We Continue Our Fight Against the Kroger/Albertsons Merger as the FTC Trial Enters Final Week, More Trials to Follow

UFCW 324 Members' Rally Was Covered on ABC 7 in LA September 13, 2024

Dear Grocery Store Members,

Since the trial of the Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit to stop the proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons began on August 26, workers have been at the courthouse, talking to the media, and talking to customers about how damaging this would be for workers, customers, and our communities. We've been doing this work for nearly two years and we'll continue to do it until we finally put a stop to this disastrous merger.

The federal court case is expected to conclude on Tuesday, September 17, and the judge could make a decision on whether or not to approve the FTC's request for what is called a "preliminary injunction" as early as the first week of October. If the injunction is granted, the merger would be put on hold until after a full court case on the merits of the merger is done.

Meanwhile, on Monday, September 16, the Washington State Attorney General's lawsuit to block the merger will begin its trial in Seattle. The Colorado Attorney General's lawsuit to block the merger is scheduled to start on September 30.

The outspoken work of grocery store members and our community partners, as well as many enforcement agencies like the FTC and Attorneys General, have all been central to the successful efforts so far to stop the proposed mega-merger of Kroger and Albertsons.
 

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Kroger's Q2 Earnings Call

Kroger held its 2nd quarter earnings call on Thursday, September 12, and it showed what we've been saying all along: Kroger is doing just fine, and doesn't need this merger to compete. Same store sales were up 1.2% (higher than expected) and the company pointed to higher online sales and increased loyalty households as drivers of stronger sales and growing private label brands as a driver of increased profitability. Notably, these areas—ecommerce capacity, customer loyalty and private label manufacturing—are ones that C&S Wholesale Grocery (the proposed buyer of 579 divested stores if a merger were allowed) lacks, underscoring concerns that C&S would not be able to operate those stores in a sustainable way.

Kroger also discussed strong profits in the pharmacy sector and acknowledged pharmacies as a leading cause of loyalty. We've pointed out time and time again that C&S has little to no experience managing pharmacies that are a lifeline to our communities.

Also of note, company officials claimed that shrink (the loss from theft or other causes) has been improving, though is still elevated, and that OSHA incident rates are currently at record lows. Members, who actually work in the stores, paint a very different picture of understaffed stores with high rates of shoplifting rates and significant health and safety risks.
 

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In the News

UFCW Locals 7, 324, 400, 770, 1564, and 3000 have held press conferences, store actions, webinars and interviews to raise our concerns to the public through more than a thousand media stories from coast to coast since the very first day Kroger and Albertsons announced their proposed plan to merge. Time and again grocery store workers, sharing their experiences, have proven to be a critical part of those news stories.

Most recently, several stories around the FTC trial have been noteworthy:
 

• Stop the Merger Rally of UFCW 324 highlighted on ABC 7 in California
• NPR - All Things Considered - Shoppers and workers that stand to be affected by a Kroger-Albertsons merger weigh in
• New York Times: A Trial Asks: If Grocery Rivals Merge, Do Workers Suffer? - Front page of the Business section
• Reuters: Surging grocery prices in focus as US tries to stop Kroger deal
• AP: Kroger and Albertsons defend merger plan in federal court against US regulators' objections
• Cincinnati Enquirer: Deleted texts, grocery prices: CEOs testify in Kroger-Albertsons merger case

You can find more of the most recent news coverage on the Stop the Merger website news page >>

Protecting the jobs and collective bargaining strength of union workers and keeping choice and price competition for our customers are key reasons for our long-standing and loud opposition to the proposed merger. We recently launched a Stop the Merger customer petition to continue to build public support that has already garnered thousands of signatures! Please help spread the word about our petition by sharing www.nogrocerymerger.com/petition.

We hear from customers all over the country that Kroger and Albertsons' proposed mega-merger threatens our communities with store closures, food and pharmacy deserts, thousands of laid-off unionized grocery store workers, and higher prices.

You can take action by encouraging your co-workers, family members, fellow shoppers, friends, and others in the community to sign the petition to show Kroger and Albertson that they are opposed to this disastrous proposal.

Sign and share the petition >>

In solidarity,
The Stop the Merger Coalition

Telephone Town Hall Call: Stop the Mega-Merger Update

On Monday, September 9 please join us at 5:30PM for a live telephone town hall on the topic of Kroger and Albertsons’ proposed mega merger and our ongoing efforts to stop it.

Despite what the companies are saying, this proposed merger threatens lay-offs, store closures, and higher prices as well as undercuts our strength in collective bargaining negotiations.

During the call, we will take members’ questions live on the topic of the proposed merger, discuss the ongoing federal court trial taking place in Portland regarding the Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit to block it, as well as prepare for a rally in Seattle the first day of the trail by our Attorney General to block the merger on September 16.

We will plan to call you at 5:30PM on Monday, just answer the phone and you will join us.

If, for some reason you don’t receive a call by 5:35pm, or get disconnected during the call, you can join us by dialing directly: 888-652-0384 And enter meeting ID 8143.

Grocery East Tentative Agreement Reached!

Member Bargaining Committee recommends a YES vote! 

After months of strike preparation, store actions, and long negotiation sessions, our member bargaining committee reached a fully recommended tentative agreement with Safeway/Albertsons and Kroger on a new contract. This agreement has dramatic gains for Eastern Washington, Oregon, and historic gains for unionized grocery stores in Idaho.

“This is the most money I thought I'd ever see coming out of Kroger. The pressure we applied across all our stores was amazing! I am feeling amazed!” - Katriana Keffer, Fred Meyer

The agreement includes: 

• Higher wages that will address pay equity across departments 

• Rights that will ensure a safer store 

• Pension improvements

• ​Investments in workforce development and training

• And more!

