H-E-B Grocery Chain Thanks Workers with Pay Raise During Coronavirus Outbreak

The H-E-B grocery store chain is giving its employees a pay raise to thank them for their hard work during the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.

On Twitter Friday, the company announced that it would give its partners an extra $2 an hour to recognize their commitment to customers amid the ongoing health crisis:

We are proud to announce that that all hourly store, manufacturing, warehouse and transportation Partners will receive $2/hour Texas Proud Pay effective 3/16-4/12 to recognize their hard work and thank them for their commitment as they help serve our customers & communities. 1/3

— H-E-B (@HEB) March 20, 2020

“Texans rely on H-E-B and we rely on our great Partners,” the company wrote in a subsequent tweet.

“We understand it is our responsibility to provide essential services to our customers during a time when so many other businesses have not been able to stay open or have had to scale back operations significantly,” the post continued.

Following the announcement, Twitter users praised the company for its generosity toward its employees.

“One of my Parteners [sic] told me his life turned around (in a good way) in 2019 when he started working for HEB. He loves working here! Thanks for helping us take very good care of Partners!” one user wrote.

“Thank you @HEB for being the model of what a company should look like!” another commented, adding, “And thank you to each of your employees and suppliers for getting us through this tough time. You are appreciated.”

In addition to helping its partners, the grocery chain announced Monday that it planned to give $300,000 to support a unique coronavirus research project in San Antonio, Texas. 

“H-E-B will dedicate $300,000 to assist Texas Biomedical Research Institute, a San Antonio-based organization with a team dedicated to coronavirus research that will have a global impact,” the statement said. 

The research institute’s Lisa Cruz praised H-E-B for dedicating the funds and said the generous gift would equip scientists who are searching for answers on how to fight the virus that has impacted so many people.

“Science is expensive. So, it will cost a couple of million dollars to complete. But, this helps get us a long way,” she concluded.