Laura Fong:
Last month, the Long Beach City Council, pointing to large chains not doing enough, passed a hazard pay ordinance of four dollars per hour for grocery store employees.
The law went into effect immediately for 120 days and targeted companies with more than 300 workers nationwide and more than 15 employees per store.
In the weeks since the Long Beach ordinance went into effect, other city councils in California — Oakland, Montebello, San Jose, Los Angeles, Irvine, and Seattle, Washington — have passed similar laws mandating temporary pay raises of three to five dollars per hour for grocery workers.
After the Seattle law was adopted, Traders Joes announced a four per hour “thank you premium,” an increase from two dollars, for its stores nationwide.
But in Long Beach this month, Kroger announced that two of its stores — a Ralphs and a Food4Less — will begin to close in April.
