Washington unions celebrate Kroger-Albertsons merger's demise

EVERETT — Local unions celebrated this week after the failure of a potential merger between the two largest standalone grocery chains in the country.

On Tuesday, both federal and King County judges separately shot down the $25 billion merger. This came over two years after Kroger, the largest standalone grocery retailer in the country, announced its intention to purchase Albertsons, the second largest.

The companies said the merger would lower prices and allow them to compete with Walmart. Unions representing the company’s workers, on the other hand, said the deal would have increased prices, reduced competition, lowered wages and compromised safety standards.

Workers at local grocery stores had vocally opposed the merger for the past two years, carrying out informational campaigns outside their stores to inform customers.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/washington-unions-celebrate-kroger-albertsons-mergers-demise/