Ralphs/Albertsons Negotiations Updates 2025
March 26, 2025
Still Waiting for Albertsons and Kroger to Get Serious About Staffing
Bargaining Update – March 26, 2025
We met with Kroger and Albertsons again this week for two days and progress has been very slow to say the least. In the short time we’ve met with the companies, we discussed the importance of addressing the inadequate staffing levels in the stores. However, even though the companies recognize staffing is a problem for their employees, they’re pushing back on our proposals, ignoring our experience in the stores, and prioritizing their control of operations.
This hurts us and our customers. And ultimately the companies.
We also spoke a bit about our health and welfare and made some progress, but there are still some proposed improvements that are important to us that the Companies have not addressed. We need to reduce the time it takes workers to earn eligibility to enroll in our benefit plans.
Meanwhile the companies have not yet shared their proposals on economic issues like wages. We’ve had 11 bargaining sessions. What are they waiting for?
What’s next?
Join us on an all Southern California UFCW grocery worker call on Thursday April 10 at 9:00 AM and 7:00 PM to hear exactly what’s happening at negotiations with Kroger and Albertsons and discuss future actions from the best source – us – your bargaining committee. We’ll be talking about the company’s attitude at the bargaining table, what their proposals are, and what we’re fighting for. Register for the calls with the links below:
April 10 at 9AM: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_22Iyhq8QQiOkh3vjbxdHxA
April 10 at 7PM: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6EtR2VLPTTunXVPmp-TTEQ
Join our next campaign action on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, at 11:00 AM in La Verne, CA. We’ll be marching from Vons to Stater Bros. to show how powerful we are when we stand together. Talk to your union representative or bargaining committee members if you need transportation to the march.
Register for the march here: https://forms.gle/zTyhcqMDGusAL7kv6.
Continue to wear your buttons! We return to the bargaining table on April 3 and 4 and then again in May. In the meantime, we will continue to escalate our campaign, and the more we participate in actions like the April 15 march, stay involved in bargaining by joining calls, and stand together, the more power we have at the table to negotiate for the contract we deserve. We know we deserve better than what we’re getting from Kroger and Albertsons. And so does the public, whose support for us has been overwhelming.
If you have any questions about bargaining, or if there is anything we can help you with, please do not hesitate to reach out to your Steward, Union Representative, or Bargaining Committee Member.
In Solidarity,
Your Grocery Workers Rising Bargaining Committee
March 18, 2025
In our first session since our contracts expired, we met with Albertsons/Vons/Pavilions and Kroger/Ralphs for two days this week.
Today the company saw photos and heard from committee members about customers waiting in lines for over half-an-hour, carts full of go-backs, and empty deli shelves. This not only pisses off our customers, but it puts additional pressure on us to do 10x the work in 1/10th of the time.
We presented our solution to their understaffing epidemic, which would provide a required minimum number of full time jobs, and minimum total hours based on store sales. They saw the proof but so far the companies have zero response to the crisis they caused. Wouldn’t it be great if they cared about customers as much as we do?
Our next bargaining session is March 25-26 where we will continue pushing the company for what we need and deserve.
What can you do in the meantime?
Wear your button! Your union representatives and SPURs are out in the stores distributing buttons to all members. Wearing the button is an act of solidarity and shows our companies that we’re all united and standing together for the contract we deserve. When our customers ask about the button, tell them that we’re fighting for better staffing and our companies are disrespecting us and our contribution to their success.
If you have any questions about bargaining, or if there is anything we can help you with, please do not hesitate to reach out to your Steward, Union Representative, or Bargaining Committee Member.
In Solidarity,
Your Grocery Workers Rising Bargaining Committee
March 3, 2025
UFCW Local Unions: Ouster of Kroger CEO Brings Opportunity for Changes
After a series of failed corporate initiatives and years of hostile labor relations, today’s announcement that Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen has been ousted is welcome news. McMullen weakened the company with his strategy of replacing workers with giant, automated warehouses that didn’t work as promised and thousands of self-checkout scanners that frustrated customers. Though that strategy benefited Wall Street investors in the short term with a $7.5 billion stock payout that McMullen orchestrated in what now seems like a last-ditch effort to save his own job, customers and workers suffered. This leadership change represents an opportunity for the company to adopt a new approach centered on reinvesting in its staff and stores to improve customer service and grow sales.
