In the course of two years of contract negotiations, the UFCW has repeatedly stalled on calling a walkout for its roughly 15,000 members at Kroger in the region, provoking growing frustration among workers.
The strike vote, affecting 47,000 workers at 500 stores, only authorizes a strike, but it does not mean a walkout will necessarily take place if the United Food and Commercial Workers claims “progress” has been made in negotiations.