Costa Mesa is considering boosting the hourly wages of grocery workers during the pandemic, joining a shopping list of other Orange County cities exploring the initiative. Its city council will discuss an urgency ordinance March 2 to pay certain grocery workers an extra $4 per hour in “hazard pay.” “Grocery workers generally receive lower wages than other professions deemed essential during the pandemic such as doctors,” says a city report. “…There is a need to incentivize experienced grocery workers to remain employed in order to provide continuity of services to the public during the disaster.” Once in effect, the hazard pay would last for 120 days, unless extended by the council. The ordinance is being brought forward at the request of Mayor Katrina Foley and Mayor Pro Tem Andrea Marr. The city reported that grocery workers have been required to work throughout the pandemic, facing “new hazards due to the coronavirus pandemic in …