February 10, 2021
If anyone needs proof that government-imposed wage hikes cost jobs, here it is.
Kroger grocery chain announced it would be closing two stores in Long Beach after the City Council voted to create an "honoring heroes" minimum wage granting an extra $4 an hour to grocery workers as a thank you for working through the pandemic.
Needless to say the Long Beach Bums are not happy:
Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia was a key proponent of the measure and signed it into law. He argues it is justified because grocery store workers "have been on the frontlines of this pandemic and deserve this support.â€
Tomorrow, on the day we inaugurate our new President, I’ll sign into law a $4 an hour hero pay increase to our hardworking grocery and supermarket workers. They have been on the frontlines of this pandemic and deserve this support.
— Robert Garcia (@RobertGarcia) January 20, 2021
Similarly, Garcia and other supporters of the mandated wage hike argue that companies are just being selfish by closing down rather than paying their workers more. They point to the fact that Kroger has seen high levels of profit this year.
When large corporations make record profits and double their earnings - they need to share that success with those providing the labor. Period.
— Robert Garcia (@RobertGarcia) February 2, 2021
In truth, whether the company is being selfish and whether it’s really flush with cash (Kroger says these specific stores were already financially struggling) are both beside the point. This mandatory wage hike "honoring heroes†was passed by politicians eager to spend other people’s money and claim the credit. But like any minimum wage law, it was always going to have the unintended consequence of eliminating some jobs altogether.
End excerpt.That is correct; the Mayor of Long Beach had no right to decide how Kroger was to spend their money, and his actions, not Krogers, is the cause of these people losing their jobs.
That's what is wrong with a minimum wage to begin with, and most especially a high one. It inevitably leads to fewer jobs. And that means the marginal employees - the ones who need these jobs the most - are first to go.
Try telling that to a liberal though.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
10:09 AM
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It’s easy enough to check this statement by looking at public SEC filings of Kroger Corporation. They are not making "record profits,†as there are many years in the past when their profits have been far larger.
It’s true that they did double their profit this year over last, but doubling a dismal profit does not make you wealthy. Their profit margin increased from 1.7% last year to 3.4% this year. A margin of 5% will barely keep them in business.
Posted by: Bill H at February 11, 2021 12:34 AM (vMiSr)
And even if Kroger were making record profits, by what right does Long Beach tell them they have to pay more? The city has no money invested in those stores as far as I can ascertain and thus has no say in the internal workings.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at February 11, 2021 08:09 AM (z2Zyl)
The quality of the produce ain't improving. Squishy Roma tomatoes... And we've moved into the area of a different store -- they didn't have the small red potatoes, for cryin' out loud!
Posted by: Dana Mathewson at February 11, 2021 11:00 PM (nIFkI)
When I worked in the business we bought our milk and other dairy products from Prairie Farms, a dairy company in Illinois. But then we switched to an outfit in Texas. Texas! It was shipped in every day from the Lone Star State, for crying out loud! When I ran the Dairy department I had to keep Prairie Farms handy because it was the only way to get the items I needed if there was a problem with this new company (whose name I can't remember at the moment.) See, our main supplier wanted us to go with this Texas outfit and to maintain good credit (everything runs on credit in that business) we went along. So in bad weather we just didn't get our deliveries and I would be on the phone to PF to get what we couldn't get. I think I was one of the only guys to do that, so we never ran out of stuff, but most stores did.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at February 12, 2021 08:22 AM (C8AtL)
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