Kroger to buy Albertsons?

[JoePCool14]

I refuse to shop at Walmart and will continue to do so until they get a union.

That's on the employees, not the company. If you want Walmart to unionize, convince the employees to start the process.

Unionization is one reason Kroger's prices are so high. They require their part-time high school workers join the union. (Source: a number of people in Powell County, Ky., when Kroger bought out a local store and converted it to a Kroger as an experiment in re-entering smaller markets that the chain had abandoned in prior years, such as in neighboring Estill County, Ky., which had a Kroger when I was growing up.)

I think that's more of a union demand (high schoolers in the union).  I worked at a union grocer back in my high school and had to join the UFCW.  I remember having 2-3 paychecks where about 80% of my take home was taken out to pay for "initiation fees" on top of the usual union dues.

Yikes. I'd be pissed if a couple weeks of my pay were taken for union dues like that. I had to join the union when I worked in grocery, but my dues were only $10 every other paycheck. So $20 a month, and that was all. Moderately annoying, but certainly tolerable.

[hotdogPi]

I remember having 2-3 paychecks where about 80% of my take home was taken out to pay for "initiation fees" on top of the usual union dues.

I don't remember this happening to me at all. Union dues were $10/month, and I don't remember any initiation fees.

[hbelkins]

Still, I am wary of the effectiveness of supermarket unions.  They do seem to be captured by management, in my limited experience.

The one I was in was quite good, although part of that might have been that the location I worked was a low-volume store so the management wasn't trying to do stuff they weren't supposed to since it didn't matter as much.

Glad to hear it.

Although I certainly haven't agreed with all of my union's actions, I'd rather have one than not.  In my case, it really does make negotiations more even-keeled than if it was everyone for themselves.

In what world do government employees, other than high-ranking administrators or appointees, get to individually negotiate their salaries and benefits?

Salary schedules and benefits are set through a combination of executive and legislative acts. There's a salary schedule linked to pay grades, and the grades can be adjusted administratively. (I was bumped from a 13 to a 14 a few years ago). Annual raises are decided by the legislature.

We've had very few individuals in state government who were able to negotiate their own salaries, and all of them were high-level administrators, such as the chief information officer. Others who get to negotiate are those who are state funded but not actually part of state government, such as college presidents and public school superintendents.

[Rothman]

Still, I am wary of the effectiveness of supermarket unions.  They do seem to be captured by management, in my limited experience.

The one I was in was quite good, although part of that might have been that the location I worked was a low-volume store so the management wasn't trying to do stuff they weren't supposed to since it didn't matter as much.

Glad to hear it.

Although I certainly haven't agreed with all of my union's actions, I'd rather have one than not.  In my case, it really does make negotiations more even-keeled than if it was everyone for themselves.

In what world do government employees, other than high-ranking administrators or appointees, get to individually negotiate their salaries and benefits?

Salary schedules and benefits are set through a combination of executive and legislative acts. There's a salary schedule linked to pay grades, and the grades can be adjusted administratively. (I was bumped from a 13 to a 14 a few years ago). Annual raises are decided by the legislature.

We've had very few individuals in state government who were able to negotiate their own salaries, and all of them were high-level administrators, such as the chief information officer. Others who get to negotiate are those who are state funded but not actually part of state government, such as college presidents and public school superintendents.

Exactly.  No union, no negotiation.  Management controls all.

[Scott5114]

I refuse to shop at Walmart and will continue to do so until they get a union.

That's on the employees, not the company. If you want Walmart to unionize, convince the employees to start the process.

Unionization is one reason Kroger's prices are so high. They require their part-time high school workers join the union. (Source: a number of people in Powell County, Ky., when Kroger bought out a local store and converted it to a Kroger as an experiment in re-entering smaller markets that the chain had abandoned in prior years, such as in neighboring Estill County, Ky., which had a Kroger when I was growing up.)

I think that's more of a union demand (high schoolers in the union).  I worked at a union grocer back in my high school and had to join the UFCW.  I remember having 2-3 paychecks where about 80% of my take home was taken out to pay for "initiation fees" on top of the usual union dues.

Yikes. I'd be pissed if a couple weeks of my pay were taken for union dues like that. I had to join the union when I worked in grocery, but my dues were only $10 every other paycheck. So $20 a month, and that was all. Moderately annoying, but certainly tolerable.

The last job I had, I would have happily paid $20/month to have someone on call anytime my boss needed to be told to go fuck herself.

[JoePCool14]

I refuse to shop at Walmart and will continue to do so until they get a union.

That's on the employees, not the company. If you want Walmart to unionize, convince the employees to start the process.

Unionization is one reason Kroger's prices are so high. They require their part-time high school workers join the union. (Source: a number of people in Powell County, Ky., when Kroger bought out a local store and converted it to a Kroger as an experiment in re-entering smaller markets that the chain had abandoned in prior years, such as in neighboring Estill County, Ky., which had a Kroger when I was growing up.)

I think that's more of a union demand (high schoolers in the union).  I worked at a union grocer back in my high school and had to join the UFCW.  I remember having 2-3 paychecks where about 80% of my take home was taken out to pay for "initiation fees" on top of the usual union dues.

