Hazard Pay for Grocery Workers is A Bad Idea

Sometimes it feels like we are living in the Twilight Zone. On Tuesday, the Costa Mesa City Council voted 6-1 to direct City staff to write a new ordinance forcing about 12 local grocery stores to give employees “hazard” pay. The vote was 6-1 with Council Member Don Harper voting “no”. Thank you, Council Member Harper, for showing common sense and representing many of us who think this is an absurd idea. Mandating a $4 an hour raise, Council Members reasoned grocery workers were being underpaid and at a greater risk of catching COVID while the corporations they worked for were raking in the dough. There was no data given to support this accusation. What happened to the old-fashioned idea that union bosses are supposed to represent employees and negotiate raises? The City has no jurisdiction to tell local businesses to offer “hazard” pay. The City is exposing taxpayers to lawsuits. Everyone has a personal responsibility to protect themselves from COVID-19 and other diseases. All workers may stop working and collect unemployment benefits if the risk is too great at work. Or workers may find another job. Trader Joe’s recently increased its “thank you” pay by $2 hour in addition to an earlier $2 raise and expanded health benefits. It is up to the employer to reward employees. Mine did with a generous debit card. There are many heroes in COVID. We cannot go down this path to recognize one group. Where does it end? This dangerous idea is the tip of the spear toward more government control by somehow equating “hazard” pay with “economic justice”. This idea is anathema to the American free enterprise system and creeps us toward socialism. We elected the Mayor and City Council to work for Costa Mesans. I helped elect some of these council members because I believed they would vote for what is best for Costa Mesa. This ordinance is government over-reach. The ordinance will come back to the Council for a vote at a future meeting. Please let the City Council hear from you. The Council must focus on ways to save money at City Hall and ways to bring in more businesses to Costa Mesa. Let private businesses decide what employees should earn. That is the American way.