We continue our fight against the Kroger-Albertsons merger as the FTC trial enters its final week, with more trials to come — UFCW 3000

The UFCW 324 membership rally was broadcast on ABC 7 in LA on September 13, 2024

Dear grocery store members,

Since the Federal Trade Commission's trial of the proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger began on August 26, employees have been in the courthouse speaking to the media and customers about how damaging this would be to employees, customers and our communities. We have been doing this work for almost two years and will continue until we can finally stop this disastrous merger.

The federal court case is expected to conclude on Tuesday, September 17, and the judge could issue a decision as early as the first week of October on whether or not to grant the FTC's request for what is known as a “preliminary injunction.” If the preliminaries are granted, the merger would be put on hold until a full trial on the merger's merits is completed.

Meanwhile, the Washington State Attorney General's lawsuit seeking to block the merger begins trial in Seattle on Monday, September 16. The Colorado Attorney General's lawsuit is scheduled to begin on September 30.

The dedicated efforts of grocery store members and our community partners, as well as many law enforcement agencies such as the FTC and state attorneys general, have been critical to the successful efforts to date to stop the proposed Kroger-Albertsons mega-merger.

Kroger Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call

On Thursday, September 12, Kroger held its second quarter earnings conference call, and it confirmed what we've been saying all along: Kroger is doing well and does not need this merger to remain competitive. Store sales increased by 1.2% (higher than expected) and the company pointed to higher online sales and a larger number of loyal households as drivers of stronger sales and growing own-label brands as drivers of higher profitability. In particular, these areas – e-commerce capacity, customer loyalty and own-label manufacturing – are areas that C&S Wholesale Grocery (the proposed buyer of 579 divested stores if a merger were allowed) does not master, underscoring concerns that C&S would not be able to operate these stores in a sustainable manner.

Kroger also talked about the high profits in the pharmacy sector and acknowledged that pharmacies are a key driver of customer loyalty. We have repeatedly pointed out that C&S has little to no experience managing pharmacies, which are a lifeline to our communities.

Also of note, company officials claimed that shrinkage (losses due to theft or other causes) has improved but is still high, and OSHA incident rates are currently at record lows. Members who actually work in the stores paint a very different picture of understaffed stores with high theft rates and significant health and safety risks.

In the news

UFCW Unions 7, 324, 400, 770, 1564 and 3000 have held press conferences, store actions, webinars and interviews to make our concerns known to the public in over a thousand media stories from coast to coast since the first day Kroger and Albertsons announced their merger plans. Time and time again, the experiences of grocery store employees prove to be a crucial part of these news stories.

There have been several notable reports surrounding the FTC process recently:

For more current news, visit the Stop the Merger website News page >>

Protecting jobs and the collective bargaining power of union members, as well as maintaining choice and price competition for our customers, are the main reasons for our long-standing and vocal opposition to the proposed merger. We recently launched a customer petition “Stop the Merger” to further build public support. It has already collected thousands of signatures! Please help spread the word about our petition by sharing it. www.nogrocerymerger.com/petition.

Customers across the country tell us that the proposed mega-merger of Kroger and Albertsons threatens store closings, grocery and pharmacy deserts, thousands of laid-off union grocery workers, and higher prices in our communities.

You can take action by encouraging your coworkers, family members, fellow shoppers, friends and others in the community to sign the petition to show Kroger and Albertson that you oppose this disastrous proposal.

Sign and share the petition >>

In solidarity,
The “Stop the Merger” coalition