Kroger's "nefarious bargain"

In January 2022, as COVID case rates soared nationwide, 8,400 workers at Colorado’s King Soopers supermarkets went on strike for better pay, hours, and on-the-job protections from infection and unruly customers.

King Soopers’ 78 Colorado locations are owned by Kroger, one of the largest grocery firms in the country. The company, which generated $4.3 billion in adjusted operating profit in the year leading up to the strike, called the UFCW’s stoppage “reckless and self-serving.” Workers struck for for 10 days, before ratifying a new contract with higher starting wages and better healthcare benefits in early February 2022.

A lawsuit filed earlier this month by Colorado’s attorney general alleges that Kroger had a secret reason to believe it could weather the UFCW strike two years ago without major disruptions to its King Soopers business: a “nefarious bargain” that it struck with rival grocer Albertsons to ensure the latter wouldn’t poach the struck chain’s picketing workers or inconvenienced customers.



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