$4 pay increase for grocery workers in Seattle...

[bisous]

I would love to do something for the grocery workers. I really do feel like they've been heroes in all of this. I still cry when I think about how afraid I was to go to the store in the early months and there they WERE. Every day, showing up and working so we could eat.

And the abuse they've had to take! My sister works at a grocery store in Vancouver (so not some backwoods red state) and has had near violent clashes with people who refuse to wear a mask. It is scary and stressful for her. I can't image how it must be in some areas or for grocery workers with poor health!

I don't think I'm a fan of this kind of legislation though. I don't know what kind of profit margins grocery stores are making or if they could "afford" this but I think what will happen is that some employees will be better paid (yay!), many will be laid off, and stores in poorer areas will cease operating altogether. Maybe we'd be better served by NOT sending my family that makes 100K and is fully employed more checks and instead sending that to the grocery workers? (Or is this potentially another case of not being enough money to make an appreciable difference?)

[AnnieW625]

Yes Kroger (Ralph’s and Food For Less in SoCal) is closing two stores in Long Beach in April. One is a small Ralph’s in an middle class area (Lakewood Plaza neighborhood of Long Beach) and the other is a Food 4 Less in a more working class neighborhood called North Long Beach. The two stores were probably struggling to begin with. The Ralph’s is small compared to the Pavilions (aka Vons with more Organic food and a larger nice deli) that is about a 1/4 mile away and the Stater Brother’s about a 1/2 mile away. The Stater Brother’s store is probably the busiest store in the area. In the 15 years I lived in that area (about a mile and half from the Ralph’s) I went there maybe 5 times and it was near my kids school so it wasn’t like it wasn’t convenient, but we always went to Pavilions or Stater’s because the Ralph’s parking lot was small, the store was aging, and tbh I found Ralph’s prices to be higher than the other two markets. Plus there were other options (Vons, Sprouts, and Smart & Final) 1/2 a mile from our old house so I didn’t need to drive out of my way to go grocery shopping.

The Food 4 Less is 1/2 a mile from another Food 4 Less up the street, across the street from a Winco Foods (cash only and bag your own groceries employee owned market chain with pricing similar to Food 4 Less), and there is a Walmart down the street.

So while Kroger is getting crap for closing these stores due to the Hero pay for grocery workers (stores that employ more than 300 people nationwide and 15+ per location per the Long Beach ordinance) I am not surprised that the stores weren’t in rotation for possible closure.

I personally know the city councilwoman whose district the Ralph’s is in and tbh I figured she would’ve been the one holdout to possibly vote no on the hero pay (her reasoning would be what Busous said) but her district is very progressive and liberal leaning and since next year is an election year I am sure that is why she voted for it.

Here is a copy of the legislation:
http://longbeach.legistar.com/View.a...0-0AF229D458DB


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[PunkyBoo]

I would love to do something for the grocery workers. I really do feel like they've been heroes in all of this. I still cry when I think about how afraid I was to go to the store in the early months and there they WERE. Every day, showing up and working so we could eat.

And the abuse they've had to take! My sister works at a grocery store in Vancouver (so not some backwoods red state) and has had near violent clashes with people who refuse to wear a mask. It is scary and stressful for her. I can't image how it must be in some areas or for grocery workers with poor health!

I don't think I'm a fan of this kind of legislation though. I don't know what kind of profit margins grocery stores are making or if they could "afford" this but I think what will happen is that some employees will be better paid (yay!), many will be laid off, and stores in poorer areas will cease operating altogether. Maybe we'd be better served by NOT sending my family that makes 100K and is fully employed more checks and instead sending that to the grocery workers? (Or is this potentially another case of not being enough money to make an appreciable difference?)

I'm friendly with the manager at my local Vons store because our kids go to the same schools. He asked me to please do their online survey that's listed at the bottom of the receipt, and give them good marks. Their corporate looks at those surveys and the managers have to earn certain marks. I gladly obliged because they have always been a good store, especially through this last year. So maybe you can look for those opportunities to praise the workers and management, either in person or online.


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[dogmom]

Yes to this exactly. Maybe the bigger stores can swallow this and keep going but smaller, locally-owned stores will either have to lay people off or go out of business. Which means that Joe worker gets more money but will end up doing the work of 2 people.

Although that s the argument, that is not what the research shows. There is a lot out there, but here is a nice summary paper.
https://www.epi.org/publication/webf...mum_wage_2004/

[dogmom]

I don't think I'm a fan of this kind of legislation though. I don't know what kind of profit margins grocery stores are making or if they could "afford" this but I think what will happen is that some employees will be better paid (yay!), many will be laid off, and stores in poorer areas will cease operating altogether. Maybe we'd be better served by NOT sending my family that makes 100K and is fully employed more checks and instead sending that to the grocery workers? (Or is this potentially another case of not being enough money to make an appreciable difference?)

Although that is always the threat used to to do this, historically that has never held true. I’m not trying be political, it’s just there.

[ezcc]

Another thing to consider is grocery stores are one of the businesses that have done very well through all this- people stocking up, eating out less etc. They should be doing more for their employees, especially considering the risks they have taken.

[citymama]

Doesn't Kroger's CEO make ~$20 million a year? Seems like if they tried, they could find the money to cover a $4/hour increase somewhere other than from the lowest paid employees.

I completely understand that it's hard for a company to make an abrupt change like this, but to cry poor when execs make unreasonable salaries is pretty lame.

Thank you. Frontline workers must make a living wage, C suite bosses don't need to be making multi millions.

[carolinamama]

Thank you. Frontline workers must make a living wage, C suite bosses don't need to be making multi millions.

Exactly. C suite bosses in many industries have raked in the money on the backs of their essential workers throughout this pandemic. It has truly made the rich richer and the poor poorer. The belief that corporations cannot shoulder paying a living wage to employees without going belly-up is a falsehood we've been fed for the last 30 years in our country. Many continue to support trickle down economics despite research debunking it's overall success. It works very well for the executives and shareholders so why wouldn't they continue the narrative? I wish corporations would make moral decisions for their employees without legislation, but sadly, I don't see it happening.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...-trickle-down/

[o_mom]

Exactly. C suite bosses in many industries have raked in the money on the backs of their essential workers throughout this pandemic. It has truly made the rich richer and the poor poorer. The belief that corporations cannot shoulder paying a living wage to employees without going belly-up is a falsehood we've been fed for the last 30 years in our country. Many continue to support trickle down economics despite research debunking it's overall success. It works very well for the executives and shareholders so why wouldn't they continue the narrative? I wish corporations would make moral decisions for their employees without legislation, but sadly, I don't see it happening.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...-trickle-down/

But that is not what these bills are about - not at all.

They are only targeting a narrow market segment and only "large" businesses. They are also not talking about a minimum wage increase (in places where the minimum wage is already 2x the requirement), but a forced raise regardless of the current pay.

Not surprising that a company would not want to do business in a place that wants to give an unfair advantage to their competition.

Fair pay and minimum wage increases are completely separate topics. This is just a headline grabber.

[carolinamama]

But that is not what these bills are about - not at all.

They are only targeting a narrow market segment and only "large" businesses. They are also not talking about a minimum wage increase (in places where the minimum wage is already 2x the requirement), but a forced raise regardless of the current pay.

Not surprising that a company would not want to do business in a place that wants to give an unfair advantage to their competition.

Fair pay and minimum wage increases are completely separate topics. This is just a headline grabber.

I will have to look into it more.