SAN FRANCISCO—Grocery retailers owned by Albertsons such as Safeway, Vons, Pavillons and others will be laying off delivery drivers and replacing them with drivers from the third-party delivery app, DoorDash starting on February 27. Drivers will now be known as independent contractors and not employees.
In a statement to Newsweek, Albertsons said:
“Albertsons Companies made the strategic decision to discontinue using our own home delivery fleet of trucks in select locations, including Southern California, beginning February 27, 2021. We will transition that portion of our eCommerce operations to third-party logistics providers who specialize in that service.”
Knock L.A, the Los-Angeles activist based news outlet first broke the news on Monday, January 4. Albertsons will remove protections for workers. Minimum wage, labor oversight, and sick pay will be removed. Drivers will now be responsible for their own healthcare and other essential needs.
Back in November, voters went to the polls to vote on Proposition 22 which permitted the likes of Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Postmates to classify drivers and other workers as independent contractors and prevent them from accessing full-time employee benefits. San Francisco was one of few the reject the proposition with nearly 60 percent of voters opposing it.
Written By Zakiya Payne and Diara Fowler
