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Calling it dangerous work worthy of hazard pay during the pandemic, Santa Clara County’s Board of Supervisors is looking to impose a temporary $5-per-hour wage increase for grocery and drugstore workers.
Already in place in San Francisco and Oakland, the so-called “hero” pay ordinance in Santa Clara County would compel large chains to pay its essential, front-line workers higher wages for 180 days. Grocery stores, drugstores, fast food restaurants and large retailers that also sell groceries would be included.
The plan is to include all cities in Santa Clara County, rather than just unincorporated areas, though county officials are still exploring whether the county has the legal authority to impose such a wide-reaching wage ordinance.
Supervisor Cindy Chavez said many grocery store and drugstore employees are facing serious health risks showing up to work every day, but have seen little or no additional compensation through the duration of the pandemic. Meanwhile, numerous companies who employ these workers are raking in massive profits and have not faced economic hardship.
“I believe that these wage costs should be borne directly by the corporations, many of which are publicly traded and whose stock prices have only increased during COVID,” Chavez said.
Advocates point to a report released by the Brookings Institute last year, which found top U.S. retail companies are making a windfall during the pandemic, while workers risking their health and well-being have seen little in the way of increased pay.
Some perks — including wage increases and bonuses — were offered at the start of the pandemic but never came back. CVS, for example, gave employees a one-time bonus at the start of the pandemic ranging from $150 to $500, while Amazon gave a $2-per-hour bump to its employees that ended in May last year. Walmart gave one-time bonuses of $300 that ended in August.
The ordinance would not apply to small businesses and companies that have shuttered during the pandemic, said Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, instead targeting companies that have posted record-breaking profits.
“Many have not only survived but have thrived and grown during this pandemic as other smaller competitors … have been shuttered,” she said. “This growth should be shared with the people they employ.”
Union representatives lauded the proposal at the Jan. 26 Board of Supervisors meeting, calling it a lifesaver for employees that have no choice but to put their health at risk and come into contact with hundreds of people every day. Mullissa Willette, a representative from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 521, said she and others have been exploited during the pandemic, and that the $5 wage increase would be a lifeline.
Multiple fast food workers, speaking in Spanish, told supervisors that they are behind on rent and other bills and have seen their hours cut significantly since the pandemic began.
Not everyone was thrilled with the proposal. Katie Hansen, speaking on behalf of the California Restaurant Association, said restaurants have bent over backwards to follow public health orders and have spent thousands of dollars on staff training and safety-oriented building upgrades. Picking on some segments of the industry — in this case fast food chains — ignores the “tremendous costs” that have been placed on restaurants, she said.
Randy Pollack, a lobbyist for the International Franchise Association, urged supervisors to “keep the playing field level” and reject the hazard pay bump for franchises, which he said are locally owned, financially independent and struggling just like small businesses throughout Santa Clara County. Another speaker, who said he owns and operates several Wendy’s restaurants in the area, said he simply cannot survive a $5 wage bump and already had to close one location.
“The big corporations aren’t paying our bills, we pay our own bills,” he said. “I’ve got five restaurants in Santa Clara County that I would have to shut down for 180 days and lay off all those employees, because nobody is going to pay $15 for a hamburger without fries and a soda.”
Supervisors voted 4-0, with Supervisor Mike Wasserman recused, to ask staff to draft the hazard pay ordinance. The ordinance will account for companies that have implemented generous pay raises — including Lucky’s and Save Mart — that remain in place to this day.
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Well, there goes my weekly burger, fries and milk shake fix I do every week. After Biden get 15 dollars minimum wage then the bay area will move the local minimum wage to thirty an hour.
Government here *really* needs to get out of setting prices in the private sector.
Has government price-setting really worked well anywhere in the world? I get it… the urge to ‘do something’ is powerful, and these kinds of dictates are look-good populist moves, but government needs to stick to providing government services and not try to ‘manage’ every business and service.
I agree with Longtime Resident. Btw the new commenting system that doesn’t include upvoting comments is dumb. I would have simply upvoted that post. Instead, I had to type this and you had to read it.
I also agree with, longtime resident.
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