If Kroger wins its court battle with regulators to acquire Albertsons, it would transform the Cincinnati-based supermarket chain into one of the 10 largest private-sector employers in the world.
The result would be an enlarged Kroger with about 4,400 stores and 640,000 employees. Kroger and Albertsons say the deal is needed to win against nontraditional competitors such as Walmart, Costco and Amazon. Besides their promises it will lower prices for consumers, they say the merger will be to preserve union jobs.
But the companies’ labor unions, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and many of its local chapters, oppose the deal, saying it will reduce competition, lead to higher prices and jeopardize stores and thousands of jobs. While the impact on jobs and labor have factored into the antitrust arguments, most workers are stuck watching the cases unfold as the retailers battle regulators in three separate court cases.
There’s a sense of powerlessness: Speaking with grocery workers across the country, there’s a fear their industry is facing another wave of consolidation and cutbacks that threaten their work lives, their job security and even their place in the middle class.
“When I was growing up, (these) type of jobs people considered career jobs … the type of job most people kept until they retired,” said Carol McMillian, a 63-year-old cashier at a Kroger-owned King Soopers in Aurora, Colorado. “You knew this was a job you could raise your family on. You could buy a house. Send your child to college … you had opportunity.”
In the past several weeks, The Enquirer spoke with a number of workers, asking them about their jobs and their concerns as the potential deal looms. Some are really worried: Their stores are set to be sold off to a different owner, C&S Wholesale Foods, as part of the deal. Others, whose jobs aren’t immediately affected, are worried an enlarged Kroger won’t live up to its promises. They cite recent problems they’ve had with their employer that color their concerns for the future.
Here are their stories.
Under the gun?
The following five workers are among some 60,000 Albertsons and Kroger employees who could wind up on the payroll of C&S Wholesale after it agreed to buy 579 stores from the two merging chains. The sell-off has drawn criticism by regulators and other opponents who note the Keene, New Hampshire-based grocery supply business has limited – and mixed – experience running retail supermarkets.
Yasmin Ashur, 56, of Port Orchard, Washington
Job: Cashier, 24 years of experience at Albertsons.
Annual pay: About $45,000 a year.
Family: She lives with her 33-year-old daughter (who until recently worked in the same store) and her 3-year-old granddaughter.
Community and state: The Albertsons store is the last location in Kitsap County. Washington is the state with the most stores being sold off, 124.
Her story: A mother of two adult children, she joined the company as her kids went off to school. She remembers several friends who lost their jobs during the 2015 merger with Safeway, but her store wasn’t affected. Now, she fears her luck may have run out as her store is on “the chopping block” slated to be sold off to C&S Wholesale Grocers.
Her persepctive: “I feel really disheartened that at my age I may have to look for another job … I feel bamboozled by another merger.”
Jessi Crowley, 34 of Los Angeles
Job: Pharmacist, four years of experience at Pavilions (an Albertsons subsidiary).
Annual pay: About $130,000 a year.
Family: Lives with her fiance.
Community and state: 16 Pavilions stores are targeted for sale in Southern California.
Her story: Previously a pharmacist with CVS, she changed jobs after the COVID-19 pandemic. While her store is not on the divestiture list, she might lose her position to a more senior colleague as those union workers invoke their “bumping” rights to switch stores. She owes $170,000 in student loans. She’s also worried about C&S Wholesale’s ability and willingness to keep the pharmacies they are buying open, noting many lose money, which has led to a wave of drug store closures in the industry.
Her perspective: “It feels very much like Albertsons and Kroger chose C&S because they knew it would fail.”
Jordan Edwards, 35, of Seattle
Job: Cheese master in the Murray’s Cheese section, has worked for QFC, a Kroger subsidiary, for three years.
Annual pay: About $55,000.
Family: Lives with girlfriend and their daughter.
Community and state: Among the 124 stores being sold off to C&S Wholesale are 54 QFC stores, including his.
His story: He spent 15 years in the food and restaurant industry with one of his last jobs at a Chicago-based food import business, specializing in cheeses. When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of the restaurant business for months, he took a job at the grocery store for a more stable job and predictable schedule. Now, he’s nervous about how his specialty will fit into retail newbie C&S Wholesale’s plans for the future.
His perspective: “They don’t have this platform (a specialty cheese business) at the new company. Am I supposed to have faith that they’re going to grow it? I wouldn’t bet on that race horse.”
