At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kroger employees received a $2-per-hour "hero bonus," but the practice was ended just two months later. | stock photo
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kroger employees received a $2-per-hour "hero bonus," but the practice was ended just two months later. | stock photo
Kroger Co. CEO Rodney McMullen is facing backlash after closing two Seattle locations while getting a 6% salary raise and collecting a $22.4 million pay package for 2020, Bloomberg reported.
An outspoken opponent is U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Seattle), who is furious that the large chain could offer the CEO a raise, while at the same time closing two locations and not offering hazard pay to workers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"How interesting. Kroger claimed they needed to close two Seattle stores because they couldn’t afford hazard pay for essential workers — but they could give their CEO his largest salary ever?" Jayapal wrote in a May 14 Tweet.
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal
| Jayapal.house.gov
According to Bloomberg, pay for median employees at Kroger fell 8% to $24,617, despite the company having a strong fourth quarter with fuel sales growth of 10.6% and digital sales growing 118%, according to Kroger's website.
"McMullen, a Kroger lifer, is one of many CEOs who saw their pay jump last year, even as the pandemic roiled the U.S. economy and drove millions into unemployment. The typical company in the Russell 1000, an index of larger corporations, reported CEO compensation up 3% last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg that is derived from filings available as of April 30," Bloomberg reported.
In early 2020, McMullen did announce a $2 hourly increase for hazard pay, but it was taken away just two months later, despite the hazardous conditions continuing for more than a year.
"Precarious conditions for frontline workers led to calls for higher wages from unions, lawmakers and even President Joe Biden, who campaigned on raising the minimum federal hourly rate to $15. Many of the largest U.S. employers have moved to boost pay, including Amazon.com Inc. and McDonald’s Corp.," Bloomberg reported.
The Cincinnati-based Kroger announced that it will be bringing its average hourly wage to $16 an hour, up from $15.50 an hour, which computes to a 3% increase in pay for workers. The Cincinnati-based Kroger operates 2,740 stores with 465,000-plus workers.
The company claims this raise actually represents more than $20 an hour on average, when including benefits.
In February, the Seattle City Council passed CB 119990, establishing labor standards and requirements for additional compensation for grocery store employees, according to Seattle.gov.
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