Pacific Northwest grocery worker unions split on Albertsons-Kroger stores potentially being sold

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Amid an attempted merger of the grocery chain stores Kroger and Albertsons, reactions are mixed about the proposed sale of hundreds of stores in the Pacific Northwest, part of a planned nationwide divestiture.

Union leaders who represent grocery store workers in Oregon and Washington have different opinions about how the merger may impact employees. While a spokesperson from Kroger told KOIN 6 News, they're committed to ensuring stores stay open after the potential sale to New Hampshire-based C&S Wholesale Grocers, and keeping many of the same frontline workers employed, not everyone is convinced that will be the outcome.

In total, 186 Kroger and Albertsons stores in Oregon and Washington may be sold off to the new company, part of 579 nationwide for a proposed $2.9 billion sale to C&S. Oregon may see 62 stores sold off while Washington would see 124 stores as well as a distribution center.

Tom Geiger, a spokesperson for WFCW 3000 in Washington, said he's worried a merger like this may put jobs on the chopping block, despite promises made.

"We represent, over 25,000, nearly 30,000 grocery store workers here in Washington state," Geiger said. "The fact is that a sale like this would put their jobs at jeopardy."

Geiger added that the union was "critical of C&S as a divestiture company" and that they "don't think that it's a good operator."

Meanwhile, Miles Eshaia, a spokesperson for UFCW 555 in Oregon, said their union held the opposite view.

"We looked at this as kind of uh, well, if not to them, then who?" Eshaia said. "And no one really has an answer to that question. So we came out, in favor of the merger."

Eshaia added that the union met with C&S to talk about the divestiture plan, saying they were "pleased" with the talk and that the East Coast company "actually liked the grocery business."

Though both C&S and Kroger have said they're committed to zero stores closing as a result of the merger, not everyone is optimistic on that point.

"It says there will be no store closures as a result of the merger," Geiger said. "They never say there will be no store closure, right?"

This all comes after Kroger and Albertsons originally proposed selling only 413 stores to C&S last year for $1.9 billion. However, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued to block the $24.6 billion merger in February. It’s unclear if the new proposal will satisfy regulators to allow the merger to continue. A trial has been set for that lawsuit to move forward in federal court in Oregon on August 26.