During the pandemic, grocery store workers kept going to work so that the rest of us could eat. Now, as that natural disaster recedes, those same workers see another threat looming. “What will happen to working families when they can’t afford to pay Kroger’s higher prices?” asked Judy Wood, a cake decorator at Albertsons in Orange, California. Wood, a member of UFCW 324, was one of five grocery workers from around the country who came to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to warn that the proposed merger between grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons would have a huge negative impact, not just on consumers and on grocery workers, but on suppliers like farmers and ranchers. The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights held a hearing on the merger Tuesday afternoon. “Let's be clear, these private equity guys are not from the grocery industry,” said Jane St. Louis, a front end associate at Safeway in Damascus, Maryland, and a member of UFCW 400. “They have never worked in one of our stores. They don't know or care about our business; all they care about is making money for themselves. And now they are trying to give themselves a four billion dollar payday before this merger is even reviewed by the FTC.” “We will not sit back as our communities are destroyed,” vowed Wood. “We will fight this merger because when we fight we win.” Click here for the press conference video. - report/photo by Chris Garlock/Union City Comments are closed.
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