Unions usually like it when companies give the workers they represent more money. But UFCW Local 7 is deeply suspicious of the $100 bonuses that Kroger, the grocery giant that operates King Soopers and City Market stores in Colorado, is offering to pay employees who agree to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Why? UFCW Local 7 president Kim Cordova portrays the move as a public-relations stunt designed to reassure customers and make Kroger look good, even though the company ended a so-called hero-pay bump of $2 per hour for employees in May 2020. Kroger providing $100 payments is a distraction from its decision to strip away $2/hour hazard pay nine months ago, Cordova maintains in a written statement. Our members are frontline, essential workers who have risked their health to go to work every day to keep the store running and their communities fed. In those nine months, Kroger has experienced record profits while nearly 600 of our Local 7 grocery members at King Soopers have co