Union leader: Fight against food merger is about quality of life in Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — On Wednesday, Dan Clay, president of the UFCW555 union, spoke out against the planned largest merger of grocery retailers in US history: Kroger and Albertsons.

In a press conference Clay held after testifying in federal court, he claimed that Kroger does not pay its employees the wages they are entitled to.

“We are fighting for the money our members need to survive in Portland,” Clay said.

The union voted in favor of the merger in February. but changed his attitude after Kroger was accused of using unfair labor practices in the negotiations over employment contracts.

“I can tell you that this decision to pay less is forcing our members to choose between living in apartments and living in cars. That's not OK for a company that makes enough money to buy a whole other company. People shouldn't have to live in their cars,” Clay said.

The The Federal Trade Commission argues in its lawsuit “For millions of consumers, direct competition between Kroger and Albertsons has lowered grocery prices and improved the quality of food and service. The proposed acquisition would destroy that competition and consumers would be left to foot the bill.”

It also said that competition between Kroger and Albertsons “has resulted in higher wages, better benefits and improved working conditions for workers.”

When it comes to wages, the union is not satisfied.

“First of all, Kroger's negotiators said that the money to invest in their employees would not be available until after the merger. And they said that, and we asked why. And they didn't give us a satisfactory answer, or actually none at all,” Clay said.

We confronted Kroger with this specific allegation but received no response.

Fred Meyer is owned by Kroger.

Earlier this week, Fred Meyer's president sent us a statement that said, in part, “If the merger is blocked, the only winners will be non-union grocers like Walmart, Costco and Amazon. Fred Meyer is one of the largest unionized employers in Oregon, employing over 13,000 retail workers and has a strong track record of investing in employee pay. Last year alone, the company invested nearly $142 million in employee pay and has made a historic offer to the union of an additional $37 million investment.”