Pine Hurst Safeway activists Jane Wynn, Annette Wilde, Lailanie Stamper, Maria Austin, and Kalen Wright in the breakroom posing for a picture. — Pine Hurst Safeway activists Jane Wynn, Annette Wilde, Lailanie Stamper, Maria Austin, and Kalen Wright

Working the self-checkout area ranks as one of the toughest jobs in our grocery stores, mostly because running these departments with skeleton crews forces cashiers to serve multiple customers and to deal with multiple problems at the same time. The working conditions are more than just frustrating—they can be dangerous, too.

Safeway cashiers Lailanie Stamper and Maria Austin experienced this problem firsthand. One October morning at the self-checkout stands, a man displayed a gun and then demanded that Stamper open the cash drawer, she said. In the same store’s liquor department just a few months later, a man flashed a knife at Austin and demanded alcohol.

These interactions shook their confidence in the company’s ability to keep them and their co-workers safe.

"It's not safe anymore, working alone in the morning," Stamper said.

"I'm scared to come to work," Austin added. "I feel hopeless. I need the money, so I need to work, but I am afraid this is going to happen again.”

Rather than wait for the company to get around to maybe doing something about safety in the stores, after the knife incident the two workers decided to take action. They tapped UFCW 3000 Shop Steward Kalen Wright and other coworkers to start a petition demanding in-store security during all open hours, increased staffing on the front end, and a new system that alerts workers to any incident involving a weapon within 24 hours.

Marie Austin talks to coworkers in the breakroom of Pine Hurst Safeway. — Union workers taking action at Pine Hurst Safeway for a safer store

After gathering the signatures of more than 80% of the store’s workers, they presented their petition to Store Director Brenda Swarts. Shortly after that, management increased the store’s security.

Unfortunately, Safeway has since pulled out the extra security. The Pine Lake Safeway crew isn’t giving up, though. They’re continuing to fight for a safer Safeway.

In addition to helping them in this struggle, the rest of us can lighten their load by fighting for a contract that ensures better staffing throughout our stores, particularly in self-checkout areas. According to one recent Harvard University study, compared to traditional checkout, self-checkout machines increase negative interactions with customers by 40%. These machines also increase chronic understaffing in stores by 26%.

That study—and our lived experience—shows us that the path to safer stores runs right through better staffing. To win it, we need to communicate with each other, stand together, and take action.

Unfortunately, grocery and retail workers are dealing with more violence in their workplaces, and it too often involves firearms. Since these workers are in public-facing businesses there is little between them and the world’s problems.

Jenny Johnson works at the Twin Lakes Fred Meyer and was at work recently when a shooting took place. She approached one of the victims who was at one of the front doors wounded. She noticed that he was holding a gun and so she stopped and said she would help as long as he put the gun aside. Once the gun was out of the situation Jenny and a coworker walked the victim over to the customer-service desk and applied towels to the wounds. When the paramedics arrived Jenny was able to keep the victim calm and encouraged him to answer all questions of the first responders at the scene.

But now Jenny is concerned because of the lack of an emergency door near the customer service area. Her coworkers upfront brought up that the Tacoma and Puyallup locations have emergency doors nearby to allow for quick and safe evacuation. We agree that this is a reasonable request of Fred Meyer to keep these workers safe!