Yikes. I'd be pissed if a couple weeks of my pay were taken for union dues like that. I had to join the union when I worked in grocery, but my dues were only $10 every other paycheck. So $20 a month, and that was all. Moderately annoying, but certainly tolerable.

The last job I had, I would have happily paid $20/month to have someone on call anytime my boss needed to be told to go fuck herself.

I must've had nice bosses then, because I don't think I ever needed to tell that to any of them.

[Scott5114]

I refuse to shop at Walmart and will continue to do so until they get a union.

That's on the employees, not the company. If you want Walmart to unionize, convince the employees to start the process.

Unionization is one reason Kroger's prices are so high. They require their part-time high school workers join the union. (Source: a number of people in Powell County, Ky., when Kroger bought out a local store and converted it to a Kroger as an experiment in re-entering smaller markets that the chain had abandoned in prior years, such as in neighboring Estill County, Ky., which had a Kroger when I was growing up.)

I think that's more of a union demand (high schoolers in the union).  I worked at a union grocer back in my high school and had to join the UFCW.  I remember having 2-3 paychecks where about 80% of my take home was taken out to pay for "initiation fees" on top of the usual union dues.

Yikes. I'd be pissed if a couple weeks of my pay were taken for union dues like that. I had to join the union when I worked in grocery, but my dues were only $10 every other paycheck. So $20 a month, and that was all. Moderately annoying, but certainly tolerable.

The last job I had, I would have happily paid $20/month to have someone on call anytime my boss needed to be told to go fuck herself.

I must've had nice bosses then, because I don't think I ever needed to tell that to any of them.

Knowing there's a union ready to step in probably caused them to clean up their act.

My boss was known for doing things like throwing away employees' personal belongings and trying to force new moms to pump in the bathroom (requiring a mother to pump in the bathroom is against federal law).

[kkt]

I worked at my employer for 32 years and my position unionized about year 25 of my career.  Generally it was a respectful workplace, with managers and supervisors who did not to asshole moves like the above either before or after the union was form.  But it was public sector, so pay was determined partly by the agency's management and ultimately by the state legislature.  The immediate cause of unionization was the state granting no cost of living increase at all for 7 or 8 years in a row, in the mid 1990s when private sector pay in our immediate area was increase by 5 to 7% per year.  So the union got us a pay increase, which more than paid for our union dues, and nothing else changed really.  If there was a grievance the union would send a representative - but the union was not interested into defending an employee who'd done something indefensible, and our management was pretty good about not bringing employees up for disciplinary action without a very good reason.  We got along very well for the most part.

I never felt the need to tell my boss to fuck off.

[thenetwork]

I refuse to shop at Walmart and will continue to do so until they get a union.

That's on the employees, not the company. If you want Walmart to unionize, convince the employees to start the process.

Unionization is one reason Kroger's prices are so high. They require their part-time high school workers join the union. (Source: a number of people in Powell County, Ky., when Kroger bought out a local store and converted it to a Kroger as an experiment in re-entering smaller markets that the chain had abandoned in prior years, such as in neighboring Estill County, Ky., which had a Kroger when I was growing up.)

I think that's more of a union demand (high schoolers in the union).  I worked at a union grocer back in my high school and had to join the UFCW.  I remember having 2-3 paychecks where about 80% of my take home was taken out to pay for "initiation fees" on top of the usual union dues.

Yikes. I'd be pissed if a couple weeks of my pay were taken for union dues like that. I had to join the union when I worked in grocery, but my dues were only $10 every other paycheck. So $20 a month, and that was all. Moderately annoying, but certainly tolerable.

This was back in the early 80s i was part time while in high school.  Within the last 5 years, I was briefly in a union job in a different state and business and there were no initiation fees.

I left that job when I was not making certain quotas that were difficult to reach due to a number of out-of-my-control factors. 

One thing that really pissed me off with said company and union rules ‐- I was hired along with one other person on the the same day.  He technically had "seniority" over me in choosing work schedules because his social security number was lower than mine.  So pretty much I was forced to work the shifts nobody else wanted.  There was no allowing to being able to alternate seniority with him in choosing work schedules between periods.  Total Bulls#it!!!

[Scott5114]

One thing that really pissed me off with said company and union rules ‐- I was hired along with one other person on the the same day.  He technically had "seniority" over me in choosing work schedules because his social security number was lower than mine.  So pretty much I was forced to work the shifts nobody else wanted.  There was no allowing to being able to alternate seniority with him in choosing work schedules between periods.  Total Bulls#it!!!

I mean, I'm no fan of stupid workplace rules, but that just sounds like they decided in advance that they needed to have an arbitrary way to break ties and that was the way they decided to do it. Sucks you lost the tie, but it's not like they intentionally decided they liked the other guy more, so they hired you a day later than the other guy, or gave you a write-up on some subjective trumped-up charge so you'd have a lower seniority score (I had that one happen to me).

It is a little weird that the practical effect of that policy would be to favor people born in the Northeast before 2011, though.

