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Now, as the city faces a pending legal battle, it has become a litmus test for other cities and municipalities like Santa Monica, Los Angeles and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, which are all considering similar local laws but have yet to go as far as Long Beach.
“There are other cities looking at ‘Hero Pay’ but Long Beach as far as I know is the first to pass an ordinance,” said City Attorney Charles Parkin on Monday.
Parkin said the city anticipated legal challenges, but its City Council, which unanimously passed the ordinance last week, has indicated that it wants to push forward.
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The meeting will serve as a briefing to council members about the suit filed against the city by the California Grocers Association and as an opportunity to fix what City Attorney Charles Parkin called a procedural error in passing the law.
The ordinance, which mandates a $4 per-hour raise for grocery workers for at least the next 120 days, was adopted as an emergency ordinance at Tuesday night’s council meeting, meaning it went into effect as soon as the mayor signed it Wednesday. A non-emergency ordinance wouldn’t take effect until 30 days after the mayor’s signature.
When adopting an emergency ordinance, the council typically takes two votes during the process, the first to declare the urgency of it, and a second vote to actually adopt it. But a review of footage from Tuesday’s council meeting confirmed that the members voted just once on the ordinance.
Long Beach Moves Forward With a ‘Hero Pay Requirement for Some Grocery Store Employees The city council s vote Tuesday directs the city attorney to draft an ordinance mandating the extra pay, which the council will vote on at its next meeting. By Staff Report •
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Employees at large grocery stores would be guaranteed an extra $4 per hour under a proposal before the Long Beach City Council.
The council voted unanimously Tuesday to require large grocery companies that do business in the city to pay their employees an extra $4 an hour to compensate them for the dangers they face in serving the public during the coronavirus pandemic.
LB council moves to require extra $4-per-hour pay for frontline grocery workers
By Mary Stringini
(Photo by Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty Images)
LONG BEACH, Calif. - The Long Beach City Council voted unanimously Tuesday on an emergency order that will give grocery store workers in the city an extra $4 an hour to compensate them for the dangers they face in serving the public during the coronavirus pandemic. When large corporations don’t step up to provide hazard pay for grocery workers, we will step in and protect these heroes, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia wrote on Twitter. Thank you to the Long Beach City Council for adopting the emergency $4 hazard pay for grocery workers.
By City News Service
Dec 16, 2020
LONG BEACH (CNS) - The Long Beach City Council has voted unanimously to require large grocery companies that do business in the city to pay their L.B. employees an extra $4 an hour to compensate them for the dangers they face in serving the public during the coronavirus pandemic.
Companies with at least 300 employees nationwide would be required to pay the extra $4 per hour for at least 120 days, after which the ordinance would come back to the City Council for a possible extension.
The council s vote in Tuesday night s meeting directs City Attorney Charles Parkin to draft an ordinance mandating the extra pay, which the council will vote on at its next meeting.