Kroger-owned grocery chains are desperately trying to replace striking workers as employees walk off

the job at the height of the holiday shopping season

As employees of Kroger-owned Fred Meyer and Quality Food Center grocery stores embark on a week-long strike, the chains are scrambling to replace workers during the busy holiday season.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union 555 confirmed on Friday that workers at the two Oregon-based supermarket chains will walk off the job Friday over what it said is unfair labor practices and interference in contract negotiations by Kroger, the nation's largest grocer by revenue. The strike is slated to continue through Christmas Eve, and comes on the heels of ongoing requests to increase wages and working conditions.

In response to the strike, Fred Meyer stores have begun posting signs calling for temporary associates who are "willing to cross a picket line," according to local reports. The signs state that the starting rate for the position is $17 an hour, higher than existing part-time hour wage range of $13.35 to $16.80 listed in recent job postings.

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Fred Meyer employs more than 30,000 workers across 139 stores in the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska, while QFC has nearly 6,000 staffers in 62 stores in Washington. As of now, the strikes appear to be largely concentrated in Oregon stores in the cities of Portland, Newberg, Bend, and Klamath Falls, the Stateman Journal reported.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/kroger-owned-grocery-chains-are-desperately-trying-to-replace-striking-workers-as-employees-walk-off-the-job-at-the-height-of-the-holiday-shopping-season/ar-AARVgHl