The grocery industry is bringing a handful of West Coast cities to trial over recently approved local measures that require major supermarket chains to pay more money to front-line workers to work among the public amid a deadly crash pandemic.
Legal battles occur when some municipalities have tried to intervene after the expiration of the “danger pay” of many grocery store workers, even when continue to face occupational hazards. At least 134 grocery store workers have died from COVID-19 and more than 28,700 have been exposed to a positive case, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers union.
Seattle’s new law requiring $ 4 per hour increases for employees of large grocery chains has the Northwest Grocery Association and the Washington Food Industry Association fighting the city in court. Federal lawsuits filed this week argue that the ordinance alters collective bargaining between supermarket chains and unions and highlights large companies, according to the Seattle Times.
“Unfortunately, the council’s unprecedented ordinance, its unilateral action and unwillingness to work with the grocery industry have left us with no choice but to file a lawsuit against the city,” said Tammie Hetrick, president and WFIA CEO, in a statement. as for the law that was passed last week and went into effect on Wednesday. The ordinance applies to groceries with more than 500 employees in general and remains in effect as long as the public health crisis is maintained.
A spokesman for Seattle attorney Pete Holmes, Dan Nolte, said, “We will absolutely stand up for the city’s right to see the store’s essential workers receive the pay for risk they so well deserve.”
Similar struggles are also taking place in California, where the California Grocers Association is also active on the legal front.
The state-owned trade group has filed federal lawsuits against the cities of Oakland and Montebello after they both passed ordinances requiring an additional $ 5 per hour for large grocery chain workers. It is also challenging a $ 4-per-hour pay rise for employees of large supermarket chains in Long Beach, California, and a threatening lawsuit against Los Angeles as it also moves forward with its own risk-paying ordinance.
Trader Joe’s responded to recent events by salary increase temporarily for $ 4 an hour for its workers across the country, but canceling their traditional mid-year hikes.
Kroger took a different and even more controversial approach, saying yes closes two stores in Long Beach after that city spent a $ 4-per-hour pay rise for employees of large supermarket chains. Kroger, the country’s largest supermarket company, also warned that they could close.
Research has found that front-line employees face a higher risk of coronavirus exposure at work. These workers are also more likely to be black, Hispanic, or Native American, populations who have suffered higher rates of COVID-19.
—The Associated Press contributed to this report.