Santa Fe New Mexican

‘Hero’ pay increases vanishing for many

- By Michael Corkery

Many retailers across the United States have quietly stopped providing their workers with the pay raises they had dispensed at the start of the pandemic, despite surging virus numbers in many states.

The companies’ rationale for cutting back on this so-called hero pay is that the panic-buying that flooded stores during the early weeks of the crisis has waned.

Stop & Shop is the latest retailer to make such a move, ending a 10 percent pay raise it gave its 56,000 employees this spring to acknowledg­e that their work was essential and appreciate­d. Amazon, Kroger and Albertsons have also ended pandemic hourly pay raises, though some of them continue to give out bonuses. ShopRite said it planned to end its $2-an-hour raise early next month.

But while hoarding may be over, infection remains a very real threat, especially in environmen­ts like retail stores, where, even with masks and social-distancing measures, workers say they still feel vulnerable.

As dozens of states endure record levels of new cases, many employees say the job of the essential retail worker has actually become more difficult than at the start of the health crisis.

The politiciza­tion of mask-wearing has not helped. Store employees now risk heated and even violent confrontat­ions when they remind customers and colleagues alike to cover their faces.

“What we are doing is still very risky,” said Eddie Quezada, a produce manager at a Stop & Shop store on New York’s Long Island. “We should get at least something for that.”

Nearly every day for the past four months, Quezada has followed the same routine. When he returns home from work, he strips off his clothes on the porch and immediatel­y deposits them in the wash. The coronaviru­s, which infected Quezada and several co-workers, still feels like an ever-present threat.

Many of the retailers said the extra hourly pay was meant to reward employees while they worked through months of wildly surging sales. But lately, there is less reason for the large raises, the companies said.

“As states continue to reopen, we are returning to pre-COVID levels of traffic and demand,” Stop & Shop said in a statement.

And that has changed the economics for employers, even as the health threats and others challenges for workers remain.

In the early weeks of the virus, panic-buying generated record sales for retailers selling food, health care products and other essential goods. Those surging sales helped offset the costs retailers were incurring to upgrade their stores with Plexiglas barriers and provide masks and hand sanitizer to workers. It also helped pay for pay raises for current employees and to recruit new workers to keep up with the crushing demand.

But a more sobering financial reality is setting in for some companies. On Thursday, Walgreens said labor costs and frequent store cleanings increased overall expenses and contribute­d to a loss in the third quarter. The company, which had provided full-time workers with a $300 bonus in early April, has not announced plans to provide any additional bonuses and is focused instead on cutting costs.

For some grocery chains, business may no longer be hitting records. But sales are still booming as Americans continue to eat nearly all their meals at home.

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