Negotiations seek to avert Smith's grocery strike
Jan. 29—The union representing Smith's Food & Drug employees in New Mexico filed a complaint Friday with the National Labor Relations Board against Smith's, alleging unfair labor practices tied to contract negotiations.
The 3 1/2 -year contract between the United Food & Commercial Workers of New Mexico Local 1564 and Smith's parent company Kroger expires Saturday but was extended to Feb. 6 because negotiations for a new contract last week did not result in an agreement, union President Greg Frazier said.
Frazier said the labor complaint alleges Smith's store supervisors have been questioning union members about their intentions to strike and that Smith's has been "proposing and insisting upon an illegal proposal waiving employees' rights under the New Mexico Healthy Workplaces Act."
Negotiators intend to meet again Tuesday and Wednesday. If an agreement is not reached, Frazier intends to hold a vote of the 2,500 union members at New Mexico Smith's stores to determine whether to strike.
The union has about 300 members at the two Smith's stores in Santa Fe.
The union is seeking $2 per hour raises in each of the next four years, with the first raise effective Sunday and the next $2 bumps enacted at the end of January 2023, 2024 and 2025 to reach $18.25 per hour for the lowest-paid clerks.
"It's a starting point," Frazier said. "We think $2 is fair, especially in the first year because what workers have done during COVID is extremely risky and extremely dangerous. Are we expecting $2 every year? Probably not."
Frazier said the union based the proposed $2 increase on the hourly "hero pay" Kroger paid employees in the early days of the pandemic, from March 29 to May 17, 2020.
The company is offering 45-cent hourly raises each year, Frazier said, while the current contract had three 30-cent raises in Santa Fe.
Smith's provided a fact sheet showing the average hourly wage for its employees in New Mexico is $14.30.
"We're pretty far apart on wages," Frazier said.
"Kroger has had two record-setting years with profits, and the employees have been left behind and forgotten," he added. "They gave the CEO a $22.4 million bonus last year. Here's a company that wants concessions from their employees."
Smith's spokeswoman Aubriana Martindale did not respond to questions on the contract negotiations or complaint but provided a statement.
"Smith's looks forward to continuing to negotiate in good faith a contract that puts more money in our associates' pockets, maintains industry leading healthcare and a retirement for our associates' future," Martindale wrote. "We will continue to balance our desire to invest in our associates, while keeping groceries affordable for our customers and maintaining a sustainable business for the future."
Frazier cited other sticking points: The union is asking for a four-year contract, while Kroger is proposing a three-year contract, and the company is seeking to end holiday week overtime pay and eliminate vacation hours that have accumulated at the end of each year.
Vacation days have been piling up, Frazier said, with many workers unable to take time off because of staffing shortages.
"They are helping their employers and having their vacation taken away," Frazier said. "If the vacation days are not taken [during the year], they are taken away."
He also said Kroger wants meat employees to sometimes work in the grocery area and grocery employees to work in the meat section. The union has separate contracts for meat and grocery workers.
"We hope Kroger does the right thing and takes care of their workers," Frazier said.
