California city passes resolution giving grocery workers extra $4 per hour in hazard pay amid COVID-19 pandemic

KABC logo
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Long Beach passes resolution backing hazard pay for grocery workers
The planned urgency ordinance would order grocery store employees to pay their frontline employees an additional $4 an hour in hazard pay wages.

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- A California city council Tuesday evening passed a resolution that would require "hero pay" for all frontline grocery workers amid the coronavirus pandemic.



The planned urgency ordinance would order grocery store employers in southern California's Long Beach to pay their frontline employees an additional $4 an hour in hazard pay wages.



"When large corporations don't step up to provide hazard pay for grocery workers, we will step in and protect these heroes," Mayor Robert Garcia tweeted. "Thank you to the Long Beach City Council for adopting the emergency $4 hazard pay for grocery workers. I'm going to sign the law as soon as it hits my desk."



RELATED: Front-line grocery store workers demand better safety enforcement, hazard pay as COVID cases surge





The urgency ordinance is expected to be voted on in early January. The hazard pay ordinance would expire after 120 days.



The resolution was introduced to the city council by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324.

Copyright © 2024 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.