On Saturday, Instacart customers are protesting the company's pay structure. GWC, which represents some of Instacart's customers, wants Instacart address five of its policies. Instacart should pay its shoppers by order, not by batches, fix fraud issues in its rating system, offer occupational death benefits, and increase the default tip for customers on the platform from 5% to 10%.
According to the group, the company had not responded to their demands. This led to Saturday's walkout. Instacart has not responded to workers' demands in private discussions, which the GWC posted in a blog.
Instacart's spokesperson said in an email that it values worker feedback and that they have many channels to engage with shoppers. Instacart's reality is that shopper engagement and sentiment have remained at their highest levels in company history.
According to Instacart's statement, Saturday wasn't the first time that the GWC had called for Instacart customers to take action. To protest Instacart's inability to provide sick leave and protection for workers against the coronavirus, the group organized a boycott in January 2020.
Instacart claimed that it has not seen any impact on its business since the March 2020 walkout. A spokesperson for GWC said that Instacart had stated that it would give its customers safety and health kits, including hand sanitizer and masks, several days after the March 2020 walk-out. These items were requested by workers.
The spokesperson for GWC said that the walk-offs were not about disrupting company operations. It is also intended to change the narrative surrounding Instacarts plans later in the year. The GWC spokesperson stated that it has been a great success in the past. Prior to this, media stories focused on Instacarts' preparations for an exciting IPO.
It is not clear exactly how many Instacarts employees the collective represents. However, a spokesperson for the company stated that its claim that the group doesn't speak for all of its customers was incorrect. According to Instacart's spokesperson, they know that they are speaking for the majority of their customers because they are constantly hearing about specific grievances. We hope Instacarts customers will be paying attention to how the company addresses this.
