Southern California grocery staff and group supporters held a rally Thursday, April 6 at a Ralphs grocery in Lakewood to oppose the deliberate $24.6 billion merger of grocery store giants Kroger and Albertsons.
The plan is going through growing opposition from staff who say it would cut back competitors, shutter neighborhood grocery shops, hike meals costs and put greater than 5,700 staff out of labor.
Below the proposed settlement, Cincinnati-based Kroger would purchase Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons in a transaction that may be a part of the nation’s two largest grocery store retailers.
Pending approval by the Federal Commerce Fee, the merger isn’t anticipated to occur till 2024. The 2 firms are already contemplating a sell-off of 250 to 300 shops to deal with regulatory issues, based on a latest report from Reuters.
Albertsons owns Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions shops all through Southern California, whereas Kroger owns Ralphs and Meals 4 much less supermarkets. Staff from each firms are represented by the United Meals & Business Staff union.
An enormous footprint
When the merger settlement was introduced Oct. 14, 2022, the 2 grocery chains collectively employed greater than 710,000 staff at 4,996 shops, 66 distribution facilities, 52 manufacturing vegetation, 3,972 pharmacies and a pair of,015 gasoline facilities.
“Economists have estimated that as many as 400 shops may shut due to overlaps and 5,750 staff would lose their jobs,” mentioned Judy Wooden, who works as a cake decorator at an Albertsons within the metropolis of Orange. “Cash is the one motivation for these firms.”
Thursday’s “Cease the Merger” rally at a Ralphs grocery store in Lakewood was a part of every week of motion the place grocery staff from seven UFCW native unions – representing greater than 100,000 Kroger and Albertsons staff in 11 states and the District of Columbia – will rally in entrance of grocery shops to talk out in opposition to the proposed merger.
Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal, D-Lengthy Seaside was among the many supporters at Thursday’s rally at a Ralphs grocery store in Lakewood.
“I've critical issues with the proposed mega merger and the impacts it would have on our group,” Lowenthal mentioned. “We already hear tales of working households struggling to place meals on their households’ plates. Lowering competitors might exacerbate that wrestle.”
UFCW Native 324 President Andrea Zinder mentioned it’s important that they continue to be robust and united to guard staff, clients, meals suppliers and native communities from “the disastrous results of this merger.”
“Dropping good jobs impacts all areas of our communities, lowers the usual of dwelling for all staff and destroys cities,” Zinder mentioned in a press release. “Prospects who already pinch pennies to afford groceries for his or her households will see even larger costs on the checkout stand.”
Employee meals insecurity
A Jan. 11 report survey of 37,000 Kroger grocery retailer staff by Financial Roundtable discovered that 78% have been “meals insecure,” which means they run out of meals earlier than the top of the month, skip meals and are generally hungry.
Forty-four % of staff polled mentioned they're unable to pay for lease, and 14% mentioned they're homeless or have been up to now yr.
Wooden, who has labored for Albertsons for 36 years, mentioned many staff on the Orange retailer have seen their hours minimize.
“We've got staff who actually need to do their finest, however if you take hours away it makes it onerous to do what they’re alleged to do,” she mentioned. “Jobs don’t get achieved after which the supervisors complain.”
Steve Manzanares, a grocery clerk on the Ralphs in Lakewood, mentioned staff are working amid a continuing concern of layoffs.
“The greater than 80 staff at my Ralphs shouldn't be apprehensive about shedding their jobs, feeding their households or supporting our communities due to this merger,” he mentioned. “And our clients shouldn’t be worrying about affording to feed their households when costs rise due to this merger.”
Three-quarters of the Kroger staff surveyed for the Financial Rountable report mentioned there aren’t sufficient staff at their shops to finish assigned work, impacting office safety, meals dealing with security and workers safety from COVID-19 impacts.