Anaheim declines to mandate hero pay for grocery workers

Anaheim is the latest city in Orange County to deny a mandate to require hero pay for grocery and pharmacy workers.

The council’s decision on Tuesday to not increase grocery workers’ pay by $3 an hour for 60 days came as no surprise. Last week, four of the council’s seven members said they were not in favor of the wage increase while having an initial discussion of the proposal.

Councilman Jose Moreno brought the item forward with the support of council members Avelino Valencia and Jordan Brandman.

“What we know is that grocery and drug retail employees working during COVID, as we heard from testimonies of the past two meetings, merit additional compensation in part because they were asked by our city, by our county, by our consumers, by our nation to put themselves on the front lines when everyone was being asked to stay home,” Moreno said Tuesday night. “...We also know that less than half of Orange County residents are currently fully vaccinated, and the folks who are taking the brunt of this virus, we know through data, is low-income folks in our county. Particularly Latino and immigrant families who traditionally work these jobs.”

Moreno also said that the grocery industry has seen massive profits during the pandemic, which he said should be shared with workers.

There wasn’t much discussion beyond Moreno and Valencia’s comments because Councilman Trevor O’Neil then made a motion to lay the item on the table, bypassing further discussion. O’Neil’s motion was approved with support from Mayor Harry Sidhu, and council members Stephen Faessel and Jose Diaz.

O’Neil voiced his opposition to the hero pay proposal during last week’s discussion, stating that many industries have suffered during the pandemic, and the city shouldn’t single out a single profession.

“Just last week we had a lengthy discussion on this issue and a majority of this council clearly expressed opposition to an ordinance like this,” O’Neil said Tuesday. “But here we are considering it again. Well, it’s been said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

“To our staff, I’m sorry that you’re tasked to work on something that we all know has no chance of being adopted when we have so many other important issues to deal with in Anaheim. And to the public, I’m sorry that there are members of this body who chose to waste taxpayer money in this exercise in futility.”

While Tustin rejected a hero pay proposal late last month, Irvine, Santa Ana, Buena Park and Costa Mesa enacted hero pay ordinances in February and March.

Several cities — including Oakland, Seattle, Santa Monica, San Jose, Montebello and Long Beach — have adopted hazard pay for grocery and pharmacy store workers, though the ordinances have not been without controversy. The California Grocers Assn. has sued many of these cities, including Irvine and Santa Ana.

Supporters of hero pay argue that grocery store workers deserve a wage hike due to the hazardous conditions they’ve endured over the last year. They also suggest the grocery industry should share some of its profits made during the pandemic with employees.

Those in opposition to hero pay contend that the government shouldn’t be determining raises, and cities may face costly lawsuits.

Following the meeting, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324 — a union that represents 22,000 workers in grocery, drug, pharmacy, health care, food processing and cannabis in Orange and Los Angeles counties — issued a statement against the council’s decision.

“It’s frontline workers that have borne the brunt of the risks of this pandemic and will continue to as new guidance on mask use and implementation of safety measures will change in the month ahead as our state reopens,” said Andrea Zinder, president of UFCW Local 324. “These essential workers have endured the toll of exposure every day and especially in cities like Anaheim where workers have seen the highest rate of infection among our membership. It’s unconscionable that Mayor Harry Sidhu, and council members Stephen Faessel, Jose Diaz and Trevor O’Neil chose to side with corporations instead of workers leading the charge to recognize frontline workers.”

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