Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by adding Chapter 5.91, relating to grocery workers in Long Beach, and establishing labor standards requirements for premium pay for grocery workers working in Long Beach; declaring the urgency thereof; and declaring that this ordinance shall take effect immediately, read and adopted as read. (Citywide) (Emergency Ordinance No. ORD-21-0004)
Councilman Austin. Your Vice mayor, Richardson? Yeah. Mayor Garcia. And I'm here. Thank you. Let's go ahead and read the. We have one item on the agenda. So. Madam. Report from City Attorney. Recommendation to declare the ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code. Establishing premium pay for grocery workers. Read the first time and laid over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for final reading, declaring the urgency thereof and declaring that this ordinance shall take effect immediately citywide. Okay, Mr. City, Attorney. Thank you, Mayor, and members of the Council. Thank you. This item was presented to the City Council and voted on unanimously on the second on January 9th and Tuesday. It has been brought to our attention that the intention and the staff item was a mandate and to adopt this as an urgency item. When the item was voted on, on Tuesday evening. We only took one vote. I apologize for that. I should have caught that. They, in order to adopt as an urgency and as a ordinance, regular ordinance, we take two votes, one on the urgency and one on the adoption of the ordinance. The city also adopts this as a regular ordinance out of an abundance of caution. So today we are asking you to confirm and ratify that it was your intention to adopt this as an urgency ordinance effective the 19th of January 2021. And we would ask you to, if that's your intention, and to ratify that by a motion and a second on an urgency vote. And we will take a second motion in a second and a vote on the ordinance itself. I apologize for bringing this back to you, but I think if we can clear up this ministerial mistake, we will have more clarity on the ordinance. And with that, I'm open to question. Thank you, Mr. City Attorney, and don't have any questions. We will be taking two separate votes. And is your public comment on either of the two votes on this item before we move forward? Yes. We have Derek Smith. Derek Smith. Oh, yes. Good afternoon. Mayor and City Council. My name is Derek Smith and I represent us. UAW Local 324 and I want to speak to the necessity of urgency and the requirement of hazard pay. We have 1350 members who work in the grocery industry in Long Beach now estimates that this is roughly 50 to 60% of all grocery workers eligible to receive hazard pay under the ordinance passed by this council. I think it would be safe to assume that that's around 2500 total workers that will be affected. Currently, 152 of our members have tested positive for coal since the beginning of this pandemic. That's 11.6% of our Long Beach grocery membership. I think it's reasonable to assume that this number is representative of the industry at large and Long Beach. Since December 1st, we've had 113 new positive cases. So roughly 75% of our total cases have come after the winter surge. And so it's clear to me that urgent action by this council was needed by mandating hazard pay urgently. This council has given workers some financial flexibility in this pandemic. This is important for working families who have childcare issues. Urgent hazard pay is critical for nonunion workers who don't have access to affordable health care. This will help ensure that workers make the best decisions possible if they are experiencing symptoms. Urgent hazard pay will help maintain a steady workforce during the next four months. Given the recent spike and the unknowns with respect to the success of vaccination. The city should have confidence that the food supply line will not be compromised by illness by requiring this action to take effect immediately. You're giving hardworking men and women who desperately need and deserve this hazard pay the means to put that money to the most effective and responsible uses possible. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes public comment for this item. Thank you. So, Mr. City Attorney, just read the first item we are voting on, which is the urgency. Correct? That is correct. We need a motion in a second to move on the urgency necessary for disorder. I have a motion. Can I get a second, please? Kevin motioned by Vice Mayor Richardson any second by councilman that day has a roll call vote. District one. A district to. All. District three. I. District four. All right, District five. I District six. I. District seven. I. District eight. Hi. District nine. Hi. Hi. Motion carries. Thank you. And Mr. City Attorney. I want to read the second vote we're taking now. The second item will be a vote on the ordinance itself. Okay. I need a motion any second to please. Kevin. Motion by Councilman and I need a second, please. And second by Vice Mayor Richardson. Let's go ahead and do a roll call vote. District one. I'm district to my district three. I district four. District five. Hi. District six. I. District seven. District seven. I. District eight. District nine. All right. Motion carries. Okay. That concludes both of those votes. And that is the only item on the agenda. And so, Mr. City Attorney, I believe that there's nothing else needed for this meeting. Correct. Thank you. Okay. Thank you all for attending the special meeting.