Grocers’ Association Tells 9th Cir. ‘Hero Pay’ Ordinance is Unconstitutional, Unfair

LOS ANGELES — California Grocers’ Association is urging a federal appeals court to overturn a ruling denying its request to temporarily enjoin the City of Long Beach, Calif. from enforcing an ordinance requiring payment of an additional $4 an hour to supermarket workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a March 19 brief filed before the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, CGA contends that the ordinance violates the Supremacy Clause because it interferes with the federal regulatory scheme governing collective bargaining created by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

“The Ordinance is no run-of-the-mill minimum wage law or similar baseline …