King County Council establishes grocery store hazard pay for unincorporated areas

The King County Council voted 8-1 Tuesday to establish a hazard pay requirement for additional compensation for grocery employees working in the unincorporated area of King County.

The ordinance, sponsored by Councilmembers Rod Dembowski and Dave Upthegrove, would last for the duration of the King County Executive’s proclamation of emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic. Grocery store workers will get an additional $4 per hour in hazard pay. Due to an amendment passed Tuesday, the start date of the ordinance will be March 22, 2021.

“This is beyond the scope of what I’m comfortable authorizing, even though I strongly support hazard pay,” Councilmember Reagan Dunn said, the only member to vote against the ordinance.

“I recognize that there are other essential workers who should be included,” said Councilmember Joanne Kohl-Welles, adding that an expansion of hazard pay could hopefully happen using money from the federal government. “I think this is an important first step. What really sold me … is that our grocery workers are the ones who are incredibly essential.”

Similar hazard pay measures were enacted in both Seattle and Burien, handing out an additional $4 and $5 an hour, respectively, to grocery workers at large stores. Seattle’s measure encompasses stores with 500 or more employees, while Burien’s minimum is set at 250 employees.

People who spoke during the public hearing period were mostly in favor of the hazard pay requirement, including a number of grocery store workers themselves who spoke to the difficulty and risks of working on the front lines of a pandemic since the beginning.

“We expose ourselves and our loved ones to this disease every time we come into work as we are in constant contact with the public,” one person said.

Those who spoke against it brought up that other essential workers are not receiving a similar hazard pay, and that there’s no set end date for the ordinance because it’s unknown when the emergency declaration may end. In the past, opponents have claimed that hazard pay imposes added costs that smaller grocery stores may not be able to afford.

Councilmember Dunn: Grocery hazard pay is the ‘direct first of government’

Both the Washington Food Industry Association and the Northwest Grocery Association have signed on to a federal lawsuit filed against Seattle challenging the city’s hazard pay ordinance.

Critical workers who work in certain congregate settings, including workers in agriculture, food processing, and grocery stores, are eligible to be vaccinated in Washington as part of Phase 1B, tier 2. The next phase — Phase 1B-2 — could start as soon as March 22 if supply of the COVID-19 vaccine continues to increase.

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