CORRESPONDENCE - Item #22 - Laserfiche WebLink

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February 1, 2021 Dear Local Elected Leaders: Our coalition of local grocers, community advocates, and business lead ers strongly urge our local elected leaders to undertake a complete economic impact assessment to fully understand the consequences of any proposed mandatory grocery worker wage-increase ordinances before moving forward. Local grocery stores are committed to paying competitive wages and benefits to their employees. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, grocers have invested significantly in infrastructure and enhanced safety protocols to protect frontline essential workers and shoppers, as well as to provide incentive pay, bonuses and additional health benefits for grocery workers. The proposed emergency pay mandates ignore this commitment and ongoing efforts, and would have significant, negative impacts at the worst possible time. The proposed increases in grocery worker pay would substantially increase the cost of food and groceries for residents and families by an estimated $400 per year for a family of four. Higher grocery costs would hurt Californians at a time they are already struggling to put food on the table and would be especially harmful to low-income, people of color and disadvantaged communities. According to a recent Public Policy Institute of California survey, 40% of Los Angeles County residents earning less than $40,000 per year have had trouble paying some kind of bill as a result of COVID-19. Thirty-nine percent (39%) of these Los Angeles County low-income residents report cutting back on food. Increasing the cost of groceries and other essentials would only compound these already-concerning statistics. Extra pay mandates could also harm the very workers they are intended to help. Higher costs could force grocers to reduce the number of workers, available hours, and even store locations.