The grocery industry is taking a handful of cities to West Coast court over local measures recently requiring large supermarket chains to pay more money for toil among the public amid a deadly case. pandemic.
The legal battles come because some municipalities want to act after the “danger payment” for many grocery workers has expired. continue to face job risks. According to the United Food and Commercial Workers union, at least 134 grocery workers died from COVID-19, and more than 28,700 were exposed to a positive case.
The new law in Seattle that requires $ 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. According to the federal lawsuits filed this week, the collective bargaining between grocery chains and unions is disrupted, and according to the Seattle Times, large companies are singled out.
“Unfortunately, the council’s unprecedented ordinance, unilateral action and unwillingness to cooperate with the grocery industry have left us with no option but to file a lawsuit against the city,” said Tammie Hetrick, president and CEO of WFIA, said in a statement. about the law that was passed last week and went into effect on Wednesday. The regulation applies to groceries with more than 500 employees in general and remains in force as long as the public health crisis continues.
A spokesman for Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, Dan Nolte, said: “We will absolutely defend the city’s right to see essential grocery workers receive the fare they deserve.”
Similar battles are taking place in California, where the California Grocers Association is also active on the legal front.
The nationwide trade group has filed federal lawsuits against the cities of Oakland and Montebello after both ordinances were approved requiring workers from large grocery chains to pay an extra five dollars an hour. It also disputes a $ 4 hourly wage increase for employees of large supermarket chains in Long Beach, California, and threatening action against Los Angeles, as it also continues its own ordinance on payroll.
Trader Joe’s has responded to recent events by temporarily increased payment with $ 4 per hour for its workers nationwide, but to cancel the traditional mid-year increases.
Kroger adopted a different and even more controversial tact and said it would happen includes two stores in Long Beach after the city passed a $ 4 hourly wage increase for employees of large supermarket chains. Kroger, the country’s largest supermarket company, also warned that more closures could come.
Research has found that frontline workers are at higher risk for coronavirus exposure at work. Such workers are also more likely to be black, Hispanic, or Native Americans who suffered higher COVID-19.
—The Associated Press contributed to this report.