The company will close two of its QFC stores in Seattle for refusing to pay workers’ compensation for risk while the company doubled its revenue
Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN / Getty Images
Kroger will close two stores now in Seattle due to the $ 4 per hour requirement for grocery store workers , an escalation of the grocery store chain against California’s recently passed pay-at-risk laws.
The company will close two of its stores QFC in April in response to Seattle’s risk compensation measure, which requires city grocery stores that have more than 85, 000 square feet pay workers $ 4 more per hour for risk compensation . The law went into effect earlier this month, as reported by The Seattle Times .
“Unfortunately, the City Council of Seattle did not take into account that grocery stores operate with very narrow profit margins in a very competitive landscape, “QFC said in a press release released Tuesday. QFC said that its operating costs have increased during the pandemic and that there were “constant financial losses” in the two stores and with the requirement of the additional risk premium, “ it becomes impossible to operate a financially sustainable business, ”the company said.
Kroger offered workers, including QFC employees, An additional $ 2 per hour for hazard during the first months of the pandemic
- , but ended the extra support in May.
- Restaurant owners fear that rising minimum wage will lead to layoffs and higher prices
- The $ 1 stimulus check, 400 dollars will help keep afloat more than 20 million adults through July
- Strong criticism of Ted Cruz, Republican senator from Texas, for traveling to Cancun while thousands of people do not have electricity before the winter storm
Kroger has invested $ 1, 300 million dollars during the pandemic in payment to workers and security measures in stores, according to the company during an interview for Fox News.
Other supermarket chains such as Albertsons and Whole Foods also offered a risk payment in the early stages of the pandemic, but have since expired.
However, there has been a new impetus for the payment of risk compensation at the local level. In recent weeks, some cities in California have begun to require payment of risk allowance from supermarket workers , since the distribution of the vaccine progresses more slowly than expected.
The cities of Long Beach and Montebello passed measures to require supermarket chains to pay workers the compensation for risk.
There are also similar proposals in Los Angeles and Berkeley to add $ 4 or $ 5 dollars of payment hourly bonus to grocery store workers .
Earlier this month, Kroger announced that would close two stores, a branch of Ralphs and another of Food 4 Less in Long Beach in response to that city’s move. Close to 85 workers lost their jobs.
Critics of Kroger’s decision to close stores and end workers’ compensation say that the company has seen increased sales and profits during the pandemic and that they should share more of the profits with frontline workers.
Related: Kroger prefers to close two stores rather than give workers an extra $ 4 for pandemic pay
During the first three quarters of 2020 Kroger’s profit doubled from $ 1, 300 million dollars at $ 2, 600 million, compared to the same period of 2019.
The CNN chain reported that Kroger also repurchased shares worth $ 989 million dollars during the same period . In September, the Kroger board authorized $ 1, 000 millions of dollars in new share buybacks. Buybacks drive company stock prices by making stocks scarcer . Experts have mentioned that companies should invest this money in wages or benefits for their workers.
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