Kroger and the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 Union reached a “Fully Recommended Tentative Agreement” on a new contract Thursday for Mid-Atlantic division associates in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio.
Kroger and the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 Union reached a “Fully Recommended Tentative Agreement” on a new contract Thursday for Mid-Atlantic division associates in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio.
Just last week, the union had voted to authorize a strike but returned to the bargaining table. It had planned informational pickets starting March 11.
The next step is the union will hold a ratification vote for bargaining unit members.
The strike would have affected 3,000 employees and 38 stores in the three state mid-Atlantic region.
“Kroger’s commitment to increase wages and ensure associates have access to low-cost, high-quality healthcare benefits has long been a core priority,” said Lori Raya, president of Kroger Mid-Atlantic. “I am pleased to have an agreement that rewards these associates with more money than ever before.”
Kroger is the nation’s largest unionized grocery retailer. The two sides used a federal mediator to reach the agreement.
It raises starting wages to $13 per hour and provides wage increases up to $2.50 per hour for department leaders and top rate associates over the life of the contract. It also includes a premium increase for all night shift work.
Kroger union members working at 38 stores in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio will vote later this week on a new contract and potential work stoppage.
Kroger union members working at 38 stores in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio will vote later this week on a new contract and potential work stoppage.
The union’s bargaining committee has unanimously recommended members reject Kroger’s latest offer and vote in favor of authorizing a strike.
The workers are members of United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 Union. Voting will take place in select stores Wednesday and Thursday. Results will be announced on Friday.
If the proposed contract is rejected and a strike authorization vote passes, the committee will be empowered to call a strike at a time of its choosing. Workers will not be on strike immediately.
The potential work stoppage could affect approximately 3,000 workers across the three states.
In a separate statement, Kroger said it had presented the union with its final offer. It indicated the investment will be worth about $300 million in wages and benefits.
Kroger said this offer increases some wages up to 26.4 percent over the term of the contract.
“Our associates are the heartbeat of our company, and we are committed to investing in their future,” said Lori Raya, president of Kroger Mid-Atlantic. “This offer invests more than $300 million in incremental wage increases.”
According to the statement, every West Virginia associate under the collective bargaining agreement will receive a substantial pay increase with many associates seeing increases of up to $2 per hour in their base rate.
In related news, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued to block a proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons to form the nation’s largest grocery chain, saying the $24.6 billion deal would eliminate competition and lead to higher prices for millions of Americans.
The FTC filed an administrative complaint against the companies Monday, which will be considered by an administrative law judge at the agency. It also filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court in Oregon requesting a temporary injunction blocking the merger. That lawsuit was joined by the attorneys general of eight states and the District of Columbia.
Kroger and Albertsons, two of the nation’s largest grocers, agreed to merge in October 2022. The companies said a merger would help them better compete with Walmart, Amazon, Costco and other big rivals. Together, Kroger and Albertsons would control around 13 percent of the U.S. grocery market; Walmart controls 22 percent, according to J.P. Morgan analyst Ken Goldman.
The regional stores included in the potential collective bargaining agreement include:
West Virginia:
Kroger #668, Box 1264, Mt. Gay, WV 25637
Kroger #708, McGraw & Main Streets, Ripley, WV 25271
Kroger #781, 6306 State Rt 7, Proctorville, OH 45669
Kroger #799, 1008 Washington Blvd, Belpre, OH 45714
Kroger #800, 401 Matthew St, Marietta, OH 45750
Kentucky:
Kroger #783, 711 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Ashland, KY 41101
Kroger #796, 370 Diedrick Blvd, Ashland, KY 41101
United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 is led by President Mark Federici and represents 35,000 members working in the grocery, retail, health care, food processing, service and other industries in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.
The Kroger Co., donated nearly 1.3 million meals through West Virginia food banks last year, says its new national effort is aiming at helping end hunger and eliminating waste across the grocery company by 2025.
Chief Executive Rodney McMullen says more than 40 percent of the food produced in the U.S. isn’t consumed and an estimated 72 billion pounds goes to landfills annually.
He says no food in their stores should be wasted, no families in those communities going hungry.
The company has requested ideas to carry out its “Zero Hunger/Zero Waste” plan.
Federal data shows that 12 percent of households or 41 million Americans with “food insecurity” last year, with West Virginia above the national average.
Kroger lists stores in 30 states, with 41 in West Virginia.
This week, we’ve been hearing a series of stories from the Inside Appalachia team about the challenges that some Appalachian families face when trying to eat fresh food. Sometimes it’s the cost, or poor choices. Sometimes it’s limited access because they live in what’s called a food desert.
Seven months ago the Walmart in McDowell County closed, and this was especially difficult for the Five Loaves and Two Fishes food pantry, run by Linda McKinney and her husband Bob. They say the superstore’s closing has actually inspired their family to rethink how they get food for the pantry.
Once a month, the McKinney family, and a small group of volunteers, provide shopping carts full of canned food, oatmeal, and macaroni and cheese.
“I just never want anyone to go hungry, cause I watched as my grandmother provided for the children who lived in out holler that would come in our yard and play. She always had fresh bread, hard salami,” said Linda McKinney.
She and her husband Bob, a retired minister, have been running the food pantry since 2009. She says the need to help hungry people keeps growing in McDowell County.
Last year, the food pantry gave away enough food to feed half the population of McDowell County. Now, Five Loaves doesn’t keep track of customers who return month to month, so it could be a much smaller portion of the population who use the food pantry, but it’s still a lot of food.
Credit Roxy Todd/ WVPB
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Linda McKinney stands outside the Five Loaves Two Fishes Food Pantry, which she runs with her husband Bob
McKinney says she serves laid off miners and their families, as well as grandparents raising grandchildren. She says it’s important to remember that most of us are equally vulnerable.
“You know, you and I are probably just one paycheck away from poverty. I mean it’s not just the mines.”
It’s also now Walmart, she says. The Walmart closure is a double whammy for the food pantry. 140 people were laid off, which means demand might go up at the pantry, but Linda and her family have relied heavily on donations from Walmart. Last year, they received 95,000 pounds of donated food from the company. Walmart delivered the food at least three times a week.
McKinney says when the superstore closed, she almost lost hope.
“I was in the fetal position for two days. I cried, I said ‘what am I gonna do?’ And then I just took a deep breath and I said, God will provide. It does get overwhelming. Especially with the children. It gets overwhelming.”
Some people have stepped up to donate- a group of ATV tourists from North and South Carolina drove up a truckload of canned food for the food pantry.
Credit Roxy Todd/ WVPB
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Linda McKinney cooks her grandmother’s recipe for pasta sauce at the Five Loaves Food Pantry kitchen. She’s using the sauce on spaghetti pizza
Walmart wouldn’t agree to an interview, but their communications director Brian Nick did send us an emailed statement that said the decision to close 154 Walmart stores was based on a variety of factors, including financial performance, but he didn’t provide any specifics about the superstore closure in McDowell County.
West Virginia University Geography professor Bradley Wilson has been paying close attention to the Walmart closings. He says they can be really difficult for communities. That’s especially true for towns where the small local store closed after Walmart first arrived.
“Walmart convinces everyone to put their eggs in one basket. When you’ve got one person holding all the eggs, and they drop them, you don’t eat. So they’re gonna have to find another route to finding food. They’re gonna have to start over again.”
In McDowell County, there are locally owned grocery store chains – Goodson’s in Welch and Grants in War. But these aren’t big enough stores to supply the food pantry.
So McKinney has had to seriously rethink how she is going to continue feeding people in need.
“My philosophy is, you better learn to grow your own food, cause if something happens to McDowell County, and you would wake up and you’re the only person in McDowell County, you better learn to grow your own.”
Credit Roxy Todd/ WVPB
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The McKinneys are starting to grow food in the parking lot outside their food pantry. Here is a high tunnel, under construction, where Linda’s son Joel plans to grow vegetables year round.
Desperate times call for creative solutions, and McKinney is hopeful as she heads back to work. Lately, she’s had a lot of sleepless nights, but the anxiety doesn’t seem to slow her down. Feeding people is a job that’s never over.
