As Their Profits Soar, Kroger Announces Closure of Two Seattle Grocery Stores in Retaliation for Hazard Pay Law
/For immediate release: 2/16/21
Contact: Tom Geiger, 206.604.3421, or tgeiger@ufcw21.org
Statement from UFCW 21
As Their Profits Soar, Kroger Announces Closure of Two Seattle Grocery Stores in Retaliation for Hazard Pay Law
Today, Kroger publicly announced the closure of two QFC stores in Seattle, in a transparent attempt to intimidate other local governments from passing ordinances that would provide hazard pay to front line grocery store workers. Essential workers, our local government, and our communities will not be threatened by this corporate bullying.
The COVID pandemic has caused serious illness and taken lives, and at the same time the amount of work and the level of stress and risk for grocery store workers has risen dramatically. Early on, companies like QFC agreed to pay $2/hour in hazard pay to employees all across the nation in acknowledgement of the risks workers faced and the essential nature of their work during a national crisis. Then they cut that pay in May - with no explanation. Kroger’s profits continued to soar, as did COVID cases, and as more and more people got sick, and more and more people shopped for groceries, restaurants and schools closed.
Workers have tried for months to get the hazard pay that was cut re-instated. But month after month the pay cuts were kept in place. The level of stress grew, as did concerns about safety, higher workloads, fewer workers on shift, more customers, and rising COVID cases in stores. Several places in California passed local hazard pay ordinances. Kroger announced the closure of two stores in that area in retaliation against that local hazard pay law.
In January, things had reached a breaking point and, working with Seattle City Council, UFCW 21 members were able to help pass a local and temporary $4/hour hazard pay law. That pay went into effect on February 3. Kroger announced their Seattle store closures on February 16.
Today’s announcement by Kroger to close these two Seattle QFCs is a case of over-the-top greed and bullying, and it shows how out of touch Kroger is with our community. The public overwhelmingly supports hazard pay and supports our grocery store workers. Other grocery chains, including PCC locally, have actually expanded hazard pay to stores beyond Seattle and Burien which have now passed new hazard pay laws. Kroger’s closures threaten workers, as well as shoppers and our local community. We need safety concerns addressed and we need hazard pay expanded.
Kroger’s intent seems perfectly clear: They are announcing these closings to try and intimidate any other local communities here in our state or around the nation from passing hazard pay. If Kroger cares about their employees and the local communities in which they operate, they should expand hazard pay and improve store safety practices, not file lawsuits and close our neighborhood stores.