“Now is the time for the changes we have been pushing for: Kroger should stop investing in failed tech and mergers and instead invest in stores and communities with lower prices, more stores, and workers with better staffing and better wages,” said Andrea Zinder, president, UFCW 324. “These changes, especially addressing the staffing crisis in our stores, are what our locals are calling for in our contract negotiations this spring in Colorado, California and Washington.”
Our coalition of UFCW locals was the most outspoken and consistent opponent of the proposed $25 billion merger between Kroger and Albertsons/Safeway. We were the ones who fought for the right to wear masks early in COVID and earned hazard pay. Kroger retaliated against by closing stores in Seattle, LA and Long Beach, the very cities where hazard pay had been passed. Our unions collectively coordinated contract negotiations in 2022 and underwrote the “Hungry at the Table” report by Economic RoundTable that exposed the high levels of homelessness and hunger of Kroger workers. That report, alongside a January 2022 strike in Colorado and massive preparations for strikes in the west in the states of California and Washington all contributed to significant gains in wages.
“Those gains we made in the 2022 negotiations were nowhere near enough for workers, and the ongoing trend of reduced staffing in stores has made a bad situation worse. We have deli and meat departments with reduced hours, unstocked shelves, long check-out lines, and low morale”, continued Zinder. “Adding insult to this injury to workers and customers, evidence that came out in the merger trials showed how Kroger was gouging customers with high prices. All this needs to change, and a new CEO can be an opportunity for change that improves stores for workers, shoppers and communities across the US.”
About the Stop the Merger Coalition of UFCW Locals 7, 324, 400, 770, 1564, and 3000
Combined, these six locals represent over 100,000 Kroger and Albertsons workers in a dozen states across the country. To find out more about the coalition go to: www.NoGroceryMerger.com
February 27, 2025
Tick tock – Our contract expires Sunday!
And Kroger and Albertsons continue dodging us on staffing and wages!
Despite our contract expiring on Sunday, we’re still waiting to hear from Kroger and Albertsons on a lot of issues, including those that are very important to us like wages, healthcare and ensuring we have the appropriate staffing levels.
We know how important we, the workers, are to the companies. We keep their shelves stocked, their food fresh, their customers happy, and their profits high. And we deserve to have a contract that respects our contributions to the companies.
One bright spot: all the actions we’ve done so far in our fight, from signing petitions, attending delegations and joining calls has resulted in a tentative agreement on one very important issue – subcontracting in our stores. We’ve ensured that our work is our work and won’t get taken over by outside vendors.
What’s next?
Our contracts expire Sunday March 2, 2025 and the bargaining team has made the strategic decision that we will not agree to a contract extension because a contract extension would limit our ability to fight for the fair contract we deserve. Remember that when a contract expires, our current wages, benefits, and protections don’t change, including our health insurance. We should report to work as usual while we continue to fight for the new contract we deserve.
It’s clear from Kroger’s and Albertsons’ actions at the bargaining table that they will not offer serious proposals until we show how united and strong we are at every single action, event or meeting happening. How do we show our power?
Join us tomorrow in Buena Park at 3:30 PM! Register for our campaign kick-off rally here: https://ufcw324.org/grocery-rally-228-rsvp/
We’re also holding an all Southern California UFCW grocery worker call on Thursday, March 13 at 9:00 AM and 6:30 PM. Everyone needs to join these calls to hear exactly what’s happening at negotiations and future actions from the best source – us – your bargaining committee. Register for the calls with the links below:
March 13 at 9:00 AM: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WjdcyVKyQmmKHfIJwuWVEQ
March 13 at 6:30 PM: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_46yCkrLvQPO_3V0kWVRovw
If you have any questions about bargaining, or if there is anything we can help you with, please do not hesitate to reach out to your Steward, Union Representative, or Bargaining Committee Member.
