Thousands of Fred Meyer employees are on strike, protesting against unfair labor practices at the grocery chain. The union workers at Fred Meyer expect the strike to last through Labor Day until September 3, 2024. The strike began following FTC hearings in relation to a merger between Albertsons and Kroger, Fred Meyer’s parent company, but the issues between the union and the employer were ramping up even before the details of the merger planted disharmony between them.

The Fred Meyer union strike is centered in Portland and is expected to affect around 28 stores. The workers, represented by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 555, are hoping the company will submit more willingly to contract negotiations in the upcoming days.

Fred Meyer Employees Strike in Portland, Oregon

Around 4,500 Fred Meyer employees have joined the strike against the company. The protest began at 6 am on 28 August and is expected to end at 8 am on September 3, affecting all the Portland-area Fred Meyers. The workers have gathered outside the stores holding up placards and encouraging the general public to shop elsewhere. Fred Meyer President Todd Kammeyer has confirmed that stores will remain open for the rest of the strike period, “with access to fresh food, essentials, and pharmacy services.” Temporary workers will likely attend them until the strike comes to an end or a deal is struck.

According to KOIN 6, customers and long-time shoppers at these stores have expressed their support for the strike and plan to return to the store if an agreement is struck between the warring parties. The customers who have arrived at the store over the last few days report that they merely came to pick up prescriptions and show support for the workers.

Fred Meyer and Kroger have provided a statement in support of their “associates’ right to collectively bargain,” but have provided no other indication that they will be negotiating a better deal with the workers over the course of the strike period. 

Thousands on Strike at Fred Meyer after Claims of Unfair Labor Practices

Before the Fred Meyer union strike officially began, the union had expressed its plans to file Unfair Labor Practices charges against the organization for bargaining in bad faith, after the fifth bargaining session took place on August 23. The union accused the employers of reducing the groups that the proposal was meant to support, backtracking out of negotiating terms for QFC, another Kroger subdivision, until their contract expired.

Local 555 also stated that the employer was also offering a poor plan for compensating new hires and had no intention of sufficiently improving the pension plans as the union members had hoped. 

The post laying out the details of the discussion showed no restraint in expressing their feelings on the matter. “All of this is Kroger spitting in your face. They sent the message loud and clear: they do not care about you, they do not care about our communities, and they do not even care enough to pretend that they do. They have no problem misleading you and going back on their word.”

Kroger’s Merge With Albertson Left in Limbo

Kroger is in the midst of a proposed merger with Albertsons, but the Federal Trade Commission has blocked the move, claiming it will hurt the workers’ pay and benefits. Kroger retorted to the statement claiming that if the merger is permanently forbidden, it will only “harm the very people the FTC purports to serve: America’s consumers and workers.” 

UFCW Local 555 has long opposed the merger but they temporarily showed support for the deal, eventually retracting it after some new information on the merger came to light, with Fred Meyer accused of making misleading statements about wages. Despite this, the union does not appear to have given up entirely on the possible benefits of the merger, meeting with Safeway and Albertson representatives to continue bargaining. 

Following the initiation of the Fred Meyer employees’ strike, the union claimed it met with representatives from Safeway / Albertsons to bargain new Union contracts throughout their Union’s area in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming in conjunction with UFCW 1496 in Alaska. 

These negotiations appear to have gone more smoothly than those with Fred Meyer, and while some progress was made, there are still ongoing discussions on wages, retirement plans, and healthcare. The final results of this discussion and its impact on the strike remain unclear, but it is a noteworthy update to the discussion all the same. 

Fred Meyer has not indicated any plans to try and have union workers return to their posts before Labor Day, and no dates have been announced for the next stage of discussions between the union and the organization. 

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