Irvine Adopts Grocery Worker Retention Ordinance: Stores Changing Owners Must Keep Workers 90 Days; Law Takes Effect Nov. 12
IRVINE — Irvine is a city in Orange County, California. The Irvine City Council adopted the Grocery Worker Retention Ordinance on Tuesday, October 13. The law is expected to take effect on November 12. It requires grocery companies to retain workers for 90 days after a store sale and requires just cause for terminations during that period.
The ordinance is modeled on existing California state law but extends protection to smaller-footprint stores. Councilmember Kathleen Treseder introduced the measure; at its first reading she was joined by Mayor Larry Agran and Councilmembers Melinda Liu, Betty Martinez Franco and William Go. The council approved it on the consent agenda at Tuesday night's meeting.
'This is a big win for workers,' said Jose Perez, president of UFCW Local 324. 'We are grateful to the Irvine City Council for standing up for grocery workers' rights by supporting this important ordinance.' Workers at Mother's Market & Kitchen, a regional 12-store chain of smaller stores, had organized in support of the ordinance. The chain's owner, Mill Road Capital, has put the company up for sale.
Mother's Market Irvine employee David Shtilkind said he and his coworkers have campaigned amid worsening conditions and growing anxiety about whether their jobs would survive a sale, pointing also to the firing of 15 workers in Costa Mesa. Under the ordinance, a new owner must keep existing employees through a 90-day transition and may not fire them without just cause. (GSM, based on the UFCW Local 324 release)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Irvine 市政中心（资料图）。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，CC BY 2.0。Photo: Irvine Civic Center (file photo). Source: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
