Senator Bernie Sanders on Thursday threw his support behind thousands of striking Kroger workers and slammed the company’s management for offering low-wage workers ‘insulting’ raises while paying CEO Rodney McMullen more than $20 million dollars during the pandemic.
“It’s precisely the kind of corporate greed that the American people have had enough of.”
In a letter to McMullen, Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote that “if Kroger can afford to pay you more than $20 million and can afford to distribute $1.5 billion in stock buybacks and dividends to its wealthy shareholders, it can afford to provide grocery store workers – the real heroes and heroines of this pandemic – with good wages, good benefits, safe working conditions and working hours reliable.”
“Your employees in Colorado tell me they’ve worked hard and been loyal to your company. Some have worked for your stores for 15 or 20 years and earn less than $20 an hour,” the senator continued. from Vermont. “It’s time for Kroger to return to the bargaining table and reach an agreement with the union that is fair and treats grocery store workers with the respect and dignity they deserve.”
More than 8,000 workers at Kroger-owned King Soopers grocery stores in Colorado walked out last week after their union – United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 – rejected Kroger’s final contract offer as woefully inadequate.
“King Soopers is making record profits while leaving its workers struggling with low wages,” said union president Kim Cordova. “Grocers make sure our communities have access to food, but they can’t even afford to feed their own families. It’s completely unfair.”
According to a report published by the Economic Roundtable shortly before the start of the strike, “the living and working conditions of Kroger workers have deteriorated significantly over the past 20 years.”
“Kroger’s current part-time, low-wage workforce strategy relies on low-paid part-time workers with ever-changing schedules,” the report said. “Even though food surrounds Kroger grocers every hour of their work, more than three-quarters of Kroger workers are food insecure…More than two-thirds of Kroger workers are struggling to survive due to low wages and part-time working hours.”
At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Kroger offered workers a risk increase of $2 an hour, which the company left in place for just two months before ending the policy, even though the virus continued to spread rapidly. Meanwhile, McMullen received a big bonus, bringing his 2020 compensation to $22.4 million.
Sanders highlighted the pay hike in his letter on Thursday, writing that McMullen “received a $6.4 million increase in total compensation (a 45% pay increase) and is now doing[s] over $20 million.”
“Your company is making record profits that are expected to exceed $4 billion last year alone. Kroger provided over $1.5 billion
in stock buybacks and dividends to enrich wealthy shareholders,” Sanders added. “This is precisely the type of corporate greed that the American people are fed up with.”
