roanoke.com - Business Stories -Kroger, union close to new contract

roanoke.com - Business Stories -Kroger, union close to new contract

Allright, Im going to make this short and sweet. I know youze peoples have issues with Unions. Shall we say, your not big fans? And I know companies down here tend to quash any talk of unions as well.

Well listen, I come from the state which is nearly all union, all the time. I am going to let you in on a little secret.

What Kroger has is not a union. I did some time with Kroger earlier this year, forever to be known as the "Stupid Months."
Whoever determined that Kroger has a "union" and the "union" was set up for employees is a lying jackass.

Here's the ugly truth: Kroger's union is just another extension of the company itself. At least UFCW 400 is, I have been in the UFCW twice prior, and have never seen a local that has as much power as it has, but uses it to no good end. The reason the average pay at Kroger is $9.56 is because when you go to work for Kroger, they have a chart. And based on your experience - the chart determines what you'll be paid. Ooohkay...

Now what you'll be paid is not what you SHOULD be paid. What you should be paid is $2-3 dollars higher an hour. And thats what they will tell you when you go in.

In NY, under the union contract - you pay union dues per paycheck. Oh.. I was paying about $5 a paycheck, had great coverage (which I never used), AND saw my union rep (not shop steward) quite often. I had a $10 co-pay when I went to the doc or dentist. No co-pay for my vision, just $25 co-pay on glasses. All that after 3 months of employment.

At Kroger, under the union contract, there were no union dues. None that I paid directly anyway. There was no co-pay, just a $100 deductable as the article says. But what the article does not say is that there is no coverage until you have been at Kroger for one year. Hey - used to be 3 years. Now as I said, you don't pay dues. When I went for further clarification, I discovered that you DO pay dues, but they are actually (and I kid you not) hourly.

How? Well it seems that the union gets the payroll list at real hourly rate. Say 10.00 an hour. They look at it, balance the coverage costs per employee, and take -LUMP SUM- the top ?%. Then the rest is handed back to the company, who then has to distribute it among the employees as salary. So if you are making $10 an hour, the union takes X, and you might be left with $8.50 an hour.

There is no mention of any of this on your paystub. All you know is your getting $8.50 an hour. For benefits you don't get for a year.

Everything else the Union does with the "Off the Top dues" is a mystery. And I would be happy to explain, in detail (painful detail), how a Union actually operates.

I would be more than happy to point out that having a member of management also serve as a Union Rep is counter productive. And Im not saying management can't be union, they just can't be shop stewards. Conflicting interests, if they have any interest anyway.

I could tell you that in NY, not only does the company pay your benefits, but so does the Union, with the dues the members have paid in. It is a 75/20/5 split. Company pays 75, union pays 20, you pay 5 out of pocket.

You know, I've talked to many people about unions here, and told them about unions in NY. I've even heard management people say the NY Unions sound like they have their act together, unlike the ones they currently have.

It's not terribly difficult people. This Kroger contract is done, but the Kroger employees are still getting screwed by the union.

My 2centavos.
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