The Stater Bros. supermarket chain announced Tuesday that it will pay an incentive of an additional $2 per hour for all its employees because they face the risks of the coronavirus pandemic on a daily basis.
Alberto Flores affirms that the emergency compensation granted to him by the company, for which he has worked for three years, represents an important labor victory but also an extraordinary gesture of solidarity in times of the pandemic.
"We put our lives at risk also because there are people who enter the store without a mask and some do not want to be told 'put the mask on' … there are people who do not understand, who are stubborn," said Flores.
The union for workers of the Stater Bros. supermarket chain reported that more than 18,000 employees of 170 stores in Southern California will receive the salary stimulus.
"With that they give us a little more to pay our bills, rent, to eat, and to survive," Flores explained. "It's two dollars, but hopefully it can be more."
For their part, company executives indicated that "the incentive will remain in effect for three weeks from December 6 and will be effective for all employees who work hourly in stores, distribution, transportation, corporate offices, and construction."
"Hopefully it will be more than three weeks because we are the ones who are working so that everyone can come to buy food, products to bathe, and everything else," added Flores.
