The 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 that “pays some workers a $ 4” raise “for some workers require.
“As a result of the City of Long Beach’s decision to pass an ordinance requiring extra payment for grocery workers, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close long-running struggling stores in Long Beach,” the company said in a statement. ” 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.
“The irreparable damage that employees and locals will cause as a result of the City of Long Beach’s effort to pick winners and losers is very unfortunate. We are very sad that our staff and customers are ultimately the real victims of the City Council’s actions. . ”
Mayor Robert Garcia was a major supporter of the ordinance. Before signing the measure, he wrote on Twitter that grocery workers “were in the front lines of this pandemic and deserve this support.”
According to Kroger, the Ralphs store closes at 3380 N. Los Coyotes Diagonal and the Food4Less store at 2185 E. South St. on April 17th.
Long Beach City Council last month initially approved a law requiring large groceries to pay their workers an extra $ 4.00 an hour for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The law applies to companies with 300 or more workers in general and more than 15 employees per location in Long Beach.
The actor, best known for his role as “Screech” on “Saved by the Bell”, was diagnosed with cancer three weeks ago.
The California Grocers Association was among those who opposed the ordinance, saying it would do nothing to promote the safety of workers, but that it would actually lead to higher costs for consumers.
According to Kroger, the company spent $ 1.3 billion “to reward employees and to implement dozens of security measures” during the pandemic.