Woke, Democrat run cities are now passing “hero pay” ordinances that immediately force grocery stores to give pay hikes to employees.
As we previously discussed, local leaders in Long Beach, California mandated a $4 an hour raise for workers at grocery store workers that resulted in Kroger announcing the closing of two stores.
Seattle city council passed a similar ordinance and now the QFC grocery chain announced that it will close two stores in part because that ordinance will raise operating costs for them in the city by 22%.
The company says the two stores will shut down in April. They say the stores were already operating at a loss and the final nail in the coffin was the mandated wage hike.
The company said in a statement to KOMO-TV:
"Unfortunately, Seattle City Council didn’t consider that grocery stores – even in a pandemic – operate on razor-thin profit margins in a very competitive landscape," the company said in a prepared statement. "When you factor in the increased costs of operating during COVID-19, coupled with consistent financial losses at these two locations, and this new extra pay mandate, it becomes impossible to operate a financially sustainable business...
Seattle City Council’s misguided mandate targets one industry and not only oversteps our collective bargaining rights, but it altogether exempts several non-union competitors. City Council and the mayor refuse to answer why their proposal does nothing to raise wages for the city’s own frontline workers, who are serving with the same dignity and determination as our own associates."
When politicians try to pick winners and losers and those they deem as winners actually end up losing. Nice work Seattle Libs.