UFCW 400 Says Kroger Pension Plan Should Be Model

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)A landmark agreement between Kroger supermarkets and 14 UFCW locals -- including Local 400 -- is set to improve and secure pension funds for more than 170,000 retired and active UFCW members. “This agreement should serve as a model for upcoming bargaining with Giant and Safeway,” Local 400 President Tom McNutt said this week. Local 400 members working at Kroger in the Roanoke, VA area have unanimously ratified the agreement, merging four pension plans, protecting current benefits of vested employees, enhancing benefits for new hires, ensuring full funding by Kroger, and providing for 10 years of fiscal stability. “At a time when many pension funds are severely underfunded, and when the very existence of defined benefit retirement plans is under threat, the UFCW and Kroger have shown how to restore these plans to solvency while fully protecting the retirement security of all beneficiaries,” McNutt said. To read more, visit Local 400’s website. - photo courtesy of Local 400