100+ Grocery Workers Join Senator Smallwood-Cuevas to Urge Governor to Sign SB 725
More than 100 essential workers and community supporters joined Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas during a rally today outside of a Los Angeles area Ralphs to urge Governor Gavin Newsom to sign SB 725 into law. Authored by Sen. Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), the bill would require a grocery establishment that conducts layoffs as a result of a merger or acquisition to provide workers with one-week displaced grocery worker allowance for every year of service.
“We know that the vast majority of grocery workers in California are already food insecure, struggling to cover the cost of basic expenses like gas and rent, and some are even struggling with homelessness,” said Senator Smallwood-Cuevas. “The women and men who show up to work every day and make sure our communities are well-fed should not have to face uncertainty about their future. That’s why I authored SB 725 – to give every worker who is laid off as the result of a merger the right to a safety net. It’s time California supported our grocery workers.”
SB 725 is urgently needed. In October 2022, it was announced that Kroger and Albertsons would pursue a $24.6 billion mega-merger, joining together two of the largest grocery chains in the United States. For workers who are already living paycheck to paycheck, the layoffs threatened by this merger, and future mergers in the industry, could be devastating. Kroger employees have reported that they are already food insecure, unable to pay for rent and basic monthly expenses, and are below or near the federal poverty level, with many having been homeless within the past year.
“Grocery workers are facing an enormous threat to their livelihoods,” said Mark Ramos, President of UFCW Western States Council and UFCW Local 1428. “Without a proper safety net, essential grocery workers could potentially fall into poverty or deep poverty if they lose their job because of a merger since they often live paycheck to paycheck and don’t have the savings to be able to be without income for even a week. California now has the opportunity with SB 725 to stand with essential grocery workers and ensure they’re protected. The governor must sign this bill immediately.”
Nationally, Kroger and Albertsons employ more than 700,000 workers and operate more than 50 manufacturing facilities and 5,000 retail stores. California has more of these grocery chains than any other state in the country, with Kroger operating 233 stores under the Ralphs, Food 4 Less and Foods Co. banners, and Albertsons operating 579 grocery stores under the Albertsons, Safeway, Vons and Pavilions banners.
“Eight years ago, I experienced firsthand the pain of losing my job due to a merger,” said Grace Garcia, a cashier at Vons in Glendale. “I didn’t have a job for over three months, and the uncertainty of not knowing what was going to happen next was very stressful – not just on myself but my children too. I did not know how I was going to pay my rent and feed my children as a single mother, a situation that no worker or parent should ever be in. Governor Gavin Newsom must sign SB 725 into law to protect hard working folks like myself so workers can count on a safety net to be able to navigate any financial hardship due to mergers like the one between Albertsons and Kroger.”
A merger between these two companies could result in large scale layoffs for workers and without protections, and would cause ripple effects through the local economy and further burden an already tattered social safety net. In Los Angeles and Orange Counties, 115 of 159 Albertsons stores are within two miles of a Kroger store and are potential targets of closures by the Federal Trade Commission. This could result in an estimated 5,750 jobs being lost in the Los Angeles region alone.
“My Vons store is located in an area where there are several Ralphs stores within a two-mile radius. Kroger and Albertsons have not been transparent about which stores they plan to sell if the merger goes through, yet it is very likely that one of these stores will have to be divested,” said Kim Sisson, a Front End Supervisor at a Vons in Montrose. “This means that one of these stores can potentially close, resulting in workers losing jobs. Workers need Governor Gavin Newsom to have our backs and provide us with the proper safety net for when the worst case scenario happens with the Kroger and Albertsons merger and other potential mergers in the future.”
SB 725 will begin to ensure that grocery employees are not suddenly plunged into destitution after a layoff as a result of a merger or acquisition and will have some peace of mind knowing they will have some money coming in to pay their rent or feed their children.
Senator Lola Smallwood Cuevas represents the 28th Senate District, which includes the communities of South Los Angeles, Culver City, West Los Angeles, Century City and Downtown Los Angeles. Senator Smallwood-Cuevas spent more than two decades serving as a labor organizer, civil rights activist and community advocate before her election to the State Senate. She resides in the View Park community of Los Angeles with her family.
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