In Solidarity,
Your Grocery Workers Rising Bargaining Committee
February 21, 2025
We met with Albertsons/Vons/Pavilions and Kroger/Ralphs for three days this week for our second round of bargaining. We were also joined by a Federal Mediator, who serves as a neutral party to help ensure that bargaining is productive.
While we have reached a few agreements on a few issues this week, the companies nitpick our reasonable proposals and haven’t responded to our proposals on some of our most important issues like wages, benefits, and staffing.
A few bargaining committee members spoke about how they had to leave negotiations to close their departments because there aren’t enough staff available to cover. Sitting across from the companies these past two weeks, it’s clear that they don’t seem to understand just how important appropriate staffing is to our health, our stores and our customers. At future sessions we will continue to share our stories.
Financial Analyst and advisor to UFCW 324 President John Marshall presented this fact to the companies and emphasized how this cycle of understaffing leads to weak sales, higher shrink and safety concerns. Both companies are in a vicious cycle caused by understaffing that can only be broken by a significant investment in us, their workers.
How can we show the companies that they need to invest in us?
We have six more scheduled bargaining dates – two next week – February 26th and 27th, and four in March – the 17th, 18th, 25th, and 26th. If Albertsons and Ralphs are going to get serious about negotiating for a fair contract that addresses wages, benefits and staffing at those sessions, it’s critical that the companies hear from all of us.
That’s why your Stewards, Union Representatives, and Bargaining Committee members have been circulating a petition in every one of our stores. Thousands of us have already signed, but if you haven’t had the chance, now is the time to ensure your voice is heard.
Join our campaign kick-off rally on February 28, 2025, at 3:30 PM in Buena Park. 1,000 grocery workers from across Southern California, including our brothers, sisters and siblings from the Teamsters, will converge in Buena Park to show Kroger, Albertsons, Vons, and Pavilions just how powerful grocery workers are. Many local UFCW unions will be providing transportation to the rally. Talk to your union representative or bargaining committee members to reserve a spot.
Register for the rally here: https://ufcw324.org/grocery-rally-228-rsvp/
Stay involved with the Grocery Workers Rising campaign! Updates are on our website and social media accounts at www.groceryworkersrising.com.
Last year, you took on Kroger and Albertsons, billion-dollar corporations, and defeated them, stopping the merger. Imagine what we can do this year if we all rise up together.
If you have any questions about bargaining, or if there is anything we can help you with, please do not hesitate to reach out to your Steward, Union Representative, or Bargaining Committee Member.
In Solidarity,
Your Grocery Workers Rising Bargaining Committee
February 14, 2025
What happened during our first bargaining session?
Roses are red, violets are blue, it’s time Kroger and Albertsons respect the work we do!
On February 13 and 14, 2025, we met with Kroger/Ralphs and Albertsons, Vons, Pavilions for our very first round of bargaining with the largest bargaining committee we’ve ever had, with thousands of years of service between everyone in the room.
We showed up as a strong, united force of proud members ready to get the contract we deserve. We began the bargaining session by presenting all of our proposals, including fair wages and benefits for the work we do, moving all GM Clerks to Food Clerk wages, increasing staffing in the store, and protecting union jobs from outside vendors.
The companies then gave us proposals that would weaken our contracts and our union. Their proposals include allowing the companies to bring in non-union outsiders to perform our work, eliminating some of our overtime premiums and expanding courtesy clerk duties. They are also proposing eliminating the requirement to have a journeyman meat cutter on duty and the 8-hour daily guarantee for meat cutters.
We have made massive profits for CEOs and shareholders, including payouts of over $10 billion to shareholders just in the past year, but these companies don’t care about our well-being or our families. We should be able to feed our families, have access to healthcare and be able to retire at the end of a long career. Unfortunately, that is not currently the case.
