San Carlos considers hazard pay

“When I saw the infection rate of grocery workers as one in five compared to the standard and regular population of one in 100, that was very concerning to me,” said Parmer-Lohan.

South San Francisco and San Mateo were the first in the county to approve a $5 hazard pay ordinance for grocery and pharmacy employees. On Monday, Daly City followed suit, approving a $5 hazard pay ordinance. The ordinances range from 90 to 120 days of hazard pay.

The Board of Supervisors has also considered a similar ordinance that would have required grocery stores in unincorporated San Mateo County to pay its workers an additional $5. Interested in potentially expanding the ordinance to cover the whole county and weary of litigation occurring in Southern California for similar measures, supervisors opted to revisit the item within a month.

Vice Mayor Sara McDowell suggested the city monitor the ordinance at the county level, adding that a countywide hazard pay requirement made the most sense to her.

Councilman Ron Collins said before Monday’s meeting he spoke with Supervisor Don Horsley, a sponsor of the county’s bill with Board of Supervisors President David Canepa. Collins said the conversation led him to believe supervisor enthusiasm for the ordinance was low.

“It’s really an unpredictable road you go down when you start taking these issues on,” said Collins while recounting the conversation. “So I don’t think we should be looking to the county to provide us any sort of cover for this.”

City Attorney Greg Rubens also said he’d like to do adequate research on the legal aspect of the potential ordinance which would “take a while.” Rubens said federal courts are now taking up the issue to determine whether the ordinances are a violation of labor laws.

Some councilmembers questioned whether the requirement would be inclusive of all essential workers. Councilman Adam Rak requested more research be done to determine the need in other essential businesses while McDowell shared support for a study session focused on ordinances adopted in the county.

City Manager Jeff Maltbie said bringing back an ordinance may take months once staff work and meetings are factored in. Some projects may have to be put on hold to develop the recommendation, he said.

Concerned with the time frame for developing the ordinance, Councilman John Dugan suggested the city focus on helping grocery store employees access vaccines. On Feb. 22, the county opened up vaccine eligibility to essential high-risk sectors including education, agriculture, grocery and law enforcement employees.

“I’m certainly empathetic for front-line workers and they’ve certainly exposed themselves to hazard for the past year,” said Dugan. “It feels like we’re — god willing — toward the tail end of getting folks the protections they really need to be safe in those positions.”

Julie Lind, executive secretary-treasurer with the San Mateo County Central Labor Council, addressed the council during public comment and noted other county cities have passed urgency ordinances within weeks which took effect immediately. Cities have also backed the emergency laws with a standard ordinance as an additional legal protection.

“These folks have been on the front line of the pandemic since day one almost a year ago now,” said Lind. “This additional compensation is to give them a cushion and the timeline is to hopefully give them enough time to get vaccinated.”

Recognizing supply constraints, Parmer-Lohan said her concern for public safety drove her to propose the measure while jurisdictions wait for additional allocations of vaccines.

“This is somewhat of a bridge,” said Parmer-Lohan. “We know that with vaccines there’s a bottleneck there and they’re not forthcoming.”

sierra@smdailyjournal.com

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