Irvine Ordinance to Protect Grocery Workers Will Become Law
IRVINE, CALIF: The Irvine City Council adopted the Grocery Worker Retention Ordinance on Tuesday, Oct. 13. The law is expected to go into effect on Nov. 12.
The Irvine Grocery Worker Retention Ordinance requires companies to retain workers 90 days after a sale and requires just cause for terminations before then. It’s modeled after a current state law, but it will now protect workers at smaller-footprint stores.
“This is a big win for workers,” said Jose Perez, UFCW Local 324 President. “We are grateful to the Irvine City Council for standing up for grocery workers’ rights by supporting this important ordinance.”
Workers from Mother’s Market & Kitchen, a regional 12-store chain with smaller footprint stores, organized in support of the ordinance.
Mother’s Market Irvine employee David Shtilkind described his and his coworkers’ campaign for rights at his workplace. Mill Road Capital, the owner of Mother’s Market and Kitchen, has put the company up for sale.
“We’ve been fighting an uphill battle trying to organize our workplace amidst ever-worsening working conditions and increasing workloads,” said Schtilkind. “While we are trying to build worker power from the ground up, there has also been increasing anxiety and insecurity about what will happen to our jobs and if they’ll survive a potential sale. Anxiety that is only further validated by arbitrary firings of long-time employees. It happened in Irvine and with the firing of 15 workers in Costa Mesa.”
At-large Councilmember Kathleen Treseder introduced the ordinance. In the ordinance’s first reading, she was joined in support by Mayor Larry Agran, Melinda Liu (CD 1), Betty Martinez Franco (CD 5), and William Go (CD 2).
The law was approved by the Council via Consent Agenda at Tuesday night’s meeting.
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