Kroger Strikers Hanging Tough
When the Kroger strike began on April 13, few thought it would last more than a week or two. However, the strike is now entering its seventh week, and there has been no measurable progress toward a resolution. Kroger has failed to respond to any of the union's new proposals, and the union refuses to return to work under the conditions Kroger has set forth. Both sides are feeling the effects of the strike, and most area Kroger customers are still shopping elsewhere.
Kroger is taking a great financial loss in this strike, primarily in decreased food sales. But it is also taking a loss through the sale of deeply discounted food items, for example, by selling soda for 290 per liter, to attract hesitant customers to cross the picket line. Kroger has sunk hundreds of thousands of dollars into full-page newspaper ads (a full-page ad in the Detroit Free Press costs $27,000 during the week and $32,000 on Sundays) designed to win public sympathies. And untold tens of thousands of dollars have been spent on mailings to striking workers, including overnight delivery charges for a May 15 letter. Granted, a company the size of Kroger can afford to take a loss (they profited $80 million from $120billion in sales last year nationwide). Even so, at this point Kroger must be feeling the pinch.
The strike has also proven a significant financial hardship for those who have been walking the lines. A 40-hours-per-week picketer draws only a $60 paycheck from the strike fund. Many strikers have filed for unemployment andor sought other part-time jobs. Despite this bleak picture, only 200 of the 7,000 striking workers of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 876 have crossed over to the Kroger side. And only five of the 800 meat cutters, represented by Local 539, have gone back.
An outpouring of support from the labor community has greatly assisted strikers to remain on the line. Over 200 union locals in Southeast Michigan have participated in rallies, joined picket lines, and donated food and money to the strikers. In addition, each of the 64 stores on strike have been "adopted" by at least one other union local. This means that the adoptive local works one-on-one with the picketers at a store to pro vide extra picketers when needed, bring food, hold rallies at the store, and give support in other ways.
The public, for the most part, has continued to shop elsewhere. Kroger' s competitors - FarmerJack, Meijer's, and Busch's Valueland - are teeming with customers. Many of these stores have had to hire additional employees or bring in employees from their stores in other locations to handle the increased sales volume. While Kroger refuses to release sales figures, they state that business is down "at least 35%." The UFCW claims that sales are down 80%, based on grocery bag counts kept by picketers. This reporter, on May 18, visited the Plymouth Road Kroger store (the newest and largest Kroger in Ann Arbor) at 3:45 pm. At that time only two checkout lines were open. Neither had customers. The food aisles were virtually empty.
Since the strike began, bargainers for UFCW and Kroger have met twice. The first session was held shortly after the strike began. The second one lasted f our days, ending May 8. No progress was made in either case. A statement released by the UFCW after the 4-day session stated: "For four days, our rank-and-file bargaining committees heard Kroger talk about every subject except fairness for its employees. ...We know what Kroger will do now. They may try to stampede our members into accepting what they rejected four weeks ago--only wrapped with a new ribbon."
Sure enough, on May 15, striking workers received letters via overnight mail from the Kroger management. The letter offered cash bonuses to workers who would return and work through the Memorial Day and Fourth of July holidays. In response, the UFCW filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against Kroger for attempting to negotiate directly with the workers. (National labor law mandates that an employer only negotiate with the workers' elected bargaining agent.) Striking workers resoundingly rejected Kroger's offer, which they called a "bribe" by signing petitions to this effect, to make their positions clear to the union and to Kroger.
This is not the first time a conflict has arisen between Kroger and its workers. UFCW members have not forgotten Kroger's actions during contract negotiations in 1984. In that year, Kroger temporarily closed all its Michigan stores. After 30 days they re-opened most of the stores. Some wererenamed"Foodland." Foodl and stores hired non-union workers and those stores remain nonunionized today. In this way Kroger greatly reduced the number of union jobs within their Michigan workforce, intimidating the remaining union workers into settling for a contract that included many concessions.
It is possible that Kroger will try this strategy again. However, many in the labor movement feel this is unlikely. The reason, they say, is that this time there are workers on strike and picket lines in place. These lines would remain in place, the union claims, even if Kroger were to shut the stores down and re-open them under another name. And it's very unlikely that another company would purchase stores that are being picketed.
Another possibility is that Kroger will leave Michigan. This is also unlikely, say union sources, given the lucrative market Kroger has penetrated in this state.
"Kroger may be prepared to wait out the strike for the long term," commented Mary McGinn of Labor Notes, a Detroit-based labor education organization. "On the other hand, it seems like they're pretty desperate because they're offering bonuses, saying 'we want the workers back now.' Going directly to the workers, like they did, is a sign of desperation. The question is: Will Kroger hire permanent strike replacements? If the National Labor Relations Board puts an injunction on Kroger, which the UFCW is striving for, they won't be able to hire permanent strike replacements. And the labor community is strong. Public opinion would be against Kroger hiring permanent replacements," said McGinn.
It is unclear what it will take for the UFCW to achieve its goals in the strike. 'This strike is a model of what organized labor needs to do to build solidarity with other unions and other movements," said McGinn. "The UFCW recognizes that this is absolutely essential to win the strike. They also need to start bringing people into the community to speak - into churches and community events - to put more pressure on Kroger to end the strike. Or they must spread the strike nationally, to stores in Ohio and Illinois." Or, as Jerry Gordon, an outreach coördinator for the UFCW says, "We just have to hang in there one day longer than Kroger."
At press time, the UFCW has readied a new proposal. They have notified the state-appointed mediator and are now waiting for Kroger to return to the bargaining table.
To encourage Kroger management to resume negotiations, call them at 1-800-572-9449.