As businesses begin to reopen, one supervisor in San Francisco says that employers should be required to hire back laid off workers in a move that critics say is economically impossible.
San Francisco Supervisor Gordon Mar has proposed legislation that the San Francisco Examiner reports would make employers hire back workers that were laid off during the pandemic – at the same pay they were receiving before the shelter in place went into effect.
The city’s small business commission said that that’s just not possible given the current state of the economy. Another concern is a possible second wave of coronavirus later this year that some experts warn may be even more serious than the first.
“We could very well experience several months of quiet, only to be hammered hard by another wave late summer, early fall,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. “That would not reflect that we did the wrong thing in locking down, but would reflect the fact that we’re ill-prepared for what’s coming.”
In San Jose, the Downtown Association said most businesses will continue to stay boarded up after looting led to hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage Friday and over the weekend. It’s also delayed the so-called San Jose Al Fresco Rollout, which would allow businesses to expand seating in private parking lots and some streets to help make up for lost sales.
According to a new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California, fewer than three in 10 people believe decreasing restrictions on physical activity is the right move, and 46% say they want about the same number of restrictions while 25% want more. Specifically in the Bay Area, just 28% want fewer restrictions.
Mar is expected to take up his proposal in a committee hearing next week.
