Kroger Closes Stores as Consequence of Mandated "Hero Pay" - Golden State Grocers Association Files Lawsuit

By B.N. Frank

Businesses may close if they are forced to pay a higher wage than they are able to. Or they may just replace more humans with robots and Artificial Intelligence (AI) (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). These are just some of the consequences – unintended or not – of government’s imposition upon the free market.

From MSN:

Kroger closes 2 Southern California stores rather than give extra $4 ‘Hero Pay’

Retailer Kroger announced on Monday that it would permanently close two of its Southern California stores due to what it says is a direct result of a city mandate that requires an extra $4 of “hero pay” for essential workers.

A spokesperson for the grocery company told FOX Business on Tuesday that Long Beach’s City Council’s “misguided action” in passing an ordinance mandating Extra Pay had overstepped “the traditional bargaining process” and “only applies to some, but not all, grocery workers in the city.”

“The irreparable harm that will come to employees and local citizens is a direct result of the City of Long Beach’s attempt to pick winners and losers, is deeply unfortunate,” they said. “We are truly saddened that our associates and customers will ultimately be the real victims of the city council’s actions.”

The Ralphs store at 3380 N. Los Coyotes Diagonal and Food 4 Less store located at 2185 E. South Street are both set to shut down on April 17, 2021.

The Long Beach City Council — backed by Democratic Mayor Robert Garcia — gave approval to the “hero pay” law in January.

The ordinance applies to companies with 300 or more workers nationally and more than 15 employees in each story and will remain in place for at least 120 days, according to the Long Beach Post News.

Garcia’s office pointed FOX Business to his Twitter account but noted they would be in litigation over the matter.

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Image: Pixabay

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