Free Republic

Members of the Los Angeles Jewish community are upset at the closure of Ralph’s supermarket, in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood, after the L.A. City Council mandated an additional $5 per hour of “hero pay” for employees for four months.

Kroger announced Monday that it will be closing two stores in Long Beach, California — a Ralph’s and a Food 4 Less — after the city council voted to require that large grocery store chains pay workers additional “hero pay” of $4 per hour.

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,...