This tentative agreement is not final until we vote on it. Full details of the agreement will be available at the contract vote Thursday, May 2 where members of the bargaining committee will be available to help answer questions and walk us through the agreement. 

Contract Votes for Spokane Albertsons Meat, Spokane Albertsons Grocery, Spokane Safeway Meat, Spokane Safeway Grocery, Spokane Fred Meyer Meat, Spokane Fred Meyer Grocery, Spokane Fred Meyer CCK: Thursday, May 2, 2024 from 9am-12pm and 3pm-7pm at the Spokane DoubleTree Hotel and Conference Center, 322 N Spokane Falls Ct, Spokane WA 99201 - All other grocery contracts will vote at a later date.

“I feel really, really good about what we are finally getting from these employers! We broke through some big barriers in this agreement. The gains to our retirement plan felt like we were finally being listened to -we can actually retire!” -Frankie Roesser Safeway

“It’s not what everybody wants, it’s not the moon but I am really excited for my coworkers who worked for year in the Deli, my coworkers will get wage increases that they deserve. Hopefully this will help make sure we can keep people here in the store.” -Jeff Yergens, Safeway

Grocery East Contract Action Meetings

Grocery East Why do the Bosses think you deserve less than grocery workers in Western Washington?

Why do the Bosses think you deserve less than grocery workers in Western Washington? 

In our last bargaining session, the Employers told us that because cost of living is lower in Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon, and Northern Idaho, journey union members do not need the same kind of raises as the Westside. Over the last two days of bargaining, we came to correct this.  

We know that Eastern Washington, Northern Idaho, and Eastern Oregon grocery workers desperately need and deserve meaningful raises. We presented data on rising rents and home sale prices in our region. We compared Westside and Eastside counties which have very similar housing costs and very different wages.  

We compared a grocery basket in Spokane and near Seattle to show that the astronomical food prices set by these companies are the same regardless of where you live. Our grocery costs are the same, our rents are the same, and it’s all going up. But they insist on keeping a wage scale that pays us DOLLARS less!  

Bargaining committee members shared our stories: having to choose between paying the power or the water bill that month, putting our children’s healthcare costs before our own, and struggling to afford to pay for the gas to get to work. We also shared over 100 stories submitted from UFCW 3000 grocery members under these Eastside contracts. Kroger and Albertsons can afford to pay us the wages we need so we don’t have to choose between buying groceries or putting gas in the tank.  

If Safeway can afford a 4 billion dividend, they can afford to pay us what is fair. If Fred Meyer can afford to buy Safeway, they can afford to pay us what is fair. 

While we educated the Employers on what it’s like trying to survive on these wages, we stayed strong, pushing the proposals we need: 

• Create Journey wage increases of multiple dollars over the life of the contract that gain ground on the West side.  

• Institute one wage scale for all UFCW 3000 Eastern Washington, Oregon and Northern Idaho and the same journey wage rate across all grocery scales. 

• Create raises of multiple dollars for Journey Meat Cutters over the life of the contract, a proposed dollar premium for Head Meat Cutter, and new designation of Head Butcher Block. 

• Increase the amount between steps from $0.10 above minimum wage and $0.05 between steps to $0.25 above the minimum wage and between steps so that every step sees an increase as the minimum wage increases with cost of living.  

• Reduce the length of our wage scales so our coworkers can reach the Journey rate sooner. 

• Maintain our strong healthcare plan and coverage and improve benefits without increasing employee premiums.   

All the while the employers only came up $0.10 in the third year of their wage proposal. Proposing $0.50/$0.50/$0.60. This is not enough! 

We’ll be back next week for bargaining. Next bargaining dates: February 15 and 16   

Join us and show our unity in fighting for a strong contract! 

• Become a Strike Picket Captain by telling your union rep that you are ready to help lead a strike by becoming a Strike Picket Captain. Review the training here >> 

• Sign a Strike Pledge Card. 

• Remember to fill out the Worker Research Committee survey about the state of safety and operations at your store. >> 

• Wear your union buttons at work! 

More information: 

• To get updates and join the fight to Stop the Mega-Merger, go to nogrocerymerger.com 

• For information about your health care plan with Rehn go to www.ufcwhealth.com or call  800-872-8979 

• If you have questions about the Pension contact Zenith at soundretirmenttrust.com or call 800-225-7629

• General Membership Meetings happening next week 

• ​Presentation on the rising cost of living

National Press Conference on Opposition to Kroger and Albertsons’ Proposed Mega-Merger

For Immediate Release – Wednesday January 24th, 2024

PRESS ADVISORY for Friday, January 26th, 2024 (9AM PST, 12 noon EST)

Virtual Press Conference. Register HERE in advance

Grocery Store Workers and their UFCW Local Unions Hold National Press Conference on Ongoing Efforts to Oppose Kroger and Albertsons’ Proposed Mega-Merger

What: A national press conference to update media and expose many of the troubling details underlying the proposed merger as well as debunking the claims being made by the companies about themselves, the reasons for the proposed merger in the 1st place, the troubling picture of C&S as the proposed divestiture company, and more. Short informational session will be followed by a Q and A session for the media.

Who: 

• Faye Guenther, President, UFCW 3000 (WA)

• Tom Olson, Grocery store worker and UFCW 7 member (CO)

• John Marshall, CFA, Capital Strategies Director, UFCW 324 (CA) and UFCW 3000 (WA)

Upon request, post event interviews can be arranged for media with local grocery store workers in Washington State. And interviews with grocery store members at UFCW locals in CA, WA, CO and the Washington DC/surrounding states areas can also be arranged.

When: Friday January 26, 2024: 9 AM PST, 12 Noon EST

Where: Pre-register here in advance of the press conference HERE >>

Contact: Tom Geiger, UFCW 3000, 206-604-3421