'Now is not the time'; Mayor Durkan vetoes bill ending frontline workers' pandemic hazard pay
SEATTLE, WA - AUGUST 11: Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan speaks at a press conference. (Photo by Karen Ducey/Getty Images)
SEATTLE - Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan vetoed a City Council bill that would have ended hazard pay for frontline workers in 2022.
Durkan announced her veto of the bill on Wednesday, citing the rising cases of the COVID omicron variant.
"Now is not the time to roll back the pay for these critical front-line workers. In a time that there are no good choices, there are decisions we can make to protect the health, safety, and wellbeing of our residents, and hazard pay is one of the key city policies that have supported workers who have supported all of us," said Mayor Durkan. "This summer, I asked Council to not lift hazard pay for grocery workers as Delta was emerging, and now as Omicron is newly emerging, one of my last actions as Mayor will be to protect this critical pay for our frontline workers."
Seattle councilmember Teresa Mosqueda first introduced the bill on July 2, and the council submitted it for Durkan to sign on Dec. 17.
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