Under public and worker pressure after announcing plans to cancel “hero pay” this week, Kroger announced a new round of “thank you” bonuses for some store associates. According to the announcement:
“The Thank You Pay, which will be $400 for qualified full-time associates and $200 for qualified part-time associates, will be paid out in two installments: $65 million on May 28 and $65 million on June 18. Associates must be active on or before May 23 to be eligible for Thank You Pay.”
While we welcome any increase in compensation, we continue to call on Kroger to extend the $2.00/hour “hero pay” premium indefinitely until this crisis is over. We had over 10,000 people sign out petition calling on Kroger to extend this pay premium. Join them and sign our petition calling on Kroger to restore “hero pay” now!
While other industries are suffering during this pandemic, Kroger is thriving. Thanks to our hard working members, same-store sales were up a whopping 30% in March alone, and we expect to see elevated numbers for April, May, and into June. Around the same time Kroger announced it plans to cancel “hero pay,” the company also reported that Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen received a 21% raise. We also deserve to share in the success that our hard work has created for this company.
Kroger workers were heroes last week and they will be heroes next week. As other grocery chains have acknowledged by extending their premium pay programs, our members working on the frontlines continue to get sick and be quarantined, they deserve to be compensated for putting themselves and their families at risk every day they come to work on the frontlines.