June 26, 2008

Grocery Workers in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama Achieve Fair Agreement with Kroger Company

Grocery workers represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 1995 have reached a tentative agreement with their employer, the Kroger Company. The agreement covers 9000 members working at 92 Kroger stores (and one freestanding pharmacy) in middle and eastern Tennessee, southern Kentucky, and northern Alabama.

UFCW Local 1995 members stuck together in solidarity through months of negotiations to achieve a fair contract with Kroger—one with affordable, quality health care, wages that pay the bills, and a secure retirement. They reached that goal with an agreement that includes:

• Significant health care improvements for full-time and part-time workers;
• Pension security; and
• Significant improvements in wages in all areas of the agreement.

Workers will be meeting to vote on ratification of the agreement Saturday, June 28^th through July 2^nd.

Across the country in 2007-2008, UFCW members working at Kroger and other grocery stores nationwide have reached fair agreements making grocery jobs good, middle class jobs—the kind workers can raise a family on. For more on UFCW grocery negotiations across the country, please visit the Grocery Workers United website at www.groceryworkersunited.org.