Southern California grocery workers who fiercely oppose a planned $24.6 billion Kroger/Albertsons merger vented their concerns Friday, Jan. 26 in a virtual press conference.
They say a union of the two mega supermarket chains would undermine competition, hike prices and result in job losses and store closures. But Kroger says opponents of the plan are spreading “false and misleading information.”
The Federal Trade Commission is expected to soon weigh in on the proposed merger.
With nearly 5,000 stores, 700,000 employees and 15% of the national market share, the newly created grocery giant would encompass scores of banners, including Vons, Ralphs, Safeway, Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Harris Teeter,Vitacost, Randall’s, Haggen, Shaw’s and Jewel-Osco.
The resulting company would be second only to Walmart/Sam’s Club in grocery volume, enabling four chains to control 60% of U.S. grocery sales.
Kroger and Albertson plan to appease federal regulators by selling off more than 400 stores to C&S, the industry’s largest privately owned wholesaler. Most of the divestments would occur on the West Coast, according to Forbes. That includes Ralph’s and QFC, where Kroger and Albertsons have higher combined market shares.
John Marshall, capital stratagies director for the United Food and Commercial Workers International union (UFCW), which represents the grocery workers, doesn’t put much faith in C&S.
“C&S has no track record of successfully running grocery stores,” Marshall said. “If you look at their revenue over past six years, its been declining significantly — and they are clearly not a pro-union company.”
Marshall cited Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s recent lawsuit against Kroger and Albertsons over the proposed merger.
The action claims it will “severely limit” grocery store competition in many areas of the state and eliminate competition to keep prices low.
Ferguson also challenged the grocery chains’ plan to sell off…
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