Union officials, labor experts and local officials say cities are stepping in where the federal government and private sector fall short. They hope the measures will put more pressure on major grocers to restore the peril payment in their stores across the country and spur other cities into similar legislation.
The United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which represents 1.3 million workers in the grocery, meat packaging and food industries, says that at least 134 grocery workers have died from the coronavirus and thousands have been infected.
“We are seeing an increase in food purchases in supermarkets. But we have not seen a commensurate increase in wages … for those putting themselves at risk,” said Teresa Mosqueda, Seattle City Councilor who introduced the city’s measure. an interview. “What we’ve seen is a slowdown in vaccination, with front-line workers becoming more exposed and incurring Covid.”
Industry groups are against such mandates. Ronald Fong, president of the California Grocery Association, said in an interview that the measures taken by cities will have “unintended consequences.”
“Grocers will have to raise consumer product prices to do these increases, or cut shifts to make payroll,” he predicted.
Two large chains have made different moves in the past week.
Earlier this week, Ralphs and Food 4 Less, which are owned by Kroger, announced that they would be closing two stores in Long Beach. A Kroger spokesperson said the stores were struggling and the closures were a result of the Long Beach City Council’s “misguided decision” to “pick winners and losers” and demand a risk payment for supermarkets in the city, but not for large retailers.
“Kroger’s decision is unfortunate for employees, shoppers and the company,” Kevin Lee, a Long Beach spokesperson, said in a statement.
A ‘big’ bump
But many of the mandates do not involve employees at the largest retailers in the country. Most measures target stores that primarily sell food, so major retailers such as Walmart and Target that sell food and a wide variety of goods are excluded. In addition, those chains do not have stores in some cities where laws have been passed or proposed, and thus are not affected. (Los Angeles, where a bill covers not only grocery stores, but also drugstores and major checkout chains, is an exception).
She predicts that efforts in cities in Seattle and California will result in more cities and counties across the country mandating risk payment for grocery workers. But she doesn’t expect Congress to pass similar legislation requiring risk payment for grocery workers.