Santa Monica Hero Pay still possible
Feb. 05, 2021 at 6:00 am
Cities across California recently approved “hero pay” ordinances that have prompted at least two grocery store closures in Southern California. But Santa Monica city leaders said this week they are still determined to bring a similar ordinance to the Westside.
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors first discussed an ordinance requiring a $5 increase in per hour pay for essential workers in early January. A week later, Santa Monica City Council followed suit and unanimously agreed to pass a temporary ordinance once the County came back with a finalized draft of their own proposal.
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Planned Ralphs, Food 4 Less closings highlight issue of pandemic compensation for frontline grocery workers
The Kroger Co. is closing two supermarkets in Long Beach, Calif., because of a new municipal law that mandates hazard pay to grocery workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Plans call for the Ralphs store at 3380 N. Los Coyotes Diagonal and the Food 4 Less store at 2185 E. South St. in Long Beach to close on April 17, the two Kroger divisions said yesterday. The chains said the two locations represent 25% of their Long Beach stores.
The Long Beach ordinance (Ord-27), passed by the city council in December and enacted Jan. 19, requires grocery retailers to establish “premium pay” of an extra $4 per hour to wage-earning store associates for a period of at least 120 days. Store managers or supervisors aren’t covered by the mandate, which applies to companies with at least 15 grocery workers for each store in Long Beach and with at least 300 grocery workers overall.