Bay Area

Large Grocery Stores End Hazard Pay in Oakland, Berkeley

Immediately after Oakland and Berkeley reached the yellow tier of COVID-19 spread, as state restrictions like capacity limits lifted, and as the Delta variant continued to spread, positive cases of the virus began to trend upward. A chart showing data collected by Alameda County shows that when the county entered the yellow tier on June 8, the total cases from the previous 14 days was 455. Toward the end of July, this 14-day total passed 4,000 cases on three consecutive days, which was about a ninefold increase.

Published

5 years ago

August 6, 2021

Isabelle Price

Trader Joe's is one of the large grocery store chains in Oakland and Berkeley that have recently stopped paying their workers COVID-19 related hazard pay. Photo is of the store in the Lakeshore neighborhood of Oakland on August 3 and was taken by Zack Haber.

Workers in four different chain grocery stores in Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville told The Oakland Post that they are not receiving hazard pay related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Oakland and Berkeley city councils each unanimously passed ordinances last February that required large grocery stores to pay workers an additional $5 per hour due to COVID-19 hazards, both ordinances stated that once the cities reached the yellow tier — that indicating minimal COVID-19 spread — this requirement would end.

Workers in Whole Foods, Grocery Outlet and Trader Joe’s based in either Oakland or Berkeley reported that they received their last hazard paychecks in early July, about a month after these cities reached the yellow tier on June 8.

The Oakland Post contacted Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas, who wrote The Grocery Store Worker Hazard Pay Emergency Ordinance, to ask about hazard pay ending. Bas’s chief of staff, Miya Saika Chen responded by acknowledging that since the ordinance “was tied to state guidelines determining safe reopening,” and Oakland had reached the yellow tier, the ordinance no longer applies.

In response to questions about hazard pay ending as COVID-19 cases increased, Chen emphasized the impact of vaccination, as vaccines have been effective in preventing serious health effects related to the virus.

“Our top priority must be to ensure everyone has accurate information about the vaccines and safe and equitable access to the vaccines in order to prevent another wave of infections,” she said.

Neither Bas nor any members her staff responded when asked if there was anything council could do or is planning to do to reinstate grocery store hazard pay. The Oakland Post posed the same question to Berkeley City Councilmember Terry Taplin, who wrote Berkeley’s hazard pay ordinance. He responded by saying that to reinstate grocery store hazard pay, Berkeley’s City Council would have to pass a new ordinance.

“The city is currently evaluating several options to respond to the Delta variant,” Taplin said. “I will have to consult with the city team and legal to discuss what can be done around new hazard pay.”

In Oakland and Berkeley, new hazard pay ordinances cannot be passed this month through City Council actions, as council meetings in both cities are on hold through August. But both Oakland and Berkeley City Councils could revisit the issue in September when meetings start up again. The grocery store workers who The Oakland Post spoke to felt they deserved hazard pay due to their hard work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“[The hazard pay] was so helpful,” said a Whole Foods worker in Berkeley. “It’s so expensive to live here and I can barely make it. I was able to put a little money away and not penny-pinch when I was getting it.”

Like all workers interviewed for this article, this worker feared retaliation from their employers for speaking to the press about their pay, and asked not to be named.

Furthermore, with temperature checks suspended, the Berkeley Whole Foods worker said they did not feel safe at work. They also claimed that in May there was an outbreak of the virus in the prepared foods section of their store. Although The Oakland Post contacted Whole Foods to ask about hazard pay, temperature checks, and the alleged COVID-19 outbreak, their media team has not responded.

The City of Emeryville, which borders both Oakland and Berkeley, has never required any grocery stores to offer its employees COVID-19 hazard pay. A worker at a Pak ’N Save in Emeryville, who has been on the job for about a year, said they were being paid Emeryville’s minimum wage, which is currently $17.13, and has never received any hazard pay. They said low pay has hit some of their co-workers with families especially hard. Children sometimes wait in the Pak ’N Save break room during shifts as the pay rates make it impossible for some grocery store workers to afford childcare.

“They are paying us the lowest they are literally allowed to pay us,” the Pak ’N Save worker said. “A lot of people are sick of it. A lot of people are quitting.”

Wendy Gutshall, a spokesperson for Safeway, the company that owns and operates Pak ’N Save, confirmed that the Emeryville store has not been paying hazard pay and that Safeway stores in Oakland and Berkeley stopped paying the $5 hazard pay after those cities reached the yellow tier. Gutshall said Safeway and Pak ’N Save paid workers an extra $2 an hour in hazard pay from March through June 13 of 2020 and gave a bonus to their frontline workers last December.

