LONG BEACH, California – Kroger Co. will close two supermarkets in Southern California due to a local ordinance requiring additional compensation for certain grocery employees working during the pandemic.
The decision announced by the company on Monday follows a unanimous vote last month by the Long Beach City Council calling for a 120-day increase of $ 4 per hour for supermarket employees with at least 300 employees nationwide and more than 15 in Long Beach.
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said it would close a Ralphs market and a Food 4 Less on April 17, Press-Telegram reported.
“Due to the decision of the City of Long Beach to adopt an ordinance requiring additional payment for grocery workers, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close long-term shopping centers in Long Beach,” the company said in a statement.
The statement added: “This wrongdoing by the Long Beach City Council transcends the traditional bargaining process and applies to some, but not all, grocery workers in the city.”
In a city statement, Kroger’s decision is described as ‘unfortunate for workers, buyers and the business’.
The city of Montebello has approved a similar wage increase for hazardous wages and is being considered in Los Angeles and Pomona. Further north, Oakland on Tuesday approved hazardous cases for grocery workers, while other Bay Area cities, including San Jose and Berkeley, considered similar ordinances.
In a case filed by the California Grocers Association, it is alleged that the Long Beach Ordinance interferes with the collective bargaining process between grocery stores and unions representing workers.
A union official said Monday that an increase of $ 4 per hour represents about a 28% increase in labor costs.
“There’s no way grocers can absorb such a cost increase without offsetting elsewhere, as grocery stores operate at razor-sharp margins, and many stores are already working in the red business,” said Ron Fong, president and CEO of the association, said.
The Long Beach ordinance was approved at a Jan. 19 meeting in which councilors and mayor Robert Garcia said many grocery stores paid employees danger in the early stages of the pandemic, but later phased it out.
“These people who work in these markets and these grocery stores are heroes,” Garcia said at the time. “This is nothing new. They have received this type of additional payment in the past and if they have earned it in the past, they deserve it today. ”
The Los Angeles proposal progressed Tuesday with a city council vote in favor of the city attorney who drafted a decree that pays $ 5 per hour extra compensation for workers at major grocery and drug store chains. The council requested that the draft be presented for a final vote as soon as possible.