Hundreds of grocery store workers in Long Beach, California, may soon be out of jobs after Kroger announced it would permanently close two stores to avoid offering workers dangerous pay during the pandemic.
The citywide risk payment ordinance requires large supermarkets to pay their staff an extra $ 4 per hour for at least four months, as workers have a higher risk of exposure to the virus.
“It’s a slap in the face when they don’t want to pay us what we deserve, putting our lives at the forefront,” said Clara Vega, general manager of one of the stores they close, a Food 4 Less supermarket. we work a lot, we work so many overtime hours, it’s ridiculous ”.
Local officials and the International Union of Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), which represents 1.3 million workers, condemned Kroger’s decision to close stores instead of increasing employee compensation.
“Since the pandemic began, Kroger has made billions in profits because of the sacrifices of grocery workers who have been putting their own health and safety every day,” said UFCW International President Marc Perrone. in a statement.
“Instead of providing the compensation these store workers have earned and deserve, Kroger decided to threaten community access to these workers and eat in the midst of a public health crisis.”
Benefit during the pandemic: The two stores scheduled for closure have experienced sales increases of up to 31% since the start of the pandemic, according to Ron Herrera, president of the Los Angeles County Labor Federation.
Herrera said Kroger has recently seen a 90% increase in profit and has spent $ 1.4 billion on stock rewards. CNN has contacted Kroger to comment on his earnings.
Robert Gonzalez, an employee of frozen food at Food 4 Less, said he was devastated to learn that his store would close after working 26 years in Kroger.
“After all the work I’ve done to feed the needy families and risk my life and that of my family at home, they don’t want to pay an extra $ 4 an hour for four months,” Gonzalez said. “We also make donations every week to homeless and needy families and they want to take them away. It’s so bad and bad.”
More possible closures: Earlier this week, the cities of Los Angeles, West Hollywood, San Jose, Berkeley, San Francisco and Oakland passed similar ordinances on risk payments. Employees of grocery stores in Seattle working for a company with more than 500 employees also saw a $ 4 per hour risk pay increase starting Wednesday. Kroger told CNN he was also proposing additional closures in several U.S. cities.