Grocery store workers in Irvine could see their jobs get a little more secure as city leaders look to strengthen local laws that protect their employment if a store’s ownership changes.
Irvine City Council members are set to consider creating a grocery worker retention ordinance at their public meeting tonight.
The change seeks to protect grocery workers’ jobs if the store they work at gets new owners. It would require the new leadership to keep on the same workers for at least 90 days after ownership changes hands.
State law already outlines similar requirements for grocery stores with over 15,000 square feet retail space. However, according to the memo included with the agenda for tonight’s city council meeting, the proposed change in Irvine would extend the retention requirements to stores just under that threshold.
“Current trends in the development of retail grocery are tending toward smaller stores with less retail space and more dining space,” reads the memo.
The proposed ordinance would specifically address grocery stories with less than 15,000 square feet of retail space and more than 300 employees nationwide.
“The City has an interest in ensuring the welfare of the residents of these communities through the maintenance of health and safety standards in grocery establishments,” reads the city staff memo. “Experienced grocery workers with knowledge of proper sanitation procedures, health regulations, and understanding of clientele and communities are instrumental to furthering this interest.”
The memo also outlines fines if grocery stores violate the retention rules. Fines could be $1,000 for each employee who had their rights violated under the proposed ordinance. Store owners could be required to pay another $250 per day to each employee who lost their job prematurely.
Councilmember Kathleen Treseder, who’s up for reelection this November, is proposing the ordinance.
It also comes as city leaders across the county have been looking to mandate employees for self-checkout aisles.
[Read: Another Orange County City Considers Mandating Staffing at Self-Checkout Aisles]
The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324, which represents grocery workers in Orange County, has supported grocery store worker retention requirements in the past, including efforts to strengthen the state retention laws.
Andrew Hausermann, organizing director for UFCW 324, said the union is excited that Irvine is taking leadership on this issue in a Monday afternoon phone interview.
He said the union advocated for the original Grocery Worker Retention Act from 2005, which passed that year for the City of Los Angeles. That law was used as the framework for the statewide legislation that was enacted in 2015.
As grocery stores change, local governments are stepping up to fill some of the gaps in legislation, Hausermann said.
“We’re really excited that the Irvine City Council is taking this issue on,” Hausermann said. “All of our major union grocery stores are already covered by the statewide ordinance, but a lot of non-union operators are opening and the industry has evolved in some ways where stores are getting smaller.”
“Many Trader Joe’s are under this footprint, and certainly Mother’s Markets, most of them are under this footprint,” he continued. “Certainly the one in Irvine is.”
It also comes just after 15 employees were suspended from a Mother’s Market store in Costa Mesa during calls to unionize workers. There’s also a different Mother’s Market store in Irvine.
Hausermann said the ordinance would create protections for workers to make sure that they aren’t unfairly let go during a transition.
“Some of these companies aren’t going to act in good faith,” he said. “So when local cities step up to fill that gap, I think it’s an essential role they can play.”
On the other hand, a representative for grocery stores statewide said local ordinances like the one proposed in Irvine add too many restrictions for grocers, which ultimately impacts affordability and food access for communities.
Nate Rose, spokesperson for the California Grocers Association, said Irvine’s proposed ordinance doesn’t help keep grocery doors open, adding there’s a direct link between grocery store prices and the actions of elected officials.
“It really in no way helps expand food access for communities, and at the end of the day, food access and affordability are the top concerns throughout all of California,” he said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “We have the highest grocery prices in the country.”
“If we want to be serious about affordability, we need to be, on the policy side, talking about how to make it easier to operate stores, how to make it easier to open more locations so that there’s more competition.”
Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.
