UFCW Local 911 members met again with Kroger Company representatives on March 20, in Toledo, Ohio. The parties continued to discuss non-economic issues, and both sides withdrew some proposals. The company still insists that it needs economic relief in order to remain competitive. Therefore, it has maintained its position on:

• Unlimited unrestricted vendor stocking
• Eliminate 11/2 for senior full time workers required to work more than 3 shifts/wk after 6:30 p.m.
• Company will schedule shifts by seniority but not guarantee days off by seniority
• Eliminate 6th and 7th day overtime unless it exceeds more than 40 hours
• Eliminate 11/2 on Sunday for workers hired before 1987
• Expand Wrapper duties to include cleaning and operating a saw

The company continues to avoid any discussion on proposals made by the Union to secure equal pay and benefits for all employees hired after 2003, even though those employees represent more than 60% of the Local 911 Kroger workers. To address this matter as well as numerous other proposals made by the union, the company simply wrote on its 3/20/07 proposal, "The company rejects all union proposals which have not been rejected or withdrawn as of March 15, 2007."

The company was anxious to move into economics, and later presented its proposal on Health and Welfare. Despite Kroger's 46 percent, No.1 market share in Toledo--and billions of dollars in profit last year--the company insists that it cannot remain competitive without significant relief in its Health and Welfare costs. They also suggested that the company will need economic relief in this area if it is going to be able to give wage increases. The company wants to gain relief by:

• Raising deductibles
• Lowering coverage for major Medical
• Raising out-of-pocket maximums
• Raising office visit costs for workers
• Raising emergency room costs for workers
• Raising workers costs for prescriptions
• Requiring workers to pay a weekly copay ranging from 9% to 22% of the employers monthly costs, with the new hires paying the highest percent, for a lesser benefit plan than they have today.

The contract is set to expire on April 7, 2007 and three more dates for negotiations have been set on 3/26, 3/27 and a final day on 4/3/07.