Colorado is growing and changing. A thriving economy means businesses are growing and reaping profits, but rising costs of living are putting increased pressure on families across the state. The grocery industry in Colorado is no exception to those broader economic trends.
King Soopers and City Market are hugely successful. Members of UFCW Local 7, through their hard work and dedicated service to these companies, made them the leading grocery chain in the state, and contributed to more than $122 billion in sales nationwide last year. But rather than helping these working families get the good wages and benefits they have earned and deserve, King Soopers and City Market are sending the money that you spend in Colorado grocery stores out of state to their corporate overlords, Kroger Company.
We can change that.
We're currently negotiating a new three-year contract with King Soopers and City Market. The company's most recent proposal provides no pay raises to almost half of the 12,200 Colorado workers we represent, nor does it make the necessary contributions to ensure that the Pension and Healthcare funds remain solvent. This would have detrimental impacts for the retirees, active workers and future workers health and pension benefits as early as 2020. They also want to reduce the number of full-time jobs they provide. Kroger's corporate leadership authorized $1.2 billion worth of stock buybacks in 2018, and now claims it cannot afford a contract with new or additional costs. Unfortunately, working families simply cannot afford to live and work in our Colorado communities without a decent, living wage and benefits.
By standing together, we know we can get a better deal for workers across the state of Colorado.
Can we count on you to join with us as we stand for a better deal for the more than 12,000 City Market and King Soopers workers in Colorado?
Please sign our petition so that we can help the company to understand that Colorado needs King Soopers and City Market to do right by the workers instead of exploiting them to send yet more money out of state.
