San Mateo County hazard pay ordinance for grocery store workers is postponed for equity review

Posted by Chuck Bernstein
a resident of Menlo Park: The Willows
on Mar 1, 2021 at 1:22 pm
Chuck Bernstein is a registered user.

I have been a registered Democrat for over 50 years, but I have no patience for another example of the idiocy of the Democratic Party. This is the type of short-sighted political proposal that led to the election of Donald Trump in 2016, similar to some Democrats' insistence on trying to include a minimum wage initiative in the COVID relief bill in Congress. In general, there is collective bargaining for grocery clerks; there is no reason for our supervisors to be enforcers for the unions. The bargaining table is the proper venue for this proposal.

Profit margins are very thin in the grocery business and this proposal will raise prices for customers of the markets that are forced to comply and, likely, reduce employment and customer service. When manufacturers or producers raise prices dramatically during a pandemic, it is call "gouging," and there are rules that prevent the practice. However, since it will only be implemented in unincorporated areas, it would appear the supervisors do not care about the generally lower-income residents of those areas. After all, it is the unions that support their political campaigns.

Wake up, fellow Democrats! We need to nurture our economy, encourage more employment, provide services to our citizens, and protect our borders. Pursuing the agendas of special interests will result in the kind of actions that trigger equal and opposite reactions from the right wing of our country.