LONG BEACH (CBSLA) – Kroger, the parent company of Ralphs and Food 4 Less, announced on Monday that it will close two of its stores in Long Beach after passing a law that raises grocery workers’ wages by $ 4 an hour.
Kroger reported that on April 17 he will close his Ralphs store at 3380 N. Los Coyotes Diagonal and his Food 4 Less store at 2185 E. South St.
“As a result of the City of Long Beach’s decision to pass a decree requiring extra payment for grocery workers, we made the difficult decision to permanently close stores in Long Beach,” the company said in a press release. “This erroneous action by the Long Beach City Council goes beyond the traditional negotiation process and applies to some, but not all, grocery workers in the city.”
Last month, Long Beach City Council passed a law requiring grocery stores with at least 300 employees across the country to provide their employees with an additional $ 4 an hour in severance pay for at least the next 120 days due to risks to work during the coronavirus pandemic.
Los Angeles city councilors are currently considering a similar motion, which would provide their grocery workers with an additional $ 5 an hour in payment for dangerousness.
In March and April, as the pandemic was unfolding, a number of major supermarkets and retailers – including Kroger, Walmart, Target and Albertsons – provided their employees with unique bonuses or temporary increases of $ 2 an hour.
Kroger said on Monday that he had spent $ 1.3 billion since the start of the pandemic to “reward members and implement dozens of security measures”.