![]() In statements, Kroger and Albertsons executives have said they need to merge to stay competitive with Walmart and Amazon. ![]() With the loss of that leverage, grocery workers could see smaller paychecks. “If the merger happens, that leverage totally disappears.” “We’ve had success, sometimes behind Kroger’s back, working out a deal with Albertsons, then going to Kroger and saying, ‘If you don’t meet the deal we signed with Albertsons, we will strike you and put up pickets at your store to send everyone to Albertsons,’” Marshall said. John Marshall, capital strategies director at UFCW Local 3000, said the merger will diminish workers’ bargaining power because they will no longer be able to play the two grocery employers against one another. Now the coalition, representing more than 100,000 Kroger and Albertsons workers, is working together to fight the merger. Since 2016, Local 3000 had been collaborating with UFCW and Teamster locals in Washington, Colorado, Wyoming, and California, sharing information and strategies when bargaining with Kroger and Albertsons. 13, 2022, the same day Kroger and Albertsons announced the merger, Seattle-based United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 3000 and five other local unions blasted the deal in a public statement. Stoller said mergers eliminate competition, leaving suppliers, customers, and workers with fewer choices.Īfter its proposed selloff, Kroger-Albertsons would still own about 40 grocery chains and more than 4,500 stores. Stoller is the author of “Goliath: The 100-year War between Monopoly Power and Democracy,” a history of federal antitrust law. “If they had enough divestments to make the merger legal, then it wouldn’t be worth it for them. “They are merging because they want market power,” said Matt Stoller, the director of research at the American Economics Liberties Project, an anti-monopoly group. And the two companies say they’re willing to “divest” 237 more stores - if that’s what it takes to get FTC approval.īut one of the country’s leading anti-monopoly advocates says the selloff is a ploy that the FTC is unlikely to fall for. The selloff would include 104 stores in Washington and 49 in Oregon. To win FTC approval for the merger, Kroger and Albertsons are proposing to “preserve competition” in local markets by selling 413 stores-and the QFC brand-to C&S Wholesale Grocery, a privately-held grocery supply chain headquartered in New Hampshire. Kroger owns Fred Meyer and QFC, and Albertons owns Safeway, Albertsons, and Haggen. ![]() In many areas of Oregon and Washington, a Kroger-Albertons combination would create a grocery monopoly. ![]() 13, 2024, the date the companies tentatively set to close the deal. Several antitrust experts interviewed for this story expect a final answer before Jan. grocery market?įor more than a year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has investigated those questions to determine whether Kroger Co.’s offer to buy Albertsons for $24.6 billion would violate antitrust laws meant to prevent monopolies. What will happen if America’s two largest grocery companies combine? Will food prices rise? Will wages stagnate? Will smaller grocers go bankrupt because they can’t compete with a colossus that controls more than a third of the U.S. Hanging out in the produce aisle, the two moguls say the merger is about “creating more opportunities for customers to find the food they love at lower prices.” THE RODNEY AND VIVEK SHOW In a video at, Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen, who took home $19 million in compensation last year, and Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran, who took home $16 million, say their proposed merger is about benefiting customers, “associates,” and communities.
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