SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) -- In San Jose, grocery store workers will receive an extra $3-an-hour pay increase.
The city of San Jose became the latest city in the Bay Area to offer "hazard pay" to employees of large grocery stores.
“These are not unique times, I think all of us can attest to that, these are not unique times, people are in crisis, people are hurting, but there are some corporations doing just fine,” Councilmember Sergio Jimenez said.
The ordinance will require corporate grocery stores with at least 300 employees nationwide, chain supermarkets and retail food stores that sell groceries to pay its workers an additional $3-an-hour for 120 days.
On Tuesday, the San Jose City Council voted 7-3 to pass the new law but failed to clear a requirement of at least eight councilmembers voting in favor of the ordinance for it to go into effect immediately.
As a result, the law won’t be enacted for another 38 to 45 days, leaving thousands of grocery store workers around the city having to wait longer than they would have liked.
San Jose resident Pamela Romero has been working as a grocery store employee for over 40 years and tells KRON4 News the pay increase would help significantly since they don’t have the luxury to work from home like other people do.
“We go to work everyday around hundreds of people and you never know what's going to happen, we don't know if somebody's got COVID or not, so I think we deserve the hazard pay,” said Romero.
“It would help us a lot with our rents, our mortgages, our kids, with finding a babysitter that doesn't have COVID.”
For others, the risk of going to work and potentially bringing the virus home with them comes at a price.
Audrey Moore has been a grocery store employee for over 30 years and says her water bill has gone up since the start of the pandemic as she showers thoroughly upon returning home from work to make sure she doesn't infect her family.
“I'm washing clothes more because I don't want to bring anything in the house, so im trying to wash like every day or every other day just to keep up,” Moore said.
“The water bill is going up more because I'm washing more because I don't want to bring in any clothes I had on all day at work, so I think the hazard pay would help us in many ways.”
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and councilmembers Dev Davos and Matt Mahan voted against the ordinance citing concerns about the financial impact on the stores.
In addition, councilmember Pam Foley recused herself because she holds stock in Amazon, which is the owner of Whole Foods.
The city of San Jose now joins other cities who have adopted similar hazard pay ordinances including Oakland, Long Beach, Santa Monica, and Seattle.
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors are set to vote later this month on a $5 pay increase for workers in large grocery stores and fast-food restaurants countywide, with the exception of the city of San Jose.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/2Z54Z7t
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