if they are virus free? How are we supposed to know if they aren’t going to spread the disease to the elderly or anyone? I think that the drivers/workers should be getting paid extra during this time because they are putting themselves at a higher risk than everyone else (social distancing).
LikeLike
The Hazard pay could also come in play if a shopper was to get sick , Medical bills and insurance are already high enough so keeping away profits that could save lives isn’t the best move.
LikeLike
It blows my mind that the issues being faced by Instacart have gone so far that the US Senate felt as though they should be involved. The lack of acknowledgement by the company during the time of a world-wide pandemic exposes the lackadaisical actions of the company’s upper level management. I think that they have a long way to go before this situation is resolved.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The company definitely does need to reconsider what its doing , The senate getting involved is what should have been the final straw but them deciding not to give that added safety net for workers is baffling especially when the company knows the target demographic they aim for its reckless to put your consumers at risk, They just started providing an option to “buy”(its free ) Kits with a thermometer, reusable masks and hand sanitizer but i went on the site at launch day and they are OOS. You cant even use the pre-order feature they have up.
LikeLike
I’m confused where the debate is, they are not an essential business. Instacart is an intermediary for a consumer transaction. The grocery stores, gas stations, and pharmacies are essential. The government should be providing better guidance and care to the elderly so that this is not an issue they have to face.
LikeLike
A non essential service may be consider an essential service if the cessation of its activities could result in a loss of life, The definition of an essential service is “Essential services may refer to a class of occupations that have been legislated by a government to have special restrictions in regard to labor actions such as not being allowed to legally strike.” as defined by the international labor office. Now while instacart may be a luxury during times of non pandemics the cessation of its services now would result in a loss of life. The company distributes the Items from Stores and pharmacies which once again some people are unable to leave their home not only now but during other occasions. However the government should be providing better care to the elderly considering taxes and that’s what the gov is for but in times like this its to no benefit to be picky about helping those who have a harder time helping themselves
LikeLike
I understand the struggle Instacart is facing with raising pay because they may face protest when they lower pay once the pandemic is over. No one knows how long the pandemic may last, it could last a few more months, or a whole year. And I am not that educated on how the deliveries work, but I could imagine that the groceries could be dropped off in front of the door and it being up to the customer to sanitize and wash the products.
LikeLike
This is what was added as a feature but a lot of customers will open the door or grab the bags before you’ve distanced yourself, Its habit not ill will but also many people have children who don’t quite understand whats going on .
LikeLike