After being hailed as heroic essential workers during the 2020 lockdown, Kroger employees have been rebuffed by bosses when requesting their due. Despite severe risks to their health, Kroger employees continued to provide food for the populace due to mass closures and supply shortages during the formal acknowledgement of the pandemic. In return, their bosses offered a contract that only provided a $1.80/hr raise (an improvement of 15 cents over their initial offer) spread over three years. That wouldn’t even cover the difference in inflation, which saw US corporations arbitrarily raise food and fuel prices almost double their previous point. With little recourse left, 81% of UFCW Local 1059 Kroger employees in Columbus, OH have voted to strike, but have not yet taken the picket line, as Union leadership wants to make another attempt at negotiating.
The pittance offered as a raise is a huge slap in the face, as Kroger’s top executives make between $5-20 million annually. This is contrasted with the median employee pay of $24,617, which would require that employee to place over half their income into rent, based on the median one-bedroom cost for Columbus. This pay disparity is imposed by Kroger bosses in a legal environment where landlords are allowed to reject applications when the prospective tenants’ income isn’t triple the rent or greater.
For its part, Kroger is making all the public airs about being a good negotiator. They grouse to local news about “an offer that included $120 million invested in new wages, $192 million invested in health care and $69 million in pension benefits for associates,” being rejected, but how much of that money does the average worker see? How much of the approximately 6% operational income growth over the pandemic will return to those who created it?
Workers have pointed out that while the new contract does include a healthcare investment, that comes with the expectation workers pay a few dollars more, monthly, for insurance coverage. It may expand some prescription coverage, but this advantage is negated by pay cuts imposed on employees working less than 35 hours per week. These pay cuts are activated regardless of the reason for leave, effectively punishing workers for taking sick days or short-term medical leave. An inevitability for a physically demanding job.
Those abhorrent provisions are complemented by threats from the Kroger bosses of bringing in non-union temps to replace Clicklist workers on leave, instead of paying experienced union workers overtime.
In further attempts at union busting, higher-ups at Kroger are trying to dissuade workers on an individual basis. They’ve also circulated the flyer above which does not include the fine print that negates many of the benefits Kroger is claiming workers will receive. Further, this is the third contract to be rejected recently by the workers of UFCW Local 1059, which casts doubt on the “fully recommended” quote. Perhaps union leadership pushed it, but they are not the workers.
Some employees informed WSWS of a “Strive for 5” campaign that would boost the hourly wage high enough to keep up with inflation. Kroger bosses may balk, but they raked up $4 billion in profits last year off the backs of these workers and have offered less than half the workers’ wage demand in recompense. To further compound the material insult, Kroger already pays less than other grocery stores in the region.
If there’s hope to be found, its in the words of the workers of themselves, who reported a shift in union busting activity during the third round of contract negotiations. This is the first time Kroger executives required management to attempt to talk employees down individually, an act of desperation that could suggest they’re slipping. Even in Spectrum1’s boss-slanted coverage, Columbus residents took the workers’ side. Should Columbus Kroger workers take the picket line, all who support them can find other grocery stores to shop at to bolster the strike with a boycott.
