San Francisco considers $5 per hour hazard pay for grocery workers
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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) San Francisco s Board of Supervisors is expected to take up a resolution to adopt an ordinance that would give grocery store workers raises of $5 per hour.
This would be compensation for the risk of being on the front lines during the pandemic. Also, it s a means of extra support in financially uncertain times.
But the California Grocers Association says this could end up backfiring and force stores to raise prices. Some of those unattended consequences could be first of all the effect of passing these costs on to our consumers through food prices, said Ron Fong, president of the California Grocers Association. When you mandate a 30-percent price, labor increase we have to pass that on to somebody.
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Grocery and retail drugstore employees who work in unincorporated Los Angeles County could see a pay bump of $5 an hour if the county Board of Supervisors approves a “hero pay” ordinance this month.
The measure was quickly opposed by grocery industry leaders, who said it could require stores to raise prices at a time when their customers are struggling to make ends meet.
At the L.A. County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, Supervisors Hilda Solis and Holly Mitchell put forth the motion that would mandate the pay bump for publicly traded grocery store or retail drug companies, or companies that have at least 300 employees nationwide and more than 10 employees per store site. If approved by the board, the ordinance would remain in effect for 120 days.
Los Angeles County on Tuesday approved a proposal to require national grocery and drug retailers operating in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County to pay frontline workers an additional $5 per hour in "hero pay."
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The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted in favor of drafting an ordinance that would require national grocery and drug retailers operating in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County to pay frontline workers an additional $5 per hour. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
LOS ANGELES, CA The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted in favor of drafting an ordinance that would require national grocery and drug retailers operating in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County to pay frontline workers an additional $5 per hour in hero pay.
Supervisors Hilda Solis and Holly Mitchell co-authored the motion calling for a temporary urgency ordinance that would apply to store chains that are publicly traded or have at least 300 employees nationwide and more than 10 employees per store.
Last year, Kroger raised wages for all front-line workers, as well as other ranks throughout the company.
A local governing body in Los Angeles County has approved a $5 pay increase proposal for front-line grocery workers.
At an L.A. County Board of Supervisors meeting on Jan. 5, Supervisors Hilda Solis and Holly Mitchell put forth a motion to require national grocery and drug retailers operating in unincorporated areas of the county to provide a pay bump for front-line workers.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the proposal applies to publicly traded grocery store or retail drug companies, or companies that have at least 300 employees nationwide and have more than 10 employees per store site.