Integrity is often grey. The Long Beach law requiring grocery stores to bump worker pay by $4 an hour during the pandemic is no doubt well intentioned, and IMO anyone required to work in a crowded setting like a grocery store in these times should be paid more.
The other side, of course, is that a pay hike like this will get passed along to consumers in the form of higher food prices, a tough pill to swallow when so many people who can't afford to buy food.
And the law doesn't cover big box stores that sell groceries like Costco, Target and Walmart, which puts Kroger at an unfair disadvantage.
I think the real failure occurred when Kroger posted record earnings and profits last year, and didn't pass along a healthy chunk of that money to its workers, while some national chains like Trader Joes increased worker pay and handed out bonuses.
So Kroger's failure to do the right thing voluntarily led the government to pass a poorly designed law to help workers...and Kroger responds like a petulant child by closing the stores and putting 200 people out of work.
Everyone loses.
