Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
Earlier this year, Long Beach mayor Robert Garcia and the Long Beach City Council set about instituting a new $4 per hour hero pay increase for essential grocery store workers. The citywide requirement meant that companies that employ over 300 grocery workers nationally, and more than fifteen 15 employees per grocery store in the City of Long Beach, must provide $4 more per hour, per employee, in “premium pay” for the next four months.
Almost immediately after the city ordinance passed on January 19, two North Long Beach grocery store locations announced that they would close: the Ralphs at Los Coyotes and Diagonal, and the Food 4 Less on South Street near Cherry Avenue. A spokesperson for Kroger — the world’s largest grocery chain and owner of both Ralphs and Food 4 Less — laid the blame at the feet of mayor Garcia and the city council, saying that “despite our efforts to overcome the financial challenges we were already facing in these locations, the extra pay imposed by Long Beach City Council makes it impossible to run a financially sustainable business that can offer affordable fresh groceries, provide jobs with potential for growth and support community organizations.”