WVXU then added more news and talk programs to supplement its eclectic music schedule, coinciding with the expansion of NPR's schedule in the 1980s. WGUC continued carrying NPR's flagship afternoon newsmagazine All Things Considered. The original NPR member for the Cincinnati area, WGUC, did not want to replace its popular morning drive-time classical music show with the newsmagazine, so WVXU started carrying Morning Edition and other NPR programs. It became an NPR member when the network's Morning Edition was added to the schedule in 1981. The station was originally licensed to Xavier University it featured primarily a jazz and progressive rock format. It airs public radio news and talk syndicated programming from National Public Radio, American Public Media and Public Radio Exchange. It is owned by Cincinnati Public Radio, which also operates station WGUC and WMUB. WVXU (91.7 FM) is a public radio station located in Cincinnati, Ohio. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. For NPR News, I'm Ann Thompson in Cincinnati.Ĭopyright © 2020 NPR. If they didn't, it's likely some Kroger stores would struggle to remain open and keep food on the shelves for consumers. THOMPSON: Renzenberger says they're showing up to work to keep their jobs. He has no problem voicing his support for the workers and thinks extra pay is warranted.ĭAVID RENZENBERGER: And I think every company has to look at it from the point of view of you're asking all of your employees to do something that they didn't expect to do, that when you hired them, you didn't say, oh, yeah, and by the way, you're going to do this as well. THOMPSON: Out in Kroger's parking lot, customer David Renzenberger (ph) is putting his groceries in his car. And that risk still remains high for a lot of workers. A lot of them are still coming to the point where they need to make this decision of, do they extend, and if so, how long? And that's very difficult because, you know, cases are not going down in a lot of areas. JEFF WELLS: You know, it's a boost in terms of public relations. THOMPSON: Jeff Wells, who writes about the grocery industry, thinks much of this is about corporate messaging. And it's just the right thing to do as far as we're concerned. KEVIN GARVEY: For the work that these people do and the exposure that they take, it's worth every bit of it. THOMPSON: Last week, United Food and Commercial Workers Regional President Kevin Garvey asked Kroger to extend the $2 an hour pay bump. KEITH DAILEY: It really follows from how we've tried to orient ourselves throughout this entire pandemic as a company and as a leadership team which is to always strive to find the right balance between our most urgent priority, which has been to provide a safe environment for our associates and customers, with our social obligation. THOMPSON: In an interview this afternoon, Kroger Vice President Keith Dailey says the company will now pay full-time workers a one-time bonus of $400 and part-time workers $200, but that hourly wage boost would end. GRIFFIN: Well, $2 is nothing to The Kroger Co. The so-called hero bonus was paying her an additional $2 an hour. While she's glad to hear about the bonus, she wants the hourly pay bump to continue until she doesn't have to wear a mask anymore. THOMPSON: Griffin is concerned about catching the virus and bringing it home to her children and grandchildren. And I'm thinking, I don't know if it's a smoker's cough or not. And she says, oh, don't worry, it's just a smoker's cough. She cites a recent experience with a customer as an example.ĭEBBIE GRIFFIN: She's in my line. Even so, clerk Debbie Griffin (ph), who has worked at another Kroger store west of here for 41 years, says she doesn't feel safe. One-way aisles and Plexiglas panels at the checkout are a few of the other safety measures this Cincinnati-based company has implemented. That's one of the employee requirements company wide. From member station WVXU in Cincinnati, Ann Thompson reports.ĪNN THOMPSON, BYLINE: Every worker inside this modern suburban Kroger store east of Cincinnati is wearing a face mask. That will end this weekend for thousands of Kroger employees, though the company did just announce a one-time bonus for its workers. For nearly two months now, some frontline workers at grocery stores have received extra pay, a kind of hazard pay for working during the pandemic.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |