Grocery Workers

UFCW Locals Block Kroger-Albertsons Mega-Merger

December 18, 2024 Lisa Xu, Labor Notes. Organize! Albertsons, Grocery Workers, Krogers, Mergers, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

In a victory for labor—and in particular, for a coalition of United Food and Commercial Workers local unions—judges in Oregon and Washington state have separately ruled against the proposed mega-merger of Kroger and Albertsons, effectively blocking it and leading Albertsons to terminate the merger agreement. On December 10, a federal district court in Oregon upheld a preliminary injunction on the merger requested by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). On the same day, a court in Washington also ruled against the merger in a separate suit brought by the state’s attorney general.

Judges Block Kroger-Albertsons Merger

December 14, 2024 Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams. Resist! Albertsons, Antitrust, Grocery Workers, Krogers, Merger, Unions, Victory

Antitrust advocates on Tuesday welcomed a pair of court rulings against the proposed merger of grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons, which was challenged by Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and multiple state attorneys general. "The FTC, along with our state partners, scored a major victory for the American people, successfully blocking Kroger's acquisition of Albertsons," said Henry Liu, director of the commission's Bureau of Competition, in a statement. "This historic win protects millions of Americans across the country from higher prices for essential groceries—from milk, to bread, to eggs—ultimately allowing consumers to keep more money in their pockets."

College Park MOM’s Workers Reject Effort To Oust Union

November 20, 2024 UFCW Local 400. Resist! Grocery Workers, Maryland, union busting, Unions, Worker Rights

College Park, MD - United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 Union announced workers at the MOM’s Organic Market in College Park, Md. have resoundingly voted down an effort to decertify the union at the store. The attempt to oust the union was backed by the National Right to Work Committee, an anti-union organization based in Northern Virginia. Workers resoundingly rejected the effort and voted 22–9 in favor of remaining unionized with UFCW Local 400. “We know MOM’s can be a better place to work and the best way to make that happen is to stand together and collectively demand the change we need.

Thousands Of Portland Grocery Workers On Strike

September 7, 2024 Lyn Neeley, Workers World. Resist! Grocery Workers, Portland, Strikes, Unions

Thousands of grocery workers in Portland, Oakland, at 28 Fred Meyer stores walked out at 6 a.m. on Aug. 28, beginning a week-long strike. Workers are demanding better wages and pension plans in addition to good faith bargaining. On the third day of the strike, workers told this reporter that Fred Meyer’s sales have plummeted 69%. Kroger bought Fred Meyer in 1998 and also owns Albertsons and Safeway in Oregon. Kroger is the largest supermarket chain in the U.S. and the country’s fifth-largest retailer. Inside the Fred Meyer stores, the meat, bakery and deli departments have closed. Stores are opening two hours later than usual.

Work To Rule And Open Bargaining Back Down Kroger Warehouse Bosses

August 27, 2024 Alexandra Bradbury, Labor Notes. Resist! Grocery Workers, Krogers, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Teamsters in an Indiana grocery warehouse scored big this year with a contract campaign like never before. They organized in five languages and sported a multilingual union button. They opened up bargaining sessions for any member to come observe—on the peak day, 150 showed up. They even pulled off a daring work-to-rule action the week before bargaining kicked off, to start from a position of strength. The final night, June 30, negotiations came down to the wire, stretching past the midnight contract expiration deadline. Some members were itching to walk.

Grocery Workers File Union Democracy Lawsuit

July 11, 2024 Lisa Xu, Labor Notes. Resist! Grocery Workers, Legal System, UFCW, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Members seeking to transform the United Food and Commercial Workers have added a new weapon to their arsenal: legal action. Grocery workers Kyong Barry (Local 3000 in Washington) and Iris Scott (Local 1459 in Massachusetts) sued the UFCW April 19 over the undemocratic representation of members at the UFCW Convention, which takes place every five years. There are several charges, but the crux of the lawsuit is that delegates are apportioned across locals in such a way as to deny members equal voice. A favorable ruling would enable reformers in other unions to sue on the same basis. The UFCW is the fifth-largest union in the U.S. after the NEA, SEIU, AFSCME, and the Teamsters.

Grocery Workers Make Waves In The Land Of Lakes

January 23, 2024 Lisa Xu, Labor Notes. Strategize! Grocery Workers, Minnesota, Strikes, Worker Rights and Jobs

It wasn’t such a merry Christmas for grocery store management in central Minnesota. Five hundred grocery workers in the Brainerd Lakes area walked out on an unfair labor practice strike, deserting five stores between December 22 and 25. Management tried to keep the stores running, but workers said they turned into disaster zones. Why did two Cub Foods stores, two Super Ones, and a SuperValu find themselves on Santa’s naughty list last year? Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 663 charges management with interrogation, surveillance, intimidation, and bargaining in bad faith.

At UFCW, A Reform Movement Rises

May 6, 2023 Hamilton Nolan, In These Times. Organize! Democracy, Grocery Workers, Labor Movement, Worker Rights

Las Vegas — It was 7:30 on a Monday morning on the Las Vegas Strip, early enough to stand outside without sunscreen. A group of people — first a trickle, then dozens — wearing matching blue T-shirts that read “Organizing & Bargaining & The Right to Strike & A Voice in Our Union,” flooded the patio of the Mirage Resort & Casino pool, overwhelming the early morning smokers who had sought refuge there. This group was smiling, energized, far too wholesome for their garish surroundings. Like a team of underdogs before a critical game, they seethed with nervous excitement. These were the reformers.

Workers Fighting Union-Busting Have A New Legal Tool

April 25, 2023 Sam Knight, Truthout. Resist! Grocery Workers, Legal System, union busting, Worker Rights

A company accused of lying about retirement benefits to stop workers from organizing can be sued in a class-action lawsuit, a federal judge ruled. The decision came on April 7 after the defendant, the California-based grocery retailer Save Mart Supermarkets, asked the judge to dismiss the case, which experts are calling a creative use of labor law against union-busting. The suit hinges on promises made by managers about retirement benefits to undercut the appeal of union membership to employees, a common tactic in campaigns against labor organizing. A ruling against Save Mart could haunt companies that have used similar tactics for decades.

Grocery Boss Crumbles Under Easter-Weekend Strike Threat

April 22, 2023 Paul Kirk-Davidoff, Labor Notes. Resist! Grocery Workers, Labor Unions, Strikes, Worker Rights

For the first time in their history, 3,000 grocery workers in the local chain Cub Foods across the Twin Cities metro area were set to strike. They were going to shut down 33 stores during the busy Easter weekend. Hours before the strike was to begin, the company offered a settlement that gave the workers much of what they wanted, and none of the concessions it had been demanding. Workers will get raises between $2.50 and $3.50 an hour, and hundreds will receive even more raises as they get reclassified into higher-paying job titles. A company-wide safety committee will be established.

UFCW Reformers Look To 2023

November 3, 2022 Jonah Furman, Labor Notes. Organize! Democracy, Grocery Workers, Labor Unions, UFCW

Next April, 1,200 delegates from the Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) will gather in Las Vegas for the union’s international convention. A new reform group, Essential Workers for a Democratic UFCW, is gearing up for a fight. The group describes itself as a coalition of rank and filers, local leaders, and not-yet-union workers. Drawing inspiration from the caucuses that have recently won landmark reforms in the Teamsters and Auto Workers, it is pushing for change in three areas: union democracy, new organizing, and coordinated bargaining. The reform group is encouraging rank-and-file supporters to run for convention delegate on its platform. The effort has its strongest public backing from the union’s largest local: Local 3000, formed this year by merging Locals 21 and 1439.

California Grocery Store Workers Vote To Authorize Walkouts

March 30, 2022 Otto Fors, Left Voice. Resist! California, Grocery Workers, Walkouts, Worker Rights and Jobs

Over 47,000 grocery store workers in Southern California have voted to Authorize Walkouts after contract negotiations have stalled. Despite reaping huge profits during the pandemic, the supermarket executives are refusing to meet workers’ demands for increased wages, higher minimum hours for part-time workers, and health and safety committees at stores. A strike would include workers at over 500 Krogers, Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons, and Pavilions supermarkets. These workers currently make between $17.02 and $22.50 an hour after five to seven years, less than the living wage for the area, which MIT researchers estimated at between $19 to $34 an hour. These workers have seen rising costs of living and inflation eat into their wages.

Disturbing New Report Shows Dire Conditions For Grocery Workers

January 12, 2022 Hamilton Nolan, In These Times. Educate! Economic insecurity, Grocery Workers, Homelessness, Low Wage Workers

An alarming new survey of thousands of grocery workers across three western U.S. states reveals that they suffer from shockingly high rates of poverty. More than three-quarters of the workers meet the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s definition of “food insecure,” and 14% say they have been homeless within the past year. The survey, which was funded by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) and performed by the nonprofit research group the Economic Roundtable, drew responses from more than 10,000 workers at Kroger, the largest all-grocery chain in the United States. (Kroger also owns other grocery brands including Fred Meyer, Harris Teeter, and City Market.) The workers surveyed live in Southern California, Washington state, and Colorado, and all of them are UFCW members...

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