We made our demands and priorities known to Kroger and Albertsons and told the companies about how their proposals would affect our stores. It’s time to fight to make our jobs and our lives better. We will not accept a contract that is anything less than what we deserve. Whether we’re at the bargaining table or in the stores, we have the power to show Kroger and Albertsons that we’re serious about our proposals and that we’re ready to stand together to get a strong contract.
What’s next?
We will meet with the companies again next week on February 19-21st for our second round of bargaining. Between now and then, we must demand that the companies come to the table with serious proposals that value our work.
Thousands of hard-working grocery workers in California are rising up like never before to fight for the contracts we deserve from Kroger and Albertsons. Only by rising up together can we change our workplaces, not only for us, but for our co-workers as well. Rise up by:
1. Following the Grocery Workers Rising website and social media accounts! These platforms are where the most up-to-date information will be housed. Workers can find bargaining updates there and other content about the contract fight, so make sure all of your co-workers also follow the accounts to combat the companies’ misinformation campaign!
www.groceryworkersrising.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Groceryworkersrising/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/groceryworkersrising/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/groceryrising25
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@groceryrising25
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/groceryrising25.bsky.social
2. Joining our campaign kick-off rally on February 28, 2025, at 3:30 PM in Buena Park. After the UFCW 324 Grocery Steward Seminar, 1000 grocery workers from across Southern California, including our brothers, sisters and siblings from the Teamsters, will converge in Buena Park to show Kroger, Albertsons, Vons, and Pavilions just how powerful grocery workers are. Many local UFCW unions will be providing transportation to the rally. Talk to your union representative or bargaining committee members to reserve a spot.
Register for the rally here: https://ufcw324.org/grocery-rally-228-rsvp/
3. Signing a petition that demands Kroger and Albertsons provide fair wages, secure health benefits, a reliable retirement, sufficient hours, more full-time positions and better staffing. Union representatives and SPURs are in the stores currently with these petitions.
We will send another update after our next session on February 21, 2025. Remember that Kroger and Albertsons will attempt to control the narrative about bargaining with misinformation and partial truths to try and divide us. These updates that come directly from your union co-workers on your bargaining committee have the most up-to-date information about what is happening at bargaining with your best interests in mind.
If you have any questions about bargaining, or if there is anything we can help you with, please do not hesitate to reach out to your Steward, Union Representative, or Bargaining Committee Member.
In Solidarity,
Your Grocery Workers Rising Bargaining Committee
Febrero 14, 2025
¿Qué pasó en nuestra primera sesión de negociaciones?
Las rosas son rojas, las violetas son azules, ¡Trabajamos duro, dénos lo que nos toca!
Los días 13 y 14 de febrero de 2025, nos reunimos con Kroger/Ralphs y Albertsons (Vons y Pavilions) en nuestra primera ronda de negociaciones. Nosotros llegamos como el comité de negociaciones más grande que hayamos tenido hasta la fecha, con miles de años de servicio entre todos los presentes en el salón de negociaciones.
Nos presentamos como una fuerza poderosa y unida de orgullosos miembros listos para lograr el contrato que nos merecemos. Comenzamos la sesión de negociaciones presentando todas nuestras propuestas, incluyendo sueldos y beneficios justos por el trabajo que hacemos, proponiendo mover toda la clasificación de Empleados GM a Empleados de Alimentos, aumentar los niveles de personal en las tiendas y proteger los empleos de Unión frente a proveedores externos.
Las compañías luego nos dieron propuestas que debilitan nuestros contratos y nuestra unión. Sus propuestas incluyen permitir a las compañías traer personal externo de no-unión para hacer nuestro trabajo, eliminar algunos de nuestros pagos premiums por tiempo extra, aumentar las tareas de los empleados de cortesía/embolsadores. También están proponiendo eliminar el requisito de tener un carnicero oficial con experiencia en turno y la garantía de 8 horas diarias para los cortadores de carne.
