LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Kroger is closing three more of its Los Angeles stores after the city passes a ‘hero pay’ ordinance requiring a $ 5 salary increase for grocery and pharmacy employees.
Two Ralphs Stores – at 9616 West Pico Blvd. and 3300 West Slauson Ave. – and a Food 4 Less at 5420 W. Sunset Blvd. will close on May 15, according to Kroger. The company said on Wednesday that the three stores were already underperforming and that the Los Angeles mandate accelerated their closure.
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(Photo by Brittany Murray / MediaNews Group / Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images)
“Our desire is never to close a store, but when you take into account the increased operating costs during COVID-19, the consistent financial losses across these three locations, and an additional wage mandate that will be close to $ 20 million over the next 120 days. costs, it will be impossible to operate these three stores, ”Kroger said in a statement.
It is not clear how many workers will be laid off when the three stores close in May. But Kroger said it would provide the mandatory additional pay to all employees, including those working in the three sites that are scheduled to close.
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Kroger says its Ralphs and Food 4 Less employees in Los Angeles are already making $ 18 an hour. With health care and retirement benefits, their total reimbursement is $ 24 per hour, according to Kroger. The supermarket giant says it has also invested $ 2.5 billion to reward its employees and implement security measures since the start of the pandemic, and recently spent $ 50 million in rewards on frontline workers.
The company also pointed to its efforts to vaccinate its front-line workers as soon as possible, by touting three vaccination clinics taking place this week for its employees in Los Angeles. Kroger, which offers its employees a $ 100 vaccination reward, says nearly 20% of its employees have received their first dose or been fully vaccinated.
“Prioritizing vaccinations – not arbitrary mandates for extra pay – is what protects front-line workers,” a Kroger spokesman said in the statement.
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Kroger is fighting back against the risk payment mandates passed by several municipalities in recent months. In Long Beach, the company already announced the closure of two stores in response to that city’s hero pay ordinance.