Friends,

Last night the Long Beach City Council took a historic step in support of workers. And we have you to thank you for it. 

The council voted unanimously to direct city staff to come back with a package of ordinances that reflect what you helped advocate for:

• Paid Sick Leave: Employers with more than 500 workers nationally must provide 80 hours of supplemental COVID-19 related paid sick leave to full-time workers and a prorated amount to those working part-time. A USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity analysis of 2017 ESRI Business Analyst Data suggests that close to 33,863 workers could be impacted. 
• Worker Return and Recall: Hotel and janitorial companies with 25 employees or more must offer workers who were laid off as a result of COVID-19 their jobs back once they begin the rehiring process.
• Worker Retention: Hospitality and janitorial companies with 25 employees or more must continue to employ the acquired companies’ employees for a set number of days, upon the transfer of ownership of a business. 
• Food and Grocery Service Protections: Food and grocery companies must explore ways to ease the burden on essential grocery workers by allowing schedule adjustments without retribution for issues related to COVID-19, including, but not limited to, childcare needs and assisting family members.

 

While this vote only directs city staff to draft policies, this is still a huge victory. And we can’t thank you enough. 

We’ll be reaching back out to you once we know when the City Council will vote to enact these policies. We’ll need your help again to make sure what you’ve advocated for becomes law. 

In the meantime, we can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done to help Long Beach’s most vulnerable working families.