City Council Votes For Fair Workweek, No Exceptions

Landmark Labor Law Adds to Emeryville's Progressive Minimum Wage Ordinance

Last night the Emeryville City Council voted unanimously to pass a 'Fair Workweek' policy that will help low-wage workers in the city by providing for predictable work schedules and new requirements for employers to give preference to existing part time workers taking on extra work before hiring new employees and other benefits.  The new law is to take effect in July 2017 and will add relief for Emeryville workers primarily in the fast food restaurant and chain retail industry.   Social equity groups and labor organization backers of the new law called the Fair Workweek provisions passed last night at the regularly scheduled City Council meeting, the "critical second step" added to last year's highest in the nation Minimum Wage Ordinance to build equity in a town with lots of fast food and national retail chains.

Emeryville workers joined social justice activists and clergy
for a pre-meeting pep rally on the steps of City Hall. 

Emeryville already has the highest minimum wage in the country at $14.44 with a path to $16, and with this complimentary new policy, our town stands to become one of the most progressive cities in the Bay Area to address income inequality and the crisis of underemployment.  The new policy will confront and seek to rectify the epidemic of low-wage part-time work while also addressing the problem of unpredictable hours workers face.

“This policy costs employers virtually nothing and does something very simple: provide working people with reliable, predictable hours,” said Jennifer Lin, Deputy Director of the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy. “Workers will now be able to budget and be able to plan for childcare, second jobs, education, and even rest.”

With Tuesday night's vote, the Council sends a strong pro-labor message to those corporate entities doing business in Emeryville in the form of a strong policy without the usual loopholes, making large corporate retail chains and fast food companies provide schedules two weeks in advance so workers can budget and plan their lives.  Workers will be compensated for last minute changes in schedules. When more hours are available, current workers would get priority so they can get closer to full-time work.

The policy is the first in the East Bay and third in the country following San Francisco and Seattle. 

Earlier this year, a coalition supporting workers issues and social equity issues unveiled a study co-authored by the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) and the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE). It revealed that 68% of workers are only receiving part-time hours; 2/3 want more hours; and a staggering 80% have hours that fluctuate from week to week.  

EBASE helped craft language in the new law that some Council members have intoned will help offset decades of accommodation of business interests at the expense of workers by City Hall.

'Fair Work Week' Considered by City Council

UPDATE:  The Emeryville City Council with the exception of Nora Davis, Tuesday night voted to place work on the Fair Work Week in the highest priority category for the City Attorney's office.


The Emeryville City Council is tonight considering adding a level of protection for low wage workers in town collectively called the 'fair work week' that would provide workers with predictable work schedules, employee input into the schedules and access to full time work according to local social and economic justice organizations introducing the idea including the Alliance for Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) and the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE).  The City Council passed a progressive minimum wage ordinance last July that has raised the fortunes of the working poor in Emeryville and this new law would help further drive down inequality by mandating Emeryville's largest retail and fast food employers provide stable and predictable hours to their employees.  The proposed legislation would only apply to retail employers with 55 or more employees (globally).  The legislation proposed in Emeryville is part of a larger nation-wide worker justice effort called the Fair Workweek Initiative.

Deputy Director Jennifer Lin
East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy

Jennifer Lin, Deputy Director at EBASE, who worked on last year's landmark Minimum Wage Ordinance told the Tattler of the fair work week legislation, "We're calling on the Emeryville City Council to pass a policy that will create regular, predictable hours, so workers don't have to juggle 2-3 jobs, and they can plan for their lives-- whether that's planning for childcare and community college, or just to rest and spend time with their family."  She is quoted in an accompanying press release distributed by the three labor justice organizations,  “We are finishing the job on minimum wage, and ensure that people are both paid a fair wage with a fair schedule.”

The press release noted, "Though thousands of Emeryville’s low-wage workers are making $14.44 with a path to $16, there is an epidemic of large corporate retail and fast food chains not providing people with full-time work. With lack of hours and unpredictable schedules, many are forced to work two or three jobs and lead chaotic lives to make ends meet."

Dozens of Emeryville workers and supporters are holding a press conference today urging the Emeryville City Council to expedite legislation to give workers full-time predictable hours, building off the findings in a new report produced by ACCE, CPD and EBASE that chronicles what they call "severe scheduling problems retail workers face."  The 13 page report, compiled with more than 100 Emeryville retail and fast food workers polled, notes the retail sector (the largest in Emeryville at 15% of the workforce) is rife with unpredictable work scheduling.

The City Council is expected to provide direction for the City Staff as to how much to prioritize the fair work week proposal moving forward. It is unclear what form any resultant policy would take but the public will get plenty of chances to weigh in on the idea.