Puget Sound Allied Grocery Stores: Fred Meyer QFC Kroger’s Answer to our Staffing Concerns... More cuts

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Only days after Kroger’s CEO resigned for unknown ethical reasons, our bargaining team faced Kroger bargainers who seem hell-bent on stripping away workers’ rights.

Staffing at QFC and Fred Meyer is at a crisis level. Hours are down, we are overworked, theft is up, and our customers are frustrated. Our union and Kroger have very different proposals about how to solve the staffing crisis.

Union Staffing Proposals

  • Limit Self-Checkout to 15 items or less

  • More hours in our stores

  • Minimum safe staffing for key departments, including Self Checkouts

  • Guarantee staffing levels for traditional check stands

  • More 8-hour shifts on the schedule

  • Less changes to the posted schedule

Kroger’s Proposals to “fix” Staffing

  • Taking away overtime

  • No more six day premium

  • Outside vendors in our Produce Department doing our work

  • Fewer Journey Meatcutters

  • Less paid sick leave

  • Creating split shifts

After we shared our stories about how crisis level staffing is impacting our work, our safety, and our customers, Kroger’s response was more cuts!

Even more insulting—they are demanding that we allow outside vendors to come in and take our work in produce! We believe that this will take hours away from union workers, create a pathway to outsourcing more jobs within our grocery stores, erode work for workers that take pride in their craft, undermine the funding to our healthcare and pension and may result in dangerous produce in our stores.

Don’t just take our word for it: Snowfruit and Supreme Produce (the two companies Kroger cited as the outside vendor that would come in to cut fresh produce) have recently had multiple recalls in Kroger-owned stores around the country due to unsafe produce.

Join the fight to win the wages and staffing levels that we need by getting organized and ready to strike.

  • Become a strike captain: With well-trained strike captains, we can run more powerful strike lines. If you are interested in being a strike captain, reach out to your union Rep!

  • Commit to a workplace action at your store or at a nearby store. Go to: ufcw3000.org/better-staffing >>

  • Complete a staffing report: Speaking up about staffing issues bolsters our fight and serves as one way that everyone—even customers—can support our negotiations. Go to: ufcw3000.org/better-staffing >>

Contract Action Team Meetings

The next Contract Action Team meetings are scheduled for the week of March 17 through the 21, go to ufcw3000.org/better-staffing for updates >>