San Jose city councilmembers returned from their dinner recess to several community members demanding the approval of a coronavirus hazard pay ordinance that would guarantee retail food workers an extra $3 per hour.
This urgency ordinance will be reviewed next week by the council after councilmembers voted 6-3 in favor of drafting the ordinance during Tuesday’s Zoom meeting. Vice Mayor Chappie Jones and councilmember Pam Foley both recused themselves from the vote because of conflicts of interest with owning Amazon stock.
"We know companies can do this,” said John Gomez, an essential grocery worker during public comment. “It's not the ability to pay, but rather if companies want to reward workers or stakeholders."
Councilmember Sergio Jimenez drafted the memorandum and although he acknowledged the financial impact this could have on companies, he said they’ll survive.
The city attorney office will draft the ordinance which would apply to retail establishments that sell meats, poultry, dairy products, fresh fruits and vegetables and have at least 300 employees nationwide.
If the ordinance passes next week, there will be a 120-day period where the council will evaluate the ordinance’s impact and decide on extending hazard pay for additional time. The council will also use this time to further discuss how the ordinance would play out in real-life application.
Jimenez stated in his original memorandum that hazard pay for retail food workers is a benefit that should’ve been adopted at the start of the pandemic.
John Nunes, president of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 5, said grocery workers deserve compensation for the life-threatening work they’re doing. Nunes said his union represents about 25,000 grocery workers in Northern California.
“Our union nationally has lost over 120 workers to this deadly disease and tens of thousands have been affected,” Nunes said during public comment.
On Tuesday, Oakland City Council unanimously passed a similar emergency ordinance mandating “hazard pay” until the pandemic subsides, according to a Tuesday article from the East Bay Times.
According to the article, Oakland joined Long Beach, Seattle and Santa Monica in adopting the measure. Other cities, including Berkeley and Los Angeles, are considering similar actions.
When the pandemic began, grocers around the country instituted hazard pay of $2 per hour and benefits to compensate those considered essential workers.
But according to a June 4, 2020 article from The Philadelphia Inquirer, that $2 bonus pay expired on June 1, 2020. The article states other supermarket giants and Rite Aid pharmacies have also stopped additional pay.
The main concerns against the ordinance came from the retail grocery industry about increasing prices and being unable to pay employees without losing profits.
Steve McCarthy, vice president of public policy and regulatory affairs of the California retail association, urged the council to refrain from passing the ordinance because it’s not economically viable for companies.
“This is the last thing our members want to do in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic,” McCarthy said during public comment. “A mandated pay increase beyond what retail employers can tolerate without raising prices or cutting workforce hours will hurt both consumers and our hardworking employees.”
San Jose Vice Mayor Charles Jones proposed an amendment to further analyze different aspects of the ordinance and have councilmembers consult stakeholders and different companies for more input.
"I just want to have a better understanding of our ramifications of our decision," Jones said.
Some of Jones’s concerns revolve around wanting to analyze the impacts to other cities who have adopted a similar ordinance, the increased cost to customers and business employment reductions and eliminations.
Several councilmembers also agreed the lack of data and risk of viability in companies are the main concerns for the ordinance.
District 10 councilmember Matt Mahan said stores including Chavez Supermarket aren't like Amazon or Walmart and would probably have to raise product prices. He said this is a big decision and is advocating for more analysis.
“I don't care about the businesses themselves, I care about the people employed by those businesses whose jobs or whose hours may be at risk by something that we do,” councilmember Dev Davis said.
COVID-19 vaccine update
During the Office of Emergency Management’s COVID-19 update report, Chief of Staff Lee Wilcox told the council that the city has been trying to ramp up vaccinations which have been slow statewide.
The Santa Clara County vaccine distribution process remains the same, with health care workers and citizens over the age of 65 being first in line. The next phase is an age-based approach in choosing people, Wilcox said.
He mentioned having Blue Shield of California, a health plan provider, and Kaiser Permanente help distribute doses directly to their hospitals and providers at a faster pace.
He said ensuring the most at-risk communities are vaccinated is the top priority.
Deputy City Manager Kip Harkness said the city is also planning to open smaller vaccination sites around San Jose to prepare for when more vaccine doses become available.
Liccardo said opening additional sites won't supply more vaccines.
“We have a whole team working on site selection . . . but the primary constraint for getting shots is getting the actual vaccines,” Harkness said. “That flow remains smaller than our capacity to administer vaccines at this point.”a
