Trader Joe’s employees at one of Oakland’s two stores are upset with the company’s decision to reduce so-called "thank you" pay for working during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The grocery chain said last month in an email to employees it’s reducing its coronavirus-related hazard pay from $4 to $2 an hour, citing increased COVID-19 vaccine availability.
The pay increase was initially announced in March 2020, then increased from $2 to $4 later in the year as the pandemic worsened.
The move comes two months after the City of Oakland passed an emergency ordinance for thousands of grocery workers, one that requires that each individual store location be a minimum of 15,000 square feet. The city ordinance, which pays grocery workers $5 an hour in hazard pay until the pandemic ends, includes employees at Trader Joe’s.
Workers at Oakland’s Lakeshore Ave. location are upset because the city's extra pay doesn’t cover them due to the store’s size: 14,560 square feet. Meanwhile, the city’s Rockridge location does qualify under the emergency ordinance at 18,850 square feet.
"As somebody who is less than five miles away from people with exactly the same job, at exactly the same company, but my store is smaller than theirs, it’s frustrating they’ll be making more than me per hour," an anonymous Lakeshore Trader Joe’s employee told Berkeyside.
The announcement is causing concern for other essential food workers in Oakland. Carla Valenzuela works at the McDonald’s on 12th St.
"At my store, even before COVID-19, the manager asked us to bring a doctor’s note for any sick days used even if just for one shift," she said through a translator. She added they’re calling on city leaders to step up enforcement on labor laws, including their right to return to work and paid sick leave.
Trader Joe’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment from KCBS Radio.
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