On March 4, 2020, as a result of the threat of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a State of Emergency in California and Mayor Eric Garcetti declared the existence of a local emergency in the City of Los Angeles. On March 11, 2020, the Word Health Organization officially declared the outbreak a pandemic. Since that time, grocery and drug retail workers in the City of Los Angeles continue to report to work and serve their communities, despite the ongoing hazards and danger of being exposed to COVID-19. While many employees can choose to work from home, essential grocery and drug retail workers are on the frontlines of the pandemic – they must report to work to perform their jobs, which includes substantial interaction with the public and significant exposure to an infectious disease. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that the virus spreads more readily indoors, and essential grocery and drug retail workers must perform their jobs inside, with large crowds. These workers live with daily fear of not only contracting COVID-19, but bringing it home to their families – often for low wages and minimal benefits.
Because of the sacrifice of these essential workers, families throughout the City continue to have access to the food and supplies they need during the pandemic. Grocery and drug retail workers ensure a strong supply chain by continuously restocking food and critical household items, including toilet paper, cleaning supplies, medicine, and other products necessary to maintain the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of residences. As a result of the pandemic, grocery and drug retail workers are tasked with responsibilities they did not have previously, including wearing masks, practicing social distancing, and constantly wiping down high touch areas, including cash registers, conveyer belts, and shopping carts for the public.
This year, the CDC reports that multiple COVID-19 variants are circulating globally that appear to spread more quickly and easily than other variants. As coronavirus cases continue to spread throughout the City, the health threats grocery and drug retail workers face are as significant now as when the pandemic began. The risks are especially pronounced among employees who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color because they are overrepresented among the retail frontline workforce and are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, which has exposed and deepened social and economic inequalities.
According to a Brookings Institution analysis from November 2020, the top retail companies in the United States have earned record-breaking profits during the pandemic. In total, top retail companies earned on average an extra $16.7 billion in profit in 2020, while stock prices were up an average of 33 percent. But this increase in profits has not transferred to the low-wage frontline workers who risk their lives to support the business operations. To the extent workers have received any hazard pay at all for performing life threatening work, such pay has been limited or inconsistent.
The importance of fair compensation for the risks the City's essential grocery and drug retail workers endure cannot be overstated, particularly at a time when many families are struggling financially, and workers face increased childcare costs as a result of remote learning and expensive healthcare bills if they become sick with COVID-19. Providing additional compensation to essential grocery and drug retail workers encourages them to continue their work to keep the food and supply chain operating.
Through this ordinance, the City seeks to justly compensate essential grocery and drug retail workers for their daily sacrifices and the ongoing danger they and their families face while providing vital services to the City's residents during the pandemic. By requiring premium hazard pay for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic, the City aims to protect the health and welfare of its essential grocery and drug retail workers, their families, and the community.