Kroger to Close Additional Stores After Workers Get Hazard Pay
Kroger-owned grocery chain Quality Food Centers have announced that they will close two stores in Seattle next month due to a new law requiring "hazard pay" for frontline grocery employees who have continued to work during the coronavirus pandemic. The United Food and Commercial Workers local union called Kroger's plan to close the two QFC stores "a transparent attempt to intimidate other local governments from passing ordinances that would provide hazard pay to front line grocery store workers." The actions of QFC is in direct contrast to other grocery chains such as Trader Joe's that have responded to the situation by upping the pay of its workers by $4 nationwide.
See "Kroger to Close Additional Stores After Workers Get Hazard Pay", KATE GIBSON, CBS News, February 17, 2021