Two California groceries to shut rather than pay workers a $4 ‘hero’ raise, firm says

An order requiring $4 “hero pay” raises for some grocery workers will cost a California city two of its supermarkets, a national chain announced.

The Kroger Co. says it will close down a Ralphs and a Food 4 Less in Long Beach, California, following a city order to boost pay for some employees during the pandemic, KTLA reported.

The company — which described the stores as “underperforming” — said it will try to place the 200 employees at other locations but that jobs will be lost, LAist reported.

“The irreparable harm that will come to employees and local citizens as a direct result of the City of Long Beach’s attempt to pick winners and losers, is deeply unfortunate,” says a statement by Kroger, according to the publication.

“This is a worst-case scenario,” said Jeremy Harris, president of the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, the Long Beach Post reported.

“This is an example of government overreach and it’s ultimately employees paying the price,” Harris said, according to the publication. The chamber had opposed the “hero pay” order.

Workers, however, argued that Kroger made the decision to close the stores, not the city.

“This is hostile retaliation against workers who have been on the frontlines since the beginning of the pandemic, going to work every day and taking tremendous risks,” said Andrea Zinder, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers local 324, LAist reported.

Shoppers also were unhappy with the decision.

“These people work really hard, you wouldn’t want to pay them for their time?“ said customer Mysha Martin, KTLA reported. “That’s very upsetting.”

“I think the $4 hike would have meant a lot to the working people in here and less to the shareholders of Kroger,” customer Yasmin Vargas told the station.

City officials pledged to assist laid-off employees with claiming unemployment benefits and other assistance, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“Kroger’s decision is unfortunate for workers, shoppers and the company,” Long Beach spokesman Kevin Lee said in a statement, according to the publication.

But Kroger said it couldn’t afford the “hero pay” increase and warned of more layoffs if other cities adopt such orders, the Los Angeles Times reported. City leaders in Los Angeles are considering a $5 “hero pay” boost for employees for 120 days at some businesses there.

A study — which found supermarket profits rose during the pandemic — shows that Kroger saw a 90% increase in profits for the first two quarters of 2020, the Long Beach Post reported.

Kroger says it will close the Long Beach stores in April, KTLA reported.

This story was originally published February 2, 2021 at 9:39 AM with the headline "Two California groceries to shut rather than pay workers a $4 ‘hero’ raise, firm says."