On January 25, the Seattle City Council voted 8-0 to mandate that grocery stores with more than 500 employees worldwide pay their employees an additional $4.00/hour during the civil emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We applaud our community’s grocery workers, who have shown up day after day during this pandemic. As our state’s vaccine distribution ramps up, we strongly support giving all frontline workers in essential positions like these access to the vaccine as swiftly as possible, and would urge the City to focus on how Seattle can be as strong a partner as possible to state and regional leaders to vaccinate our whole community quickly and equitably,” said Alicia Teel, a spokesperson for the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.
She added, “Employers in the grocery industry have also shown their commitment during the pandemic; as an industry with very thin margins, they have nonetheless taken on additional costs such as investing in PPE and more frequent cleaning to keep customers and employees safe. While well-intentioned, this bill simply directs them to do more, when they are already doing more than ever. This bill also sets a new precedent for unpredictability: it had its first and only hearing on Friday, got voted on today, and will go into effect as soon as the Mayor signs it. Acting with urgency should not include incomplete outreach to those who will be impacted and a complete departure from Seattle’s established legislative process. Employers need time to adjust their systems; instead they will be scrambling to ensure they are in compliance.”