Kroger employees are blasting the company for taking away a $2-per-hour hero bonus for working during the pandemic, foreshadowing the criticism other employers may face as they try to end pay increases related to the coronavirus.

The grocery chain put the hazard pay premium in place on March 29 and phased it out on May 16 after an earlier extension. Workers say their hourly pay is dropping now even though they still face the same deadly virus every time they clock in.

For them to take away the hazard pay ... I think really is unjustified, said Debbie Griffin, a Kroger cashier in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. We put ourselves on the line every day. We dont know whos coming in that store.

Griffin spoke on a call with reporters Wednesday hosted by her union, the United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents employees at Kroger stores around the country.

Marc Perrone, the unions president, said several other chains where its members work have extended their pandemic pay premiums, including Albertsons, Safeway and Stop & Shop. The union represents around 900,000 grocery employees.

The pay cut is being implemented even though the grocery workers are still dying and not a single state, major city or county has returned us to anything resembling the pre-COVID-19 normal, Perrone said. These workers did not stop becoming heroes on one particular day. They dont deserve less of our appreciation, because theyre still going out there each and every day.

A Kroger spokesperson said the company gave a separate one-time bonus payment to employees on May 15 $400 for full-timers and $200 for part-timers. That came on top of a similar bonus payment early in the pandemic, of either $300 or $150. Those payouts, which were separate from the $2 premium, were to acknowledge their dedication to maintaining safe, clean and stocked stores.

We will continue to listen to our associates and take steps to ensure their safety and well-being, the spokesperson said in an email.

Essential workers of all kinds have been asking for hazard pay to compensate for the unusual risk of working during a pandemic. Many companies in food, retail and meatpacking have offered small, temporary pay increases of around $2, and sometimes thrown in one-time payments like Krogers. Very few employers seem to have implemented the time-and-half or double-time pay that many workers say the pandemic calls for.

Democrats in Congress have called for government-funded hazard pay for front-line workers during the pandemic. The proposal would give qualifying workers an extra $13 per hour, but few Republicans aside from Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah) seem interested in hashing out a plan.

That has left it to private employers to provide the pay increases their workers are expecting. The criticism aimed at Kroger shows how tricky it may be for them to strip away what modest increases theyve made, particularly as the U.S. death count due to COVID-10 is still rising toward 100,000, though at a slower rate than in previous weeks.