How the fight over ‘hero pay’ for grocery workers reveals chain stores’ massive corporate greed

How the fight over ‘hero pay’ for grocery workers reveals chain stores’ massive corporate greed

Last March, when lockdowns began, grocery store workers and delivery drivers were rightfully hailed as heroes of the pandemic. Even as restaurants and bars closed to stop the spread of coronavirus, grocery store employees risked their health, and the health of their families, to keep Americans fed while white-collar workers transitioned to home offices. From the very beginning of the pandemic they put on homemade masks to stock shelves, ring up customers, and keep the supply chain working when everything else shut down.

At the beginning of the pandemic, public respect for grocery workers was overwhelming and unanimous

Rodney McMullen, the chairman and CEO of the Kroger chain of grocery stores, was effusive in his praise: "Our associates have displayed the true actions of a hero," McMullen wrote in a press release, acknowledging his staff for "working tirelessly on the frontlines to ensure everyone has access to affordable, fresh food and essentials during this national emergency."

McMullen backed up his words of support for the heroes on his staff with a bold policy: Kroger, the largest grocery chain in the nation and the second-largest retailer after Walmart, announced on March 31, 2020 that it would "provide all hourly frontline grocery, supply chain, manufacturing,