"The Worst Company I Have Ever Worked For": Kroger Workers Weigh Strike Authorization

The union vote for the company's Houston-area stores concludes Sunday

Workers at Houston area Krogers stores are voting on whether or not to strike this week, the culmination of what staff say is years of mistreatment and overwork. 

“I'm tired of being taken advantage of,” Thomas, a worker in a Houston suburb Kroger store, told me. 

According to the union, the contract on offer from the store would lead to lower wage increases, less chance of advancement, a more expensive insurance plan at the point of access, and cuts to staffing and overtime. 

“A strike is always a last resort, however Kroger’s continuous refusal to bargain in-good faith has left us no choice but to call for a strike vote,” UFCW 455, which represents Kroger workers, tells its members. 

The vote concludes Sunday.

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Big money

Kroger’s treatment of workers has been the subject of labor strife in the past. The company made headlines last year when it halted hazard pay for workers during the pandemic only six weeks in; by contrast, other big box stores like WalMart and Target kept the bonus going for months. 

As Worker’s World reported in December 2020, during an earlier moment of labor unrest at the company’s Houston locations, Kroger isn’t exactly hurting for money:

With nearly 2,800 stores in 35 states under two dozen banners and annual sales of more than $121.1 billion, the company can certainly pay their employees generously. Kroger has seen a surge in profits this year, making $1.2 billion in the first quarter. A press release Kroger put out Dec. 3 said its sales grew 10.9%, and digital sales grew a whopping 108%. 

For the fiscal year 2020, Kroger reported earnings of $1.9 billion, with an annual revenue of $122.3 billion, an increase of 0.4% over the previous fiscal cycle. Kroger’s shares traded at over $32 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at $25.9 billion in April 2020.

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“Fed up”

But Kroger’s poor treatment of workers is to be expected, workers at the company told me. For Thomas, who has worked for Kroger for four years, the company’s cost-cutting measures are a perfect example of a culture where empty platitudes about the importance of staff regularly runs up against a reality that they’re anything but. 

“A good majority of us are fed up with it,” Thomas said.

Kroger has repeatedly cut hours at the store Thomas works in, mostly in the front cashier section. That means when there’s a rush for the register, workers from other departments are called to the front—and for Thomas and his fellow apparel section staff. 

“We get behind on our work, and we have so much work right now,” Thomas told me. 

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“The worst”

Understaffing is a chronic issue in the company’s stores, said Jane, another Kroger apparel section worker. She told me that in her three years with the company she’s seen her responsibilities increase as the store cuts hours elsewhere. 

“They don't know why people are quitting and why no one wants to apply for a job to work there,” Jane said. 

That penny-pinching at workers’ expense bleeds into other aspects of the job. The company expects too much of employees that only make around $11.25 an hour.

Kroger was always supposed to be a temporary position for Jane. But the pandemic hit and as someone in her 60s, she had little choice but to continue to work—there just weren’t any other realistic options. 

She hopes to leave soon, though.

“This is the worst company, as far as taking care of their employees, that I have ever worked for,” Jane said.

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