Self-service checkout and labor relations
Forty-four Kroger stores in West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky were scheduled to close at midnight Monday regardless of whether employees vote to strike, a company official said Monday.
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Kroger could close stores; union holding strike vote
Associated Press
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Forty-four Kroger stores in West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky were scheduled to close at midnight Monday regardless of whether employees vote to strike, a company official said Monday.
If employees vote to walk out, the stores will remain closed until the strike is over. If they vote to accept a new contract, the stores will reopen at 6 a.m. Tuesday, said Archie Fralin, a Kroger spokesman in Roanoke, Va.
More than 20 of the affected stores close at midnight normally, Fralin said. "This was just an attempt the standardize it based on what is going on."
Employees scheduled a vote Monday in Charleston and Clarksburg on what Kroger calls its final contract offer to United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400. It takes a two-thirds majority to authorize a strike, said Nelson Graham, regional coordinator for Local 400.
The union represents about 3,400 workers for the Cincinnati-based chain in 37 stores in West Virginia, five in Ohio and two in Kentucky. The Ohio stores are in Belpre, Gallipolis, Marietta, Pomeroy and Proctorville.
Union officials are encouraging their members to reject the contract.
If they do, workers could set up picket lines as early as 9 p.m. Monday, said Jim Lowthers, president of Local 400 in Charleston.
Kroger has proposed a $9 million increase in what it pays into a health and welfare fund administered by a third party on behalf of the company and union. An independent actuary determined the fund needs an additional $29 million, Lowthers said.
Union members would have to pay more for health care or suffer cuts in benefits if Kroger's proposal is approved, he said.
Pete Williams, president of Kroger's Mid-Atlantic region, wrote a letter to employees over the weekend saying the company offers generous benefits compared to nonunion grocers like Wal-Mart "who want our business and want your jobs."
"Our business simply cannot support that kind of cost," Williams wrote. "You know this!"
After a strike, some stores may not reopen, Williams said.
The Charleston Gazette obtained a copy of the proposed new contract, which includes:
_Hourly pay raises of 20-25 cents per hour this year and in 2005, along with lump-sum payments of $300-$500 in 2004 and 2006.
_An increase in the number of full-time employees by 50 a year for four years, unless store closings or sales reductions make the plan unfeasible.
_Rules about how the company must try to find new jobs for workers displaced by new technology, like self-service check-out lanes.
Kroger made $542 million in profits through the end of August, down $27 million from 2002.
In California, Kroger and two other major supermarket chains hired replacement workers to keep their stores open Sunday as thousands of striking grocery workers picketed outside.
ON THE NET
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Posted by Craig at October 13, 2003 03:39 PM