Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Almost a dirty secret

Assemblywoman Gonzalez to introduce bill to increase holiday pay

Californians who come in to work on Thanksgiving and Christmas will be getting a pay bump next year if a bill assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez plans to introduce is successful.

At a media gathering on the edge of a parking lot in front of a Mission Valley Walmart (store officials protested the use of the outlet's façade as a backdrop), Gonzalez was joined by union leader Mickey Kasparian and Walmart employee Diana McCain on Wednesday afternoon, November 26, to make her case.

"It's time to start talking about what we've all known is almost a dirty little secret — the fact that every year more and more workers are expected to come in and serve the public when it comes to what are non-essential items, quite frankly," says Gonzalez.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In recent years, an increasing number of retailers, especially "big box" outlets such as Walmart and Target, have stretched traditional Black Friday sales into Thanksgiving, with some opening Thursday afternoon or remaining open all day.

Many union-negotiated contracts, including those for round-the-clock jobs such as nurses or firefighters, already provide for double or even triple pay on federal holidays. Other employers, while not mandated to offer any incentives to workers scheduled on holiday shifts, may nonetheless provide perks at their discretion.

McCain said that Walmart was offering its employees time-and-a-half overtime pay for their full shift, plus a coupon good for 20 percent off a single item.

"That's a pretty steep price to pay when you're not spending time with your family on these important holidays," opined Kasparian, president of the local United Food & Commercial Workers chapter. Grocery workers covered by the union already receive two to three times their normal pay rate when working holidays.

Gonzalez, a former labor organizer herself, has used her position to champion other workers' issues including minimum-wage hikes and a statewide mandatory sick pay proposal, signed into law earlier this year.

When asked about including other federal holidays in her proposal, Gonzalez didn't rule it out but anticipated a challenge with passing legislation for what she said were the two most significant days of the year for most families.

"I like taking on issues that people say can't be done, and I've already been told that this can't be done even for two holidays."

Introductory text of the bill is expected to be released on December 1.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Hip-hop artist Don Elway makes movies for his music

Not Ordinary EP tells a story of life on the streets
Next Article

Pet pig perches in pocket

Escondido doula gets a taste of celebrity

Californians who come in to work on Thanksgiving and Christmas will be getting a pay bump next year if a bill assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez plans to introduce is successful.

At a media gathering on the edge of a parking lot in front of a Mission Valley Walmart (store officials protested the use of the outlet's façade as a backdrop), Gonzalez was joined by union leader Mickey Kasparian and Walmart employee Diana McCain on Wednesday afternoon, November 26, to make her case.

"It's time to start talking about what we've all known is almost a dirty little secret — the fact that every year more and more workers are expected to come in and serve the public when it comes to what are non-essential items, quite frankly," says Gonzalez.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In recent years, an increasing number of retailers, especially "big box" outlets such as Walmart and Target, have stretched traditional Black Friday sales into Thanksgiving, with some opening Thursday afternoon or remaining open all day.

Many union-negotiated contracts, including those for round-the-clock jobs such as nurses or firefighters, already provide for double or even triple pay on federal holidays. Other employers, while not mandated to offer any incentives to workers scheduled on holiday shifts, may nonetheless provide perks at their discretion.

McCain said that Walmart was offering its employees time-and-a-half overtime pay for their full shift, plus a coupon good for 20 percent off a single item.

"That's a pretty steep price to pay when you're not spending time with your family on these important holidays," opined Kasparian, president of the local United Food & Commercial Workers chapter. Grocery workers covered by the union already receive two to three times their normal pay rate when working holidays.

Gonzalez, a former labor organizer herself, has used her position to champion other workers' issues including minimum-wage hikes and a statewide mandatory sick pay proposal, signed into law earlier this year.

When asked about including other federal holidays in her proposal, Gonzalez didn't rule it out but anticipated a challenge with passing legislation for what she said were the two most significant days of the year for most families.

"I like taking on issues that people say can't be done, and I've already been told that this can't be done even for two holidays."

Introductory text of the bill is expected to be released on December 1.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tyler Farr, Blue Water Film Festival, Mustache Bash

Events March 21-March 23, 2024
Next Article

The Digital Currency Wave Hits the Shores of San Diego

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.