Kroger is closing stores rather than giving workers an extra $4 in pandemic ‘hero pay’

Two grocery stores in Southern California will shutter in April in response to a local “hero pay” measure requiring a $4-an-hour increase for grocery workers during the pandemic.

Kroger, which owns more than a dozen grocery chains, announced this week that it would close a pair of Long Beach stores — a Ralphs and a Food 4 Less — specifically citing the ordinance the city’s mayor signed into law late last month. The city was the first in the state to introduce a measure requiring some grocery retailers to give workers a temporary hourly pay bump during the pandemic.