Posted on 02/01/2021 9:58:00 PM PST by BenLurkin
Kroger, the parent company of Ralphs and Food 4 Less, will soon shut down two of its stores in Long Beach in response to the city imposing a “hero pay” increase of $4 per hour for some grocery store workers.
In announcing the closure, Kroger cited a recently passed Long Beach City Council ordinance that mandated the hazard pay bump for at least 120 days amid the increased health risk to workers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The new law affects grocery stores with at least 300 employees nationwide or more than 15 employees per market in the city.
Kroger, which issued a $2 pay boost at the start of the pandemic, noted that it has already spent about $1.3 billion to reward associates and implement dozens of coronavirus-related safety measures since March, when the virus’ spread began accelerating in the U.S. That’s on top of other additional benefits offered to employees during the pandemic, including paid emergency leave, the company said.
The California Grocers Association, which represents more than 300 retailers and opposes the ordinance, issued its own response to Kroger’s decision, saying it had previously warned that the new law could result in store closures.
“This is truly unfortunate for the Long Beach community, its grocery workers and consumers, but not surprising given the magnitude of the Council’s actions,” Ron Fong, the group’s president and CEO, said in the statement Monday. “We repeatedly warned that a $4/hour increase would have major unintended consequences – including potential store closures, the reduction of work for employees, and higher grocery costs for customers.”
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
High density living generally breeds high density whacko-ism. Socialism is just one manifestation.
Kroger (QFC) is one Shiite company. Got fired for calling in sick and going to the clinic the day after the manager forced me to walk home 9-miles in a raging blizzard from the QFC Redmond Ridge store.
My car could not make it safely up the 9 mile mountain road, so I left it at home in the morning and caught the bus. By evening, the buses cancelled due to icy roads. The manager told a co-worker if I and another stranded employee was given a ride back down to Redmond from Redmond Ridge, that she would be fired). She had a truck that could make it down the hill). So myself and another guy were forced to walk. Uber and Lyft were over $100 at that point.
Let the shooting begin
Kroger also owns Harris-Teeter stores in the DC area. The stores carry quality goods but HT brands suck. Second rate in quality and taste. Also some of their management changes were not for the better and operational quality has suffered.
Looks like they are going to have to fight the Left and their own mindset of internal mediocrity in order to survival.
> a $4/hour increase would have major unintended consequences – including potential store closures, the reduction of work for employees, and higher grocery costs for customers.
Those are the intended consequences. More people dependent on the government means more power for the government.
Kroger, being a union shop, means the $4 extra pay must go all the way up the Union chain. Most unionized employees there are just total trash and treat any new employees like whale Shiite as they know they are untouchable for corporate or OSHA.
After your 1st month, it’s an absolute requirement to start paying union dues.
The usual suspects will soon be complaining about food deserts.
Came here to say that as it’s guaranteed.
Another thing that gags me are those signs deifying “essential” workers.
And then the same people who caused it will soon be whining about ‘food deserts’.
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Exactly!
Kroger is union. Harris Teeter is not.
So Kroger bought Harris Teeter and closed all the Kroger stores in the Raleigh/Durham Chapel Hill area.
Quality was trashed..
With the city apparently unwilling to fund the increase. Smart. /sarc
Remember though, flatten the curve was only for 2 weeks and look where we are now. I wouldnt trust any government to keep their promise. Especially in California.
And that, ladies and gent!emen, is how a “food desert” is created.
Unexpected.
In my industry - healthcare - we’ve given larger shift based increases than $4 per hour by far. The government funds at least 75% of those incremental costs through stimulus payments. I think that temporary mandated increases would be funded by the federal government at 75%.
I strongly disagree with the mandate but I think that there is a way to recover most of the temporary cost increase. There is a delay between incurring the costs and getting payment - maybe the margins are too skinny in the grocery business to generate enough cash to cover the increased costs until they get a stimulus check? I don’t know - hopefully not permanent closures.
As I suspected. Nowhere does the article state the current wage rate.
Journalism is dead.
Velly interesting. Thanks for posting. Been doing some research.
“If the city truly has the legal authority to order stores to pay $4.00 more, then something needs to done to put an end that authority.”
I know Washington State has the same...but no, not Texas, we don’t put us with letting extremist yocals, such as in Austin, usurp state, or even federal, powers. We have one Minimum Wage in Texas, and that is the federal minimum wage, which is the lowest permitted by law (and shouldn’t be constitutional either, but we’re too busy fighting over masks and Sandra Fluck).
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