Seattle mayor will veto repeal of grocery COVID hazard pay

SEATTLE (AP) — The outgoing mayor of Seattle says she will veto City Council legislation that would have repealed the $4 an hour hazard pay boost for grocery workers that has been in place for nearly a year. The Seattle Times reports the City Council voted 8-0 last January to approve the mandatory hazard pay during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, Councilmembers voted to repeal that bump. Durkan, in announcing on Wednesday her veto, cited the rise of the omicron variant and rising infection case numbers. Other cities, mostly along the West Coast, including Los Angeles, Berkeley and Long Beach, California, had also approved similar hazard pay boosts for grocery workers.