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Kroger, union workers plan for possible strike
Talks continue as locals rally for health benefits, grocer advertises jobs12:00 AM CDT on Friday, June 22, 2007
Kroger Co. and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union locals in Dallas and Houston prepared for a possible strike with some public posturing Thursday.
In Houston, UFCW Locals 407 and 455, which represent 12,700 employees in 110 Kroger stores, held a rally and asked customers to make a pledge to shop elsewhere if workers strike over health care benefits.
In Dallas, Kroger took out a full-page ad in The Dallas Morning News saying it was "Now Hiring At All Stores!"
Kroger's Southwest division, headquartered in Houston, issued a news release saying it was "working hard to reach a balanced agreement" in Houston and Dallas.
Dallas UFCW Local 540 represents 584 Kroger meat cutters in 90 North Texas stores who have been working without a contract since June 6. Houston employees have been without a contract since March 31.
All three locals have authorized a strike, which is a first for Dallas-area Kroger employees.
The two sides are still negotiating. The union says employees should benefit from Cincinnati-based Kroger's recent "record profits, increasing market share and growing revenues."
It's possible that Texas and Ohio employees of the supermarket chain will go out on strike with California workers next week, a union official in Washington said.
On Sunday, Southern California grocery workers "plan to review what is on the table," said Jill Cashen, a spokeswoman for the UFCW in Washington, D.C. The union would have to give Kroger 72 hours' notice of a strike.
If that happens, it will be the first time that UFCW workers in different regions will commence a strike together, she said.
"Our members are preparing for the worst, but we are also focused on finding an agreement," Ms. Cashen said. "We would hope that Kroger will work towards a solution for preserving good jobs and health care benefits instead of spending their time and resources picking a fight with their own employees."
In Houston and Dallas, all three locals are covered by the same health insurance trust fund.
Employees contribute $5 to $15 a week to the fund. Kroger is proposing no change to that and has proposed to increase its contributions.
Kroger also said the fund is on sound financial footing, with more than $7 million in reserves. The two sides disagree over whether those reserves should be spent or whether the fund keeps a cushion, Ms. Cashen said.
Kroger employees also have a pension fund, the company noted in its release.
"We continue to be hopeful that a fair and balanced agreement can be reached, and our concern as always is for all of our Kroger associates," Mr. Huddleston said.
Kroger's 6,800 Dallas-Fort Worth area cashiers are represented by UFCW Local 1000 and are covered by a different health insurance trust fund. In December 2005, Local 1000 accepted a new contract that included raises but also required workers to pay partial health insurance premiums for the first time.
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