A proposal to boost the hourly wages of Tustin’s grocery and retail drug workers failed to garner enough support to pass a city council vote. Tustin city council on April 20 rejected the “hero pay” ordinance by a 2-3 vote. The ordinance would have increased the hourly wages of grocery and retail drug workers by $4 per hour for a four-month period. “I’m absolutely against it from the standpoint that I don’t think it’s our role,” Mayor Pro Tem Austin Lumbard said during the meeting. “We should not step into labor negotiations—already negotiated contracts between the employees and their employers.” The ordinance would have affected about 800 grocery store employees and 50 retail drug store workers within the city. Four Orange County cities—Irvine, Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, and Buena Park—have already adopted hero pay. Irvine and Santa Ana have been challenged in court due to their hero pay ordinances, city attorney David Kendig said during the council meeting. Kendig said Tustin runs the same risk with passing this …