Nosotros hemos hecho ganancias enormes para los directivos o CEOs y accionistas, incluyendo pagos de más de $10 mil millones de dólares para los accionistas tan sólo el año pasado, pero a estas compañías no les importa nuestro bienestar o nuestras familias. Nosotros deberíamos poder dar de comer a nuestras familias, tener acceso a atención médica y poder retirarnos al final de una larga carrera. Desafortunadamente, eso no está pasando actualmente.
Nosotros informamos a Kroger y Albertsons sobre nuestras demandas y prioridades, y les dijimos a las compañías la forma en que sus propuestas afectarían a nuestras tiendas. Es tiempo de luchar para mejorar nuestros trabajos y nuestras vidas. No aceptaremos un contrato que sea menos de lo que merecemos. Ya sea que estemos en la mesa de negociaciones o en las tiendas, nosotros tenemos el poder de demostrar a Kroger y Albertsons que vamos en serio con nuestras propuestas y que estamos listos para luchar unidos para lograr un contrato fuerte.
¿Qué sigue?
Nos reuniremos con las compañías de nuevo la próxima semana del 19-21 de febrero en nuestra segunda ronda de negociaciones. Mientras llega esa fecha, nosotros debemos exigir que las compañías lleguen a la mesa de negociaciones con propuestas serias que valoren nuestros trabajo.
Miles de trabajadores de supermercado en California están en pie de lucha como nunca antes para luchar por los contratos que merecemos de parte de Kroger y Albertsons. Solamente luchando unidos podemos cambiar nuestros lugares de trabajo, no solamente para nosotros sino también para nuestros compañeros de trabajo. Únete a la lucha haciendo lo siguiente:
1. ¡Sigue y difunde la página web de Grocery Workers Rising/ Trabajadores de Supermercado Luchando y las cuentas de redes sociales! En estas plataformas es donde la información más reciente será publicada. Los trabajadores pueden encontrar actualizaciones sobre las negociaciones ahí así como más contenido sobre la lucha de contrato, entonces, asegúrate que todos tus compañeros de trabajo también sigan estas cuentas para combatir la campaña de desinformación de las compañías.
Página web: www.groceryworkersrising.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Groceryworkersrising/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/groceryworkersrising/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/groceryrising25
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@groceryrising25
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/groceryrising25.bsky.social
2. Únete a nuestro lanzamiento de la campaña de contrato con una manifestación y líneas de piquete el 28 de febrero de 2025, a las 3:30 PM en Buena Park. Después del Seminario de Delegados de Supermercados de UFCW 324, más de 1,000 trabajadores de supermercado de todo el sur de California, incluyendo nuestros compañeros y compañeras de los Teamsters, se reunirán en Buena Park para mostrar a Kroger, Albertsons, Vons y Pavilions qué tan poderosos son los trabajadores de supermercado. Varios locales de la Unión UFCW tendrán transporte para llegar a la manifestación. Comunícate con tu representante de la Unión o compañeros del comité de negociaciones para apartar un lugar.
Regístrate para ir a la manifestación aquí: https://ufcw324.org/grocery-rally-228-rsvp/
3. Firmando una petición para exigir a Kroger y Albertsons que den sueldos justos, beneficios de salud seguros, una jubilación confiable, suficientes horas, más puestos de tiempo completo y más personal. Representantes de la Unión y representantes de proyectos especiales o SPURs están actualmente yendo a las tiendas con estas peticiones.
Mandaremos otra actualización después de nuestra próxima sesión del 21 de febrero del 2025. Recuerda que Kroger y Albertsons intentarán controlar la información sobre las negociaciones con desinformación y verdades a medias para tratar de dividirnos. Estas actualizaciones que vienen directamente de nuestros compañeros de trabajo de la unión que están en el comité de negociaciones tienen la información más actualizada sobre lo que está pasando en las negociaciones con tus mejores intereses en mente.
Si tienes alguna pregunta sobre las negociaciones o si hay algo que podamos hacer para apoyarte, por favor, no dudes en contactar a los miembros de tu Comité de Negociaciones, Representantes de la Unión o Delegados.
En Solidaridad,
Tu Comité de Negociaciones de Trabajadores de Supermercado Luchando
