Seattle City Council passes bill requiring $4 an hour in hazard pay for grocery store workers
A bill that will require some grocery stores in Seattle to pay employees an extra $4 an hour in hazard pay amid the coronanvirus pandemic was approved Monday by Seattle City Council.
The legislation -- which passed in a 8-0 vote -- comes months after most grocery stores in the region and across the country took away the hazard pay benefit they put into place at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, even as cases have surged over the past several months.
"[Grocery store workers] put themselves in hazard way every day. They deserve hazard pay today," Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda said during the council meeting Monday ahead of the vote.
"We are again showing what it means to both care for those on the frontlines and those who they care for. This is about the health and wellbeing of grocery store workers obviously, but it's about the population's health as well...We have to step up and honor the work that these grocery store workers do with hazard pay today."
https://www.seattlepi.com/seattlenews/article/seattle-grocery-store-workers-hazard-pay-bill-15896573.php