(The Associated Press circulated the following story on December 10.)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Kroger Co. and a grocery labor union have tentatively agreed to a contract, setting up a vote tomorrow by 3,300 workers in West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky on whether to end a two-month strike.
Labor troubles in those three states, as well as in California and Indiana, have hurt the Cincinnati-based supermarket giant, which reported yesterday that third-quarter earnings fell 57 percent, primarily because of the strike. The company also reduced its forecast for the rest of the year.
Negotiators worked out an agreement Sunday and Monday with a federal mediator, said Jim Lowthers, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400.
Lowthers would not discuss the details but acknowledged that health care concerns – the primary sticking point – had been addressed.
Kroger spokesman Archie Fralin also declined to provide contract details, but said it could take up to 10 days to reopen grocery stores if union members ratify a new contract this week. The chain closed 44 supermarkets in the three states after the strike started Oct. 13.
Meanwhile, talks to settle a Southern California labor dispute that has idled workers since Oct. 11 broke off Sunday. Kroger- owned Ralphs is one of three chains involved in that strike.
Also, about 4,000 Kroger workers in Indiana have worked without a new contract for nearly a month.
Kroger’s shares closed down 58 cents at $17.31 on the New York Stock Exchange after the company posted the sharply lower profits.
For the three months ending Nov. 8, Kroger earned $110.2 million, or 15 cents per share, with the labor disputes reducing earnings by 12 cents per share. A year earlier, the company earned $254.6 million, or 33 cents per share.
Kroger operates 2,519 supermarkets and multidepartment stores in 32 states under the names Kroger, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Food 4 Less, King Soopers, Smith’s, Fry’s and Fry’s Marketplace, Dillons, QFC and City Market. The company also operated 794 convenience stores, 444 jewelry outlets, 412 supermarket fuel centers and 41 food processing plants.