23 Replies to "GROCERY PAY: Ahead of Seattle mandate, Trader Joe's raises 'thank you pay' to $4/hour"

• JustMe February 2, 2021 (4:07 pm)

  Is the Seattle Costco included in this requirement?

  • heartless February 2, 2021 (5:12 pm)

    Sure, why wouldn’t it be?  I think Costco was already giving an extra $2(?) as hazard pay, but, yes, they’re included in this new mandate.

  • Mike February 2, 2021 (6:33 pm)

    Costco already pays above other union grocers, they also have superior benefits and career advancement opportunities above that of lackluster union grocers.

• lyle February 2, 2021 (4:54 pm)

  My question is why wouldn’t everyone who serves the public get hero pay?Health care employees, emergency services employees, hardware store employees, fuel station employees, etc.,… Wouldn’t all of these employees, and more,  deserve ‘hero pay?’ Why is the city of Seattle burdening its grocery employers, particularly the local  grocery businesses, with the responsibility of caring for the community? This is the responsibility of the city to take care of its entire community, not burden a specific employer group for the responsibility of caring for the very citizens about which the city states it cares. Taking the path of least resistance is not taking care of your community. There must be a more sustainable solution than simply passing along the city’s responsibility to one group of employers.It appears that there is more politicizing here than caring.

  • CAM February 2, 2021 (10:01 pm)

    So everyone deserves it, only one group is lucky enough to be receiving it, therefore the solution is to not give it to anyone? Is that like the argument that if you raise minimum wage you’d have to pay teachers more? Ok…let’s pay all public service providers more. Let’s stop paying people based on whether or not we would “lower” ourselves to do the job and instead pay people a reasonable wage because they are people who provide a meaningful service and benefit to the community without whom we would not function. And that includes paying people more when we ask them to put themselves in harm’s way so we can continue to survive. 

• Rick February 2, 2021 (5:01 pm)

  How many people lose their jobs because of the store closings. More money for some, more lost jobs for others.

  • squirrel February 3, 2021 (5:25 am)

    There are ways for grocers to make this work, including charging customers a per transaction surcharge for hazard pay. Businesses that close stores in response to this, already needed to close, or are choosing to do this to reallocate money for hazard pay. In which case, I hope they absorb staff into other locations. If not, I hope these employees losing work will reach out and apply for another grocer who take better care of their employees.

• Buddy February 2, 2021 (6:09 pm)

  Yes I assume that Seattle Costco gets the four dollars extra per hour cause they probably have over a certain amount of people that work at that particular store.  I think teachers should be given extra pay for going back to full time in person learning!

  • Carole February 2, 2021 (8:15 pm)

    Teachers ARE working full time, even with remote learning. Several of my family members are teachers and they are working even harder via the remote platform.  I could never do it and I have mad respect for those who can.

    • CAM February 2, 2021 (10:04 pm)

      I think Buddy was emphasizing being “in-person,” i.e. sharing physical space, full-time rather than saying teachers are not currently working full-time. 

• The More You Know February 2, 2021 (6:23 pm)

  Meanwhile, Met Market is cutting employee hours to less that 40. Where you spend your money matters.

  • JoyceMama February 3, 2021 (12:02 am)

    Is this true? I thought the mandate specifically barred employers from reducing hours. I would like to spend my money in grocery stores that are taking care of their workers. Does anyone know if Thriftway is paying the $4/hr? 

    • WSB February 3, 2021 (12:15 am)

      See page 11
      https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/LaborStandards/LEG%20Hazard%20Pay%20for%20Grocery%20Employees%20ORD_Code%20Revised.pdf

  • realist February 3, 2021 (3:08 pm)

    I think some people missed out on taking basic business classes. Payroll is always the biggest expense for a business. So say employees make $20 an hour, and now the city mandates that they get paid an extra $4 an hour. That is a 20% jump in payroll, which is huge when you consider the number of employees. If Safeway has 65 employees that work a mixed schedule of part time and full time, we can average 30 hours a week x 65 = 1950 hours a week. Now an extra $4 an hour makes weekly payroll go up $7800. Can you imagine if your bills went up an extra 20% a week? You’d have to cut something out to make ends meet, and since most other expenses are fixed, payroll is one area to save money.  So the only way to make payroll remain the same is to cut hours by 20%. Its basic math. And yes, big companies should be able to weather the storm and just absorb the extra pay, but they still need to make profits and are beholden to their shareholders, so they will more than likely cut hours instead of cutting profits. It may not be right, but its reality.And before I get attacked, I am not against the pay increase, I am just stating what will most likely happen. This policy is the result of people who have never worked in the private sector and had to make a payroll out of their own pocket. Its ideal vs. reality.