Although they have not currently been receiving hazard pay, workers at Pak ’N Save in Emeryville have faced exposure to COVID-19. Emails this Pak ’N Save worker shared with The Oakland Post from a Regional Human Resources Manager indicate that between July 21 and July 28, workers had been exposed to COVID-19 three separate times in the store.

This same worker shared a photo of a letter the store displayed in its break room indicating that one of their co-workers recently filed a complaint with State of California’s Dept. of Industrial Relations accusing the store of making them work for several days after they reported experiencing COVID-19 symptoms due to the store being short staffed.

When asked about the complaint, Gutshall said she could not speak to it directly, stating “For privacy reasons, we cannot provide specifics regarding a [worker’s] situation.” She said workers experiencing COVID-19 symptoms are instructed to go home, that the company is in close contact with such workers to investigate their contacts with other workers and ensure they receive appropriate medical care, and that such workers can access 80 hours of quarantine pay.

According to Gutshall, workers are required to check their temperature when reporting for work at Pak ’N Save and Safeway. The Pak ’N Save worker The Oakland Post interviewed said such temperature checks are optional at the store where they worked.

Both the Pak ’N Save worker and the Whole Foods worker that The Oakland Post interviewed said that as the pandemic has dragged on, increasing numbers of their co-workers have quit, which has caused their workload to intensify and increase.

“Everyone has to do a little bit of everything,” the Pak ’N Save worker said. “We don’t have enough checkers or enough people who walk around the store to help customers and clean up. But [Pak ‘’N Save] is not even willing to increase wages to meet the need for labor.”

“The work is just getting more and more stressful,” said the Whole Foods worker. “We’re running on a skeleton crew. And now we’re back to regular pay.”

Isabelle Price

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Activism

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses. The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Toks Omishakin, secretary of the California State Transportation Agency, was one of the speakers at the event. Photo by Shellee Fisher Photography and Design.

By Calvin Naito, Special to The Post

On June 4, a national nonprofit named the Equity in Infrastructure Project (EIP) – which aims to increase public construction contracting opportunities for small and historically underutilized businesses – held a day-long event in downtown San Francisco to rally supporters and build momentum to its cause.

It was attended by more than 100 individuals from public agencies, private firms, and other organizations committed to increasing contracting opportunities with governmental agencies, thereby creating more competition and lowering public costs.

The EIP event was held the Hyatt Regency San Francisco in conjunction with BuildIT, which aims to increase contracting opportunities for LGBT-owned businesses.

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses.

The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Following the workshop, BuildIT hosted a VIP evening reception honoring EIP, whose principals – Phil Washington, John Procari, and Rick Jacobs – accepted the award.

The event also set in motion the coalition’s efforts to implement recommendations from EIP’s “Procurement for Prosperity: A Playbook.”

The Playbook is a practical guide for public agency leaders and procurement and contracting practitioners to grow the capacity of small and first-time contractors, strengthen competition, and deliver better value for taxpayers.

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), a long-time EIP supporter, also told attendees, “This is about commitment. This has been a life’s work. This is a tailwind moment.”

The event’s presenting sponsor was Hub International, one of the largest insurance brokerages in the nation, which was joined by partners Travelers Insurance and the State Compensation Insurance Fund.

After the pledge-signing ceremony, attendees participated in a workshop in which they examined the policies, practices, and programs needed to meet EIP goals, learned from practitioners, and identified next steps toward utilizing the Playbook.

Ingrid Meriwether, formerly of Merriwether & Williams Insurance Services (MWIS) and current president of Hub International’s Aligned Risk Management, MWIS, described the hard-fought lessons she and her MWIS team have learned over the last three decades administering contractor development programs (CDPs) for the City and County of San Francisco, Alameda County, City of Los Angeles, LA Metro, and other municipalities.

The CDPs help small and local construction firms win public infrastructure contracts with these government agencies. The program provides bonding assistance, contract financing, technical support, training, and other services to underrepresented businesses funded by public agencies who seek greater contracting participation with these firms.

Merriwether said programs like these “break down systemic barriers, create greater fairness, and save taxpayers money by enabling more competition. The contractor development programs have, cumulatively, over two decades, helped contractors access over $1 billion in bonding, supporting over $380 million in awarded contracts, and maintaining a loss ratio 250 times lower than the industry average – while saving participating municipalities more than $27 million in contracting costs as a result of enabling more competition.”

Rick Jacobs, EIP co-founder and co-chair urged attendees make plans to meet again in the near future “to continue building on this work, share progress on organizational commitments, and discuss how we can collectively advance the goals of the EIP pledge.”

For more information on the EIP and to access a copy of the Playbook, go online to https://equityininfrastructure.org/

Calvin Naito is communications manager for Equity in Infrastructure Project.

