Contract Talks Continue at Kroger

Negotiations for a new contract continue between UFCW Local 400 and Kroger. Contract meetings for members in the Richmond-/Tidewater area originally scheduled for August 28 have been cancelled and the contract extended. The delay is “due to complicated bargaining issues like medical/ hospitalization benefits, pension funding, and wage increases,” UFCW President Mark Federici said yesterday, noting that “many Kroger negotiations across the country have continued beyond the contract’s expiration.” Bargaining over health care benefits with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act “put us in a difficult position,” Federici added. “The decisions we make now will remain with us for the life of a new contract.” photo: UFCW 400 members supported fellow Kroger workers – members of Local 23 -- in Wheeling, WV earlier this month; photo courtesy UFCW 23

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