[ErmineNotyours]

My experience the few times I've shopped at Walmart is that there is one lane open, and it's staffed by a woman on the 10th hour of her first day.  Completely incompetent and close to tears.  Meanwhile the line at the self-checkout doesn't move because no one knows how to use those either.  I don't mind paying a few more cents at Kroger to avoid that hellscape.  Our local Walmart does have a Charlie's Subs, so I will visit the lobby area just for that as part of a walk.  There are never any parking spaces close to the store entrance.

[Scott5114]

Around here the one line is staffed by a woman who would deny God himself an exception to the coupon policy, because she's seen far more terrifying things than Him in the centuries she's been behind the register.

[hbelkins]

Kroger locations in this are are going to self-checkouts more and more.

[bandit957]

I don't like self checkouts. I used them around 2020-21 because of issues back then, but that's it. I want to prevent store clerks from losing their jobs.

[Scott5114]

I don't like self checkouts. I used them around 2020-21 because of issues back then, but that's it. I want to prevent store clerks from losing their jobs.

There are times of day here where Walmart doesn't have any registers open other than self-checkout.

[US 89]

I almost always use self checkouts. My problem is they always seem to be filled with old ladies with full carts who take forever to scan and bag each of their 74 items and then pay for all of it in nickels and pennies.

[Bruce]

All the grocery chains here prioritize their self-checkouts. It's problematic for services like Instacart that bar their time-crunched shoppers from being able to use them, so there's the search for someone who can open a checkstand.

[Scott5114]

I almost always use self checkouts. My problem is they always seem to be filled with old ladies with full carts who take forever to scan and bag each of their 74 items and then pay for all of it in nickels and pennies.

I actually used to like to spend my spare change at self-checkouts because the ones at Walmart had a little cup that functioned like a toll basket. It was nice to just dump in a ton of change and not have to worry about counting or sorting it or anything. I guess too many people did that, though, because at some point they put a little cover over it that made it into a slot.

[JoePCool14]

Self-checkouts are great for a handful of items, which is almost always what I have. But when you have a cart-full, it's an annoyance. Especially when they don't bother to put in any lanes with a moving belt.

[GaryV]

Self-checkouts ... Especially when they don't bother to put in any lanes with a moving belt.

Our Meijer just took out the self-serve lanes with moving belts, and replaced them with a cattle corral of a bunch of stations. Only place to fill 2 bags at a time, and then no where to put them when they're full. I guess they don't expect anyone to buy more than 2 or 3 bags of stuff.

[bandit957]

I'm tired of the grocery bags at Kroger ripping all the time.

[abefroman329]

I refuse to shop at Walmart and will continue to do so until they get a union.

That's on the employees, not the company. If you want Walmart to unionize, convince the employees to start the process.

Unionization is one reason Kroger's prices are so high. They require their part-time high school workers join the union. (Source: a number of people in Powell County, Ky., when Kroger bought out a local store and converted it to a Kroger as an experiment in re-entering smaller markets that the chain had abandoned in prior years, such as in neighboring Estill County, Ky., which had a Kroger when I was growing up.)

I think that's more of a union demand (high schoolers in the union).  I worked at a union grocer back in my high school and had to join the UFCW.  I remember having 2-3 paychecks where about 80% of my take home was taken out to pay for "initiation fees" on top of the usual union dues.

Yikes. I'd be pissed if a couple weeks of my pay were taken for union dues like that. I had to join the union when I worked in grocery, but my dues were only $10 every other paycheck. So $20 a month, and that was all. Moderately annoying, but certainly tolerable.

The last job I had, I would have happily paid $20/month to have someone on call anytime my boss needed to be told to go fuck herself.

I've never had a job where I wouldn't have happily paid $20/month to have someone on call anytime my boss needed to be told to go fuck themselves.

"Oh, you don't need a union; you can bring your problems straight to management any time!" is a whopper on par with "the check is in the mail" and "I'll still respect you in the morning," especially when combined with at-will employment.  Every time I've experienced some kind of change in benefits and compensation, my choices have been "accept it" and "find work elsewhere."

[kkt]

Kroger locations in this are are going to self-checkouts more and more.

Every grocery store here seems to be emphasizing self-checkouts.

[kphoger]

Kroger locations in this are are going to self-checkouts more and more.

Every grocery store here seems to be emphasizing self-checkouts.

Do you not have "hometown" grocery stores that emphasize the opposite?  I can think of one popular grocery store in this area that takes pride in customer service, and they even appear to have a policy of pushing every cart out to the parking lot for every single customer who has a cart.

[JoePCool14]

Kroger locations in this are are going to self-checkouts more and more.

Every grocery store here seems to be emphasizing self-checkouts.

Do you not have "hometown" grocery stores that emphasize the opposite?  I can think of one popular grocery store in this area that takes pride in customer service, and they even appear to have a policy of pushing every cart out to the parking lot for every single customer who has a cart.

We do. They offer an easy pickup "drive-thru" option after you checkout, you just leave your cart and someone loads your car. Even they finally put in some self-checkouts, but as far as I can tell, they still staff a lot of registers, so it's an alternative.