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04/12/2021 ORDINANCE NO. 2492 AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF REDWOOD CITY REQUIRING LARGE GROCERY STORES AND LARGE DRUGSTORES TO PROVIDE HAZARD PAY TO THEIR EMPLOYEES WHEREAS, on March 19, 2020, the California State Public Health Officer, designated specific sectors and their workers, including grocery stores, as Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers ("essential workers") to ensure the "continuity of functions critical to public health and safety, as well as economic and national security; and WHEREAS, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, grocery workers in the City of Redwood City have continued to report to work and serve their communities, despite the ongoing hazards and danger of being exposed to and infected by the novel coronavirus, helping to ensure individuals throughout the City of Redwood City have had access to the food they need during this pandemic; and WHEREAS, essential grocery workers cannot choose to work from home --they must come to work to do their jobs, which involve heightened risk of exposure and infection of COVID-19 through substantial interaction with customers on an ongoing basis and indoors where there is less air circulation; and WHEREAS, despite the efforts of grocery stores to take precautions and keep customers and employees safe, including requiring masks, social distancing, and sanitizing cash registers, food conveyor belts, and shopping carts, the health threats that these grocery workers face cannot be overstated; and WHEREAS, United Food and Commercial Workers ("UFCW") Locals in Northern California, which represent grocery workers, report that over 700 grocery workers in their ranks have tested positive with COVID-19, and members of their union have been hospitalized or have died from the coronavirus; and WHEREAS, the City of Redwood City recognizes that essential grocery workers must be justly compensated for the clear and present dangers of doing their jobs during the pandemic, and increases in wages result in more money being spent to stimulate our local economy; and WHEREAS, there are numerous large grocery chains operating in Redwood City that employ workers in this City, and have at least 750 employees nationwide, with workers who are facing the hazards of COVID-19 in the workplace every day; and WHEREAS, on January 17, 2021, the California Department of Public Health reported another COVID-1 9 variant that had grown more common across the state since December, with worrisome signs that this variant may be highly transmissible; and ATTY/ORD.534/CC ORD URGENCY HAZARD PAY ORDINANCE 2492 REV: 04-06-2021 VR MUF NO. 305 Page 1 of 9