Oakland Post

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Oakland Museum Presents Landmark Retrospective Celebrating Beloved Bay Area Artist Mildred Howard

“Poetics of Memory” coincides with a year of major recognition for Howard. In 2026, she received the California Arts Council’s 50th Anniversary Award, honoring artists whose work has shaped California’s cultural and civic life, as well as the Museum of the African Diaspora’s Artist Impact Award. In 2025, she was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in recognition of her transformative contributions to American cultural life.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Mildred Howard. Photo by Christine Cueto for the Oakland Museum of California, 2025.

Special to The Post

The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) opened “Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory,” the first major museum survey of Bay Area artist Mildred Howard, on June 12.

The exhibition spans five decades of Howard’s influential work, bringing together immersive installations, found-object sculptures, archival materials, and new commissions that explore memory, identity, and power in American life.

Howard was born in San Francisco in 1945 and raised in the East Bay, where she went on to study Afro-Haitian dance, make and sell clothing, and experiment with collage and sculpture.

Her multimedia art practice emerged from these experiences, later becoming associated with West Coast conceptual art, San Francisco funk, and a vibrant community of artists like Oliver Jackson, Betye Saar, and Raymond Saunders. Since the 1970s, she has used found materials and family stories to explore memory—both individual and collective.

At OMCA, visitors enter “Poetics of Memory” through a series of intimate galleries featuring Howard’s early mixed-media pieces and sculptures, along with a large video projection of a number of her public artworks.

Together, they emphasize Howard’s interest in everyday objects as powerful carriers of individual and shared stories. Highlights include collages that remix images of the artist herself; found-object sculptures like The History of the United States with a few Parts Missing (2007) that address omissions in dominant narratives; and public works like “Locks and Keys for Harry Bridges” (2001) that transform urban space into a meditation on access and labor.

This culminates in a richly detailed “studio” environment, where works in progress, archival exhibition flyers, historic photographs of Howard and her community, postcards from fellow artists, and other materials offer insight into her creative process and daily life.

The exhibition then opens into a high-ceilinged, dramatically lit space that brings together Howard’s signature immersive installations. On one end, “Crossings” (1997/2026) – a field of hundreds of ceramic eggs leading to an ornate mirror – suggests cycles of birth, motherhood, and transition, while drawing on the emotional echoes of the Middle Passage. On the other end, “Blackbird in a Red Sky” (a.k.a. “Fall of the Blood House”) (2002) – a red glass shack bordered by a pond – also uses reflection and transparency to draw viewers into the work and prompt consideration of themes of identity and home.

Howard’s newest video installation, “Moving Stills” (2026), repurposes never-before-seen family footage she took as a teenager on a train trip to the American South. Projected onto cascading layers of translucent fabric that stretch across an entire gallery wall, the piece immerses viewers in a layered meditation on memory, migration, and time.

The “Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory” exhibit will be on display through Oct. 11 at the Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland, CA 94612. Museum hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours on Fridays to 9 p.m.

This story is sourced from the Oakland Museum of California press office.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Ferry Fares to Increase July 1 as Ridership Hits Record Highs

The Oakland and Alameda routes will increase from $4.90 to $5.10, the South San Francisco route will go up from $7.40 to $7.60, and the Vallejo route will increase from $9.90 to $10.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Courtesy photo.

By Mike Aldax, The Richmond Standard

Starting July 1, the standard adult fare for the San Francisco Bay Ferry route between Richmond and San Francisco will increase to $5.20, up from the current $4.90.

Discounted fares for eligible passengers, including youth, seniors, people with disabilities, and Clipper START users, will rise to $2.60 from the current $2.40. Children under 5 will continue to ride for free.

The Oakland and Alameda routes will increase from $4.90 to $5.10, the South San Francisco route will go up from $7.40 to $7.60, and the Vallejo route will increase from $9.90 to $10.

The adjustments are part of a systemwide fare update approved by the agency’s Board of Directors, which is moving away from a flat 3% annual increase to route-specific pricing for the 2027 and 2028 fiscal years.

This fare update arrives as San Francisco Bay Ferry celebrates a historic May, transporting 301,270 passengers. The record-breaking figure represents an 8% increase over May 2025 and marks the third consecutive month of record-setting ridership.

Furthermore, it is the sixth month in a row that passenger numbers have exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Weekend travel has been a primary driver of this growth, with average weekend ridership seeing a 56% increase compared to pre-pandemic trends.

The agency states that the fare adjustments are necessary to ensure the long-term fiscal sustainability of public ferry services. By shifting to route-specific adjustments, the agency aims to offset rising operating costs while maintaining the high levels of service frequency and reliability.