Posted on 02/01/2021 4:47:42 PM PST by Mark
Grocery company Kroger announced Monday it will be shuttering two of its stores in Long Beach — a Ralph’s location and a Food4Less store — in response to a city ordinance requiring a $4 “hero pay” salary boost for some workers.
“As a result of the city of Long Beach’s decision to pass an ordinance mandating extra pay for grocery workers, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close long-struggling store locations in Long Beach,” according to a company statement. “This misguided action by the Long Beach City Council oversteps the traditional bargaining process and applies to some, but not all, grocery workers in the city.
“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. We are truly saddened that our associates and customers will ultimately be the real victims of the city council’s actions.”
There was no was no immediate response to a request for comment from the city. Mayor Robert Garcia was a major proponent of the ordinance. Before signing the measure, he wrote on Twitter that grocery workers “have been on the front lines of this pandemic and deserve this support.”
According to Kroger, the Ralphs store at 3380 N. Los Coyotes Diagonal and the Food4Less store at 2185 E. South St. will close on April 17.
The Long Beach City Council last month gave initial approval to a law requiring large grocers to pay its workers an extra $4 an hour in “hero pay” for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The law applies to companies with 300 or more workers overall and more than 15 employees per location in Long Beach. Primis Player Placeholder
The California Grocers Association was among those opposing the ordinance, saying it would not do anything to boost the safety of workers, but could actually lead to higher costs for consumers.
According to Kroger, the company has spent $1.3 billion “to both reward associates and to implement dozens of safety measures” during the pandemic.
Grocery stores, like restaurants, operate on narrow margins. Wage hikes will lead to job losses.
Liberals never learn. It appears they are incapable of learning. They have their firmly held misguided beliefs and they will die clinging to those beliefs. Taking all foolish enough to hang around with them.
...until those stores get taken over by the local commies! And so on...and so on...
If it’s the City’s idea why don’t they stop taking their taxes ,LOL
Consider the residents who find the location of existing stores easier to get to than anything OUTSIDE OF THE CITY. Not everyone has transportation or has bus transportation - some people can walk to their stores. What happens when they’re closed?
Lots of “teens” in long beach
I can easily see gas stations expanding and offering a small line of groceries along with hot deli items. You already have them in the Southeast, the Sheetz gas stations are actually much better than the grocery stores themselves.
But I’ll bet that Mayor Robert Garcia feels real good about himself!
Stupid, braindead liberal.
Are the Dimms all in a race with each other to see who can zot most jobs the fastest? Gropey has the lead so far but the rest of the mental midgets are not done competing, apparently.
It’s absurd how much power is given to American municipalities. The only revenue sources for a Canadian municipality are property tax and fees for certain services. No income tax, no sales tax, no control over wages.
My biggest beef, my major complaint is when government mandates what a private business must pay for something (like labor). The ruling elites that make such edicts don’t have to make the payroll. They don’t have to meet a budget. They just pontificate about how the employer is screwing the employee. And then they want to pat each other on the back about how great they are. It is as gutless a move as there can be.
Good for you, Kroger.
Time for the producers to go Galt, en masse.
I know some people who work for Target in L.A. They “supposedly” got a $500 bonus due to the pandemic (their legal words) but it’s not really $500. In addition, most got their hours cut drastically the next 2 weeks.
I believe that Atlas Shrugged
I’ve been inside many Sheetz and find the grocery store comparison odd.
I bet Von tells them to go to hell.
He's doubling down on stupid.
“The only revenue sources for a Canadian municipality are property tax and fees for certain services.”
I’m from Vancouver BC., one of the most draconian-ruled cities in the North. I find your statement perplexing..
There’s a Walmart Supercenter, a Sprouts and a Costco all within a few blocks. That Ralphs has probably been on life support for a while.
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