Oakland city councilmembers on Tuesday will consider an ordinance giving hazard pay to grocery workers who are employees at large stores because working during the pandemic is dangerous for them.
The increase in pay would be $5 per hour, but city staff members have not yet been in touch with grocery stores to get their opinion.
As a result, the city administrator’s office is recommending that the council wait to vote on the matter until those opinions can be heard.
The proposed ordinance defines large stores as those over 15,000 square feet in size. Essentially, employers must have 500 or more employees nationwide, according to a report on the proposal, which lays out the other components of the ordinance.
The report says that the stores in Oakland that would be affected include Trader Joe’s, Save Mart, Whole Foods, Target, Cardenas and Safeway, which is owned by Albertsons.
On Tuesday, the San Jose City Council will consider a similar ordinance.
Oakland Councilmembers Nikki Fortunato Bas and Noel Gallo, who authored the proposal, have heard from the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents about 1,300 grocery workers in Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose and other Bay Area cities.
