The California Grocers Association sued Oakland on Wednesday, just a day after the City Council voted to demand that top food vendors give workers a $ 5 an hour increase in compensation for the additional risks and stress of operating on the lines. facing during the pandemic coronavirus.
The commercial group, which represents the majority of supermarkets in California, is seeking that the new law be declared invalid and unconstitutional.
The lawsuit and related cases elsewhere emerge at a time when the momentum of health hazard premiums for supermarket workers grows during the pandemic.
The commercial group also filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Montebello (Los Angeles County), which enacted a similar law a few days ago. The Grocers Association has a pending lawsuit against Long Beach (Los Angeles County), which in January became the first city in California to impose a hazard pay on supermarket employees.
Oakland City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to demand the payment of dangerous goods in large supermarkets. His justification: grocery store workers became essential workers during the pandemic, and their internal jobs that involve extensive customer contact are now fraught with risks. The emergency measure took effect immediately.
The City Council said the extra payment would affect about 2,000 workers, including 1,200 represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5. A spokesman for the grocery trade group said on Wednesday that the affected stores are already paying the premium in the cities where it is now mandatory.
The grocery store grievance registered in the Northern District of California says the hazard premium measure is illegal in two ways. First, he argues that the law violates the equal protection clauses of the United States and California constitutions because it chooses certain grocery owners for different treatment and ignores other groups that employ essential frontline workers. Second, the complaint says, the National Labor Relations Law, which governs collective bargaining, anticipates the new measure.
The law violates the “fundamental right of grocery owners to be free of irrational governmental interference in their contracts, specifically in their collective bargaining agreements and other labor agreements,” the suit says.
The Oakland lawsuit seeks a court order to stop the application of the new law. A similar grocery store lawsuit against Long Beach tried unsuccessfully to obtain a temporary restraining order. The lawsuit is now seeking an injunction in Long Beach. The first hearing in the Long Beach case is on February 19.
The grocers’ group said the lawsuit does not seek reimbursement of payment premiums, but that individual stores may decide to go after cities for the money.
“This is exactly the same process that was started in Long Beach,” said Oakland Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas, who co-sponsored the hazard measure. “We believe that our emergency decree is legally sound and will remain. It is unfortunate that these huge food companies, the largest in the country, would prefer to file lawsuits against cities than share some of the incredible wealth they accumulated during this pandemic with their frontline workers who desperately need help. “
The Oakland measure applies to stores over 15,000 square feet that primarily sell food and have more than 500 employees across the country. The authors said they wanted to exempt small corner stores, instead, sweep the larger stores that saw their profits increase during the pandemic. It should last until California declares that Alameda County has reached the yellow level, which means minimal virus risk.
“We are confident that the city will prevail,” said Jim Araby, a spokesman for UFCW Local 5, which represents about 23,000 grocery workers in northern California. “Our members have been working during the pandemic, while supermarkets have made record profits, and very few have chosen to share this with their employees. It is an appreciation for your work and the risks you take. “
The grocery group said it agreed that supermarket workers are “frontline heroes”, but that stores have “already made a major effort” to improve store safety.
“Firefighters, law enforcement officers, healthcare professionals, as well as transportation, sanitation and restaurant workers are essential, but grocery stores are the only companies that are subject to extra payment obligations,” said Ron Fong, CEO of the California Grocers Association, in a statement. “These ordinances will not make workers safer.”
In the meantime, more dangerous ordinances are advancing.
On Tuesday, both the San Jose City Council and the Los Angeles City Council voted to ask city attorneys to draft hazard decrees for grocery workers. The councils want to vote for them soon. San Jose’s would add $ 3 an hour, while Los Angeles’s would add $ 5 an hour. Both target larger stores. Several other bay area cities, including Berkeley, Concord and Antioch, are considering similar measures, union representatives said.
Carolyn Said is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @csaid