The Seattle City Council Monday approved legislation requiring hazard pay for some of the city’s most at-risk workers during the ongoing pandemic: grocery workers.
“Hazard pay for grocery workers is the least we can do to recognize the dangers they face when going to work, including unmasked customers, customers who are coughing and not respecting social distancing rules, and cleaning of commonly used surfaces,” citywide councilmember Teresa Mosqueda said about the passage of her bill. “Many grocery stores were paying their workers hazard pay early on in the pandemic, but that recognition quickly went away last summer, despite grocery store workers still facing serious risk of contracting COVID-19 at their workplace.”
The legislation was also co-sponsored by councilmembers M. Lorena González, Lisa Herbold, Tammy J. Morales, Kshama Sawant, Dan Strauss and Andrew J. Lewis.
Mosqueda, a former Washington State Labor Council lobbyist with wide union support, surprised many earlier this month with her decision to forgo a run for the mayor’s office in favor of seeking reelection on the council.
The required $4/hour hazard pay will be in effect throughout the pandemic, according to a press release from the council on the passage, but can be reconsidered after four months. “This timeframe corresponds with the state department of health’s COVID vaccination plan to make vaccines available to all-aged grocery employees by April 2021,” the council’s announcement reads.
The ordinance will not apply at convenience stores or “food marts primarily selling a limited line of goods.”
In making its decision, the council cited a British Medical Journal report based on a study conducted at a grocery in Boston showing workers face serious COVID-19 risk.
CORRECTION: When first posted, this article included a photograph from inside Central Co-op. Companies with fewer than 500 employees are not subject to the pay requirement.
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Excellent and necessary
Funny to include a photo of Central Co-op when it very clearly won’t apply to them – only applies to businesses with 500 plus employees worldwide.But their staff have better pay and benefits than other local grocery options anyway.
Ironic having a picture of the coop in this post when they won’t be getting the pay.
To be clear co-op employees do not make significantly more than other grocery stores. They advertise that they have competitive salary’s but that isn’t true, and I know that first hand. For a company that prides them selves in caring for their community and their employees… where do they get off deciding that their employees don’t deserve hazard pay? Are their employees less susceptible to contracting covid? Do they not have to deal with belligerent costumers refusing to where their masks? Are they not risking there own life’s as essential workers so people can still get their grocery needs? (THEY ARE).
The hypocrisy of the co-ops is infuriating. Where does the Co-op get off deciding the value of their employees life’s because they had the opportunity to find a loop hole in this ordinance so they don’t HAVE to pay the bazaars pay.
“Hazard pay for grocery workers is the least we can do to recognize the dangers they face when going to work, including unmasked customers, customers who are coughing and not respecting social distancing rules, and cleaning of commonly used surfaces,”
Said Council member, Teresa Mosqueda.
Employees at the Central Co-op face those same dangers and shouldn’t be exempt.
Umm excuse me, but as a long time coop employee does not have sufficient pay to make this ok and being the ONLY grocer in the city to not benefit from this ordinance should make you all wanna cash in your equity. This is so shady and so greedy of the coop it’s disgusting. Tell your friends
SCC Insight wrote an incredibly thorough analysis of this policy: https://sccinsight.com/2021/01/25/council-fast-tracking-hazard-pay-for-grocery-workers-in-seattle/
And SCC Insight’s analysis clearly demonstrates that Teresa Mosqueda is, once again, in way over her head. There was not even a pretense of determining effects before rushing this legislation through, which was done (once again) to minimize public feedback. It also clearly demonstrates that Teresa Mosqueda is economically illiterate (though she does have a talent for catchy slogans like “Jump Start”).
If only the lazy stenographers playacting as reporters had asked Teresa some basic questions about her “policy.” But they simply genuflect before her and uncritically spread her propaganda.
Try to use the vaccine finder website. Utter mess.
If I were working in a grocery store, I think I’d prefer being moved up on the vaccine list priority to a few extra $$…. (that if you are unlucky you may not live to spend…)
Why doesn’t hazard pay apply to Drug Stores and Pharmacies? Bartell, Rite Aid, Walgreens, CVS?