Darryl Ortega, 56 of Los Angeles
Job: Assistant produce manager, 37 years of experience with Vons, and its parent company Albertsons and Lucky Stores before it was acquired by the Boise, Idaho-based supermarket operator.
Annual pay: About $60,000 a year.
Family: Divorced from wife (who also works for Albertsons), lives with 15-year-old son.
Community: California has 63 stores targeted for divestiture, including 31 Vons mostly in Southern California
His story: He has survived multiple mergers, including the disastrous divestiture to bankruptcy-bound Haggen in 2015. He was forced to sell a car to keep his home when business at his store slowed and his hours were cut in half. Now, his current store is set to be sold to C&S Wholesale and he’s worried about another “amateur” operator at the helm.
His perspective: “I’ve been bought and sold four times … the last one really cost me. I barely got hired back (by Albertsons).”
Christie Sasaki, 56 of Los Angeles, California
Job: Supervisor at Pavilions, with 34 years experience.
Annual pay: About $42,000 a year.
Family: Lives with boyfriend, has teenage daughter.
Community: 16 Pavilions stores are targeted for divestiture.
Her story: Her store is listed to be sold off to C&S Wholesale. She’s not sure she wants to stay at her store once it’s divested. In 2015, she saw first-hand how badly a divested store near her house was run when it became a Haggen before closing months later.
Her perspective: “I shopped there once – the 20-pack of water I bought was a good price, everything else was too high. You could tell the produce was old, it was dried up. I never went back. It (the closed store) is still empty: Every fall it becomes a pumpkin patch and after Halloween it becomes a Christmas tree lot.”
Safe for now?
Their stores are not being sold to a third party, but other Kroger and Albertsons employees have concerns about the merger.
Carol McMillian, 63, of Aurora, Colorado
Job: Bakery manager at King Soopers for nine years, previously worked at Safeway for 11 years.
She switched to Kroger during the Albertsons-Safeway merger in 2015. She got a new position when colleagues lost theirs – but it still wasn’t easy. She lost seniority and it took her two years to work her way back up to full-time. In the interim, she relied on food stamps and food pantries. Having lived through one, she’s worried another major divestiture of hundreds of stores will hurt workers and communities.
Her perspective: “The last divestiture like this lost a lot of jobs for people. I was able to work my way back – it took about three years. I’m worried this could be a repeat.”
Manuel Medina, 40 of Monte Vista, Colorado
Job: General merchandise manager at Safeway (an Albertsons banner), 15 years of experience.
Though Kroger has pledged to lower prices at Albertsons stores, he’s concerned lowering prices might be a low priority in his small hometown with limited options.
His perspective: “I don’t believe they’re going to lower prices – they’re greedy.”
Justin Lubianetsky, 30 of Simi Valley, California
Job: Meat clerk at Ralphs (a Kroger subsidiary) for two years.
Just because Kroger is a big company doesn’t mean it’s competent – the retailer didn’t pay him for three months, and he’s one of a multitude of workers that have complained or sued over payroll disruptions related to the botched rollout of a new human resources computer program.
His perspective: “After I transferred I was informed that I’d have to travel to my old store to go and pick up my checks … after the second week, my checks stopped showing up.”
LaChae Kelly-Taliaferro, 36 of Smithfield, Virginia
Job: Assistant front-end manager, about 5 years experience.
Not all Kroger stores are unionized. Her local union has been locked in a multi-year battle to organize a dozen stores it acquired in 2018. She thinks it’s hypocritical the company says the merger will benefit union workers.
Her perspective: “It makes me furious – they always say this, they’re for the employees, but the employees are scared.”
Antonio Martinez, 32, of Los Angeles
Job: Meat clerk, has worked for Kroger-owned Ralphs for 10 years.
He’s wary of Kroger’s pledge not to cut stores. When city officials passed a “hazard pay” mandate for grocery workers in 2021, Kroger closed his and two other local stores, scattering him and his coworkers that stayed with the grocer around Los Angeles.
His perspective: “A higher-up from Ralphs came to our store … and told them, we’re closing the store with no real like reason … we all had a lot of questions about what was going to happen to us and they just didn’t have answers.”
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This story has been updated to add video.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Grocery workers speak out amid Kroger fight over Albertsons merger
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