Olympia approves hazard pay for some grocery workers

OLYMPIA — Starting next month, large grocery stores in Olympia will be required to pay workers an additional $4 an hour in pay, the latest city in the state to enact such a requirement during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Olympian reported the Olympia City Council unanimously passed the ordinance Tuesday. The hazard pay requirement takes effect May 1 and lasts as long as Washington is under a state of emergency as declared by the governor, with the opportunity to revisit the policy in four months.

It applies to grocery stores with more than 250 employees. Farmers markets and convenience stores are excluded from the requirement, and an amendment approved by council also excludes truck drivers and corporate office staff.

“Olympia residents want Olympia to be a leader in wage equity and a leader in workplace safety, and this is a small ask in my opinion,” said council member Jim Cooper, who estimated it could affect about 450 workers citywide.

The city of Seattle passed a similar ordinance in January, and the cities of Burien and Edmonds have also required hazard pay for grocery workers.

The Port Angeles City Council considered it, did not vote on it, but a poll of the council members at a meeting earlier this month showed it lacked the votes for passage

The vote followed months of advocacy from grocery workers and unions. Grocery chains initially offered hazard pay at the beginning of the pandemic but eventually revoked it.

Charlotte Verdini-Elliot, who works at Fred Meyer, said that grocery workers, while deemed essential, have not been treated that way by their employers.

“Workers continue to be harassed and bullied by a public that has politicized this pandemic,” Verdini-Elliot said, noting that one of her co-workers contracted COVID-19 on the job.

Officials with The Northwest Grocery Association and Washington Food Industry Association spoke against the hazard pay proposal, saying that it singled out grocery stores but doesn’t apply to other types of retail, like pharmacies.

More in News

Mike O’Brien of Port Angeles watches as his dog, Nara, left, catches a flying disc and his other dog, Copper, waits for his turn to fetch a ball on Thursday at Erickson Playfield in Port Angeles. O’Brien said catch and fetch are favorite activities for his canine companions. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Got it!

Mike O’Brien of Port Angeles watches as his dog, Nara, left, catches… Continue reading

40-week business program under way

Advisor training part of Recompete program

Port of Port Townsend may ask voters if they should increase term lengths

Commissioners could serve six years if ballot measure is approved

Coast Guard cutter changes its command

Potter takes over ship based in Port Angeles in San Diego ceremony

Maintenance workers, from left, Brian Phillips, Jeff Clark and Noah Mohmand, suspend a banner outside the Port Angeles Public Library to gather interest in the library system’s Summer Reading Program, which runs from Friday through Aug. 23. The program offers free books and prizes for avid readers at the system’s branches in Port Angeles, Sequim, Forks and Clallam Bay. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Summer reading

Maintenance workers, from left, Brian Phillips, Jeff Clark and Noah Mohmand, suspend… Continue reading

Heritage projects awarded funding

Almost $2 million for Jefferson programs

Public comment period opens for cleanup at former Rayonier Mill site

Open house scheduled next month at Field Hall

History center declines Port Angeles’ offer for property

Letter cites inability to move inventory items

Cost-sharing pact approved for western Port Angeles Harbor cleanup

Potentially liable parties each to pay one-sixth of project

Sunrise Meats issues recall for smoked salmon

Sunrise Meats, Inc. of Port Angeles is recalling some… Continue reading

Candidate for Port of Port Angeles ends campaign

Nate Adkisson has announced he is ending his campaign… Continue reading

Port Townsend senior living center has COVID-19 outbreak

Twenty residents at Port Townsend Senior Living have tested… Continue reading