Grocery company Kroger announced Monday that it will close two of its stores in Long Beach (a Ralph location and a Food4Less store) in response to a city ordinance requiring a “$ hero” salary increase for some workers.
“As a result of the City of Long Beach’s decision to pass an ordinance that required additional pay for grocery workers, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close long-term stores in Long Beach,” according to a statement of the company. “Wrong action by Long Beach City Council goes beyond the traditional bargaining process and applies to some, but not all, of the city’s grocery workers.
“The irreparable damage that employees and local citizens will cause 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 partners and customers are the real victims of the actions of the city council “.
Mayor Robert Garcia was the main proponent of the ordinance. Before signing the measure, he wrote on Twitter that supermarket workers “have been at the forefront 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. they will close on April 17th.
Last month, Long Beach City Council initially passed a law requiring large supermarkets to pay their workers an extra $ 4 per “hero” for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The law applies to companies with 300 or more employees in general and more than 15 employees per location in Long Beach.
The actor, known for his role as “Screech” in “Saved by the Bell,” was diagnosed with cancer three weeks ago.
The California Apothecaries Association was among those who opposed the ordinance, saying it would do nothing to increase worker safety, but could actually lead to higher costs for consumers.
According to Kroger, the company has spent $ 1.3 billion “both to reward partners and to implement dozens of security measures” during the pandemic.