LA Metropolis Councilors Suggest An Further $5 Per Hour Hazard Pay For Grocery Employees – CBS Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Following in the footsteps of their Long Beach neighbors, Los Angeles city councils on Wednesday proposed a motion that would grant grocery store workers an additional $ 5 per hour hazard payment due to the workplace risks of the pandemic.

According to the proposal proposed by LA City Council President Nury Martinez and Councilor Mitch O’Farrell, large grocery stores, defined as those with at least 300 employees across the country, would have to give their employees an additional $ 5 an hour.

The hazard payment would stay in place as long as LA County is on the purple or red plains of California’s coronavirus recovery roadmap.

The motion came just a day after Long Beach City Council voted unanimously to push for a $ 4 an hour hike in the dangerous wage for grocery store workers for at least the next 120 days.

If approved, the motion would ask the LA City attorney to draft an Emergency Ordinance, which the council would then vote on a second time.

“Despite the highest increase in COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, our grocery store workers continue to show up every day to serve customers and provide essentials that city residents need to stay safer at home,” said Councilor O’Farrell in a statement. “This is dangerous work by definition, and the money they make should be commensurate with the risks involved in the work.”

LA County reported 22,422 new coronavirus cases and 138 deaths on Wednesday, both records. It has also been reported that 4,656 patients have been hospitalized with the coronavirus, also a record.

The total coronavirus count in LA County is 566,005 and the death toll is 8,568.

Back in March and April, as the pandemic spread, several large grocery stores and retailers – including Kroger, Walmart, Target, and Albertsons – were giving their employees one-time bonuses or temporary wage increases of $ 2 an hour.