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A proposal to require large grocery and drug stores to offer temporary hazard pay to frontline workers in unincorporated county areas is on hold while it is reviewed to ensure that its outcomes will be equitable.
The proposal was brought forward two San Mateo County Supervisors, Board President David Canepa and Don Horsley, and would require certain grocery and drug stores to offer an additional $5 per hour in hazard pay to their frontline workers. However, its potential approval was postponed Feb. 23 after Supervisor Warren Slocum asked that the policy be reviewed to ensure that it complies with the county’s equity policies.
The proposed ordinance would mandate grocery and drug stores in unincorporated county areas that are to pay their frontline workers $5 per hour in additional pay for 120 days.
Grocery stores or drug stores affected by the ordinance would be those that have 300 or more employees nationwide and dedicate a certain amount of space to selling groceries or other non-taxable goods. For instance, affected grocery stores would be those over 10,000 square feet that have 70% or more in their sales area dedicated to food sales or receive 70% of revenue from food sales, or stores larger than 85,000 square feet that devote at least 10% of its sales floor area to non-taxable consumer goods.
Workers who are affected include those who work at least two hours per week, are paid by the hour and qualify to be paid the minimum wage under state law, according to the draft ordinance.
In public comments, representatives from local unions emphasized the burdens that grocery store workers have taken on during the pandemic.
According to Julie Lind of the San Mateo County Central Labor Council, grocery store workers have continued to face high levels of coronavirus exposure and safety risks by enforcing mask mandates for sometimes unwilling patrons, all while preserving uninterrupted access to food and pharmacy goods for the public.
They do all this while generally earning between $15 and $19 per hour and often lack paid sick leave, she said. And, she said, some research indicates that about one in five grocery store workers nationally has been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.
One study, published in October in the Occupation and Environmental Medicine journal, found that 21 of 104 workers tested in a Boston grocery store tested positive for COVID-19, and a majority were asymptomatic at the time they were tested in May. It also found that those who were directly exposed to customers were five times more likely to test positive for the virus.
Although the county does not retain a registry of businesses in unincorporated San Mateo County, it appeared that the proposed ordinance would only apply to two grocery stores: the two Chavez Market locations in North Fair Oaks, on Fifth Avenue and on Middlefield Road.
Slocum expressed concern that the Latino-owned business could be unfairly burdened by the ordinance, and Supervisor Carole Groom said she worried that the ordinance could raise prices further in a neighborhood where many can not afford them.
“Does this meet requirements of our equity lens in the county?” Slocum asked.
While the proposal is sent back for review by county staff members focused on addressing equity issues in the county, the pause will also give the county a chance to see how litigation against similar ordinances in California moves forward.
The California Grocers Association has so far filed suits against Long Beach, Oakland and Montebello in response to legislation in those communities mandating $4 to $5 hourly pay increases for frontline grocery workers at large grocery store businesses, according to the LA Times.
Supervisors planned to reconsider the matter in two weeks, with the possibility of extending the timeline if needed to ensure stakeholders have enough time to meet to discuss the matter in advance.
Some members also expressed interest in extending the ordinance to apply countywide rather than just in unincorporated areas, but it wasn’t immediately clear if that was within the supervisors’ jurisdiction. County Counsel John Beiers said it would take more analysis and work to make the needed findings for the ordinance to apply countywide.
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I have been a registered Democrat for over 50 years, but I have no patience for another example of the idiocy of the Democratic Party. This is the type of short-sighted political proposal that led to the election of Donald Trump in 2016, similar to some Democrats’ insistence on trying to include a minimum wage initiative in the COVID relief bill in Congress. In general, there is collective bargaining for grocery clerks; there is no reason for our supervisors to be enforcers for the unions. The bargaining table is the proper venue for this proposal.
Profit margins are very thin in the grocery business and this proposal will raise prices for customers of the markets that are forced to comply and, likely, reduce employment and customer service. When manufacturers or producers raise prices dramatically during a pandemic, it is call “gouging,” and there are rules that prevent the practice. However, since it will only be implemented in unincorporated areas, it would appear the supervisors do not care about the generally lower-income residents of those areas. After all, it is the unions that support their political campaigns.
Wake up, fellow Democrats! We need to nurture our economy, encourage more employment, provide services to our citizens, and protect our borders. Pursuing the agendas of special interests will result in the kind of actions that trigger equal and opposite reactions from the right wing of our country.
–Chuck Bernstein
444 Oak Court, Menlo Park