• Nothing February 2, 2021 (9:28 pm)

  I’m over it.  Tired of hearing people go off about what people are supposed to be paid.  If you feel so strongly… slap a twenty in someone’s hand.  As a small business owner… you can’t have it all.  Homeless need bathrooms?  Pissed that they were removed?  Pissed that local businesses don’t offer them a place to do “whatever”?  Open your personal home and give them the amenities.  All of you who bemoan what “needs” to be done… DO IT.  And don’t require laws to do it.  And when you get that bad apple that takes advantage of you and makes you feel uncomfortable and frightened for your children… Don’t call the cops.  THE CRAZY COPS that would help.  So sick of all this.

  • CatLady February 3, 2021 (12:23 am)

    Let me get this straight – you have employees & you think you should be able to pay them whatever you want? Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds? 

  • squirrel February 3, 2021 (6:07 am)

    👎

    Sounds like you need to take some some deep breaths.

    And, how about just supporting adequate public bathrooms for all, and then you don’t have to have these fantasies of inviting folks you mistrust into your home and having them frighten you?

    By the way, these struggling folks out in the community you seem to loathe and fear are more vulnerable than you. You assume they will bite you, but they are mostly just seeking some food and safety, and a bathroom.

  • MonfordMustGo February 3, 2021 (4:59 pm)

    You don’t have to imagine the numbers at all. They are public so let’s look at some facts: Fred Meyer/Kroger rescinded hazard pay for its workers in June. At the same time it raised it’s CEO’s compensation from $14M to $21M while also posting record profits: “profits for the first two quarters were up a staggering 90%, according to a report from the Brookings Institution a Washington, D.C.-based think tank,” but they refuse to pay the hazard bonus to workers literally dying on the front lines to keep them operating through the pandemic. It’s not surprising that the CEO of PCC, Suzy Monford, is a former Kroger employee and is actively working to exempt her employees from hazard pay. You have a choice of where to shop.

• Mj February 2, 2021 (10:38 pm)

  I would not be surprised if some underperforming grocery stores close creating food deserts.  

• Question February 3, 2021 (10:22 am)

  We were reading the legislation and it says to be “paid for the duration of the pandemic, declared March 2020” does that mean employees will see retro pay for this? 

• Nothing February 3, 2021 (10:41 pm)

  I don’t think the government should tell me what to pay my employees.  I pay the honest, hard-working, loyal ones well… with bonuses and perks.  Sucks cause since the $15 per hour passed (I was paying $13.50), I can’t afford to eat unclaimed tips… which I did, willingly, at the end of the year… SO- now I claim ALL their tips (and don’t think I was doing anything illegal prior… like I said, “I” was responsible tax time)… and guess what… my employees now make less money per hour.  The government is benefiting, staff isn’t.  No one gets this.  Seattle should trust small businesses to compensate their staff… we do!  But are forced to not, because the city wants the payroll tax revenue!  I remember when PCC gave all their employees the option to take a “bag of vegetables, an organic turkey, or ham” as a nicety (bonus) for Thanksgiving.  That was at least 12 years ago.  What no one is realizing is that when the government forces businesses to pay employees a certain amount… they are disrespecting the legit businesses who would think of nothing less… PCC was one of them, I was one of them… now I am paying my employees more (which is taxed and they don’t see anyway), and I am not allowing all the free food/drink etc, and I am not eating the lack of tip claim, AND… the beatings will continue until the moral improves.  Doesn’t anyone see this?  Or is it just all about the, yeah!  We pay more per hour!  And don’t get me started on all you getting pissed about higher prices.  WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?  It’s absolutely infuriating.  But go ahead… demand what we are supposed to pay/do from your computers and stay at home jobs that pay exactly what you were paid minus the commute….

  • momosmom February 4, 2021 (6:36 am)

    EXACTLY. I see it and I understand you!

  • Laddbks February 7, 2021 (3:57 pm)

    Preach!!!

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