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Instacart says strike had "no impact" on operations

Dan Primack, author of Pro Rata

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

Grocery delivery company Instacart said Monday afternoon that a proposed worker strike had "absolutely no impact" on its operations, and that the platform had 40% more workers than it did at the same day and time last week (Monday at 12:30 pm PST).

Between the lines: Axios is unable to independently verify Instacart's claim, nor accurately gauge how many workers may have stayed home. But, as we wrote earlier, gig economy "strikes" often are more successful at making noise than getting numbers, and the strike organizer intentionally doesn't keep worker lists due to potential legal retaliation.

  • Instacart also said that 250,000 new people have signed up over the past week to become full-time "shoppers," which is company terminology for its in-store and delivery contractors, and that 50,000 of them have already begun work.
  • It also said that it has sold more groceries via its platform over the past 72 hours than in any prior 72-hour period.

Axios has reached out to one of the strike organizers for their thoughts on Instacart's statement, and will update this story if she replies.

Go deeper: Instacart workers set to strike during heart of coronavirus crisis

Go deeper

Jonathan Swan
8 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Scoop: Gina Haspel threatened to resign over plan to install Kash Patel as CIA deputy

CIA Director Gina Haspel. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

CIA Director Gina Haspel threatened to resign in early December after President Trump cooked up a hasty plan to install loyalist Kash Patel, a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), as her deputy, according to three senior administration officials with direct knowledge of the matter.

Why it matters: The revelation stunned national security officials and almost blew up the leadership of the world's most powerful spy agency. Only a series of coincidences — and last minute interventions from Vice President Mike Pence and White House counsel Pat Cipollone — stopped it.

Go deeper (3 min. read)Arrow
Axios
Updated 10 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Health: Coronavirus deaths reach 4,000 per day as hospitals remain in crisis mode — CDC warns highly transmissible coronavirus variant could become dominant in U.S. in March.
  2. Politics: Biden says, "We will manage the hell out of" vaccine distribution — Biden taps ex-FDA chief to lead Operation Warp Speed amid rollout of COVID plan — Widow of GOP congressman-elect who died of COVID-19 will run to fill his seat.
  3. Vaccine: Battling Black mistrust of the vaccines — "Pharmacy deserts" could become vaccine deserts — Instacart to give $25 to shoppers who get vaccine.
  4. Economy: Unemployment filings explode again — Fed chair: No interest rate hike coming any time soon —  Inflation rose more than expected in December.
  5. World: WHO team arrives in China to investigate pandemic origins.
Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Lachlan Markay
10 hours ago - Politics & Policy

John Weaver, Lincoln Project co-founder, acknowledges “inappropriate” messages

John Weaver aboard John McCain's campaign plane in February 2000. Photo: Robert Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

John Weaver, a veteran Republican operative who co-founded the Lincoln Project, declared in a statement to Axios on Friday that he sent “inappropriate,” sexually charged messages to multiple men.

  • “To the men I made uncomfortable through my messages that I viewed as consensual mutual conversations at the time: I am truly sorry. They were inappropriate and it was because of my failings that this discomfort was brought on you,” Weaver said.
  • “The truth is that I'm gay,” he added. “And that I have a wife and two kids who I love. My inability to reconcile those two truths has led to this agonizing place.”
Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow