Connect with us

Colorado

Colorado grocery workers slam Kroger-Albertsons plan to divest 91 stores as part of merger • Colorado Newsline

Published

on

Colorado grocery workers slam Kroger-Albertsons plan to divest 91 stores as part of merger • Colorado Newsline


Colorado grocery workers who fear the impacts of a proposed $24.6 billion merger between the nation’s two largest supermarket chains aren’t swayed by the companies’ announcement this week of the 91 stores across Colorado that would be sold as part of the deal, in a bid to allay antitrust concerns.

Grocery giant Kroger, which operates King Soopers and City Market stores in Colorado, first announced its plans to acquire Albertsons, which operates the Safeway brand, in 2022. The deal, one of the largest retail mergers ever proposed, has been opposed by labor unions and consumer advocates who fear that the consolidation could lead to higher prices and decreased wages and bargaining power for workers. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is one of two attorneys general who have sued to block the merger.

The two companies’ divestiture plan, detailed this week, would offload 91 Safeway stores in Colorado, along with two distribution centers and a dairy plant, to C&S Wholesale Grocers, a New Hampshire-based grocery supplier.

Advertisement

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Bill Valdez, a United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 member who has worked as a meat cutter for over 50 years, said during a press conference Thursday that while his King Soopers store in Colorado Springs is not on the list of locations to be sold, uncertainty and anxiety over the merger’s consequences is being felt by workers across the state.

Advertisement

“As grocery store workers, we’re all about customer service, and it’s tough to keep a smiling face when you’re not sure about your job,” Valdez said. “During my time as a union member, I’ve been through mergers and closures which have put my livelihood in jeopardy, and it’s not just our wages, benefits and pensions on the line with this merger. We all know the cost of groceries is high, and I fear that the merger would only lead to further increases.”

Kroger and Albertsons say that C&S has committed to not closing any stores or laying off any “frontline” employees as a result of the merger, and existing collective bargaining contracts would continue. But UFCW representatives paint C&S — a wholesaler that currently operates just 23 retail locations nationwide — as a struggling company with shaky finances, unequipped to operate 579 newly acquired stores as an “effective competitor” to the merged Kroger-Albertsons behemoth.

“I think Kroger wanted to have it both ways,” said John Marshall, a financial analyst for UFCW. “They wanted to be able to divest a certain number of stores to give the appearance that they’re trying to remedy the anti-competitive effects of their proposed merger. At the same time, they don’t want to have a real competitor who they would lose market share to.”

As grocery store workers, we’re all about customer service, and it’s tough to keep a smiling face when you’re not sure about your job.

Advertisement

– Bill Valdez, UFCW Local 7 member

UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova echoed those concerns in a statement.

“We cannot entrust our grocery stores — which are integral to our communities and our workers — to the untested, inexperienced C&S Wholesale Grocers,” Cordova said. “Kroger and Albertsons have known what stores they plan to divest for months, and the last-ditch release of the list today is an underhanded attempt to influence the courts and create the perception that the mega-merger is close to final, creating more uncertainty for our members.”

Advertisement

After a yearlong investigation into the proposed deal, Weiser in February filed a lawsuit in Denver District Court, alleging that the merger violated state antitrust laws and would have “harmful impacts on consumers, workers, and suppliers.” The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson have also challenged the merger in court.

Weiser’s investigation also uncovered evidence of alleged collusion between Kroger and Albertsons during a January 2022 strike by UCFW Local 7 workers at Colorado King Soopers stores: “no-poach” and “non-solicitation” deals in which Albertsons agreed not to hire striking King Soopers employees or to attract King Soopers pharmacy customers.

Marshall said the “very, very compelling arguments” in the state-level lawsuits by Weiser and Ferguson could be pivotal in determining the merger’s fate. The terms of the acquisition expire on Oct. 9, after which the parties could renegotiate or exit the deal.

A key series of hearings in the Colorado case, on Weiser’s request for a preliminary injunction against the merger, is scheduled to begin Aug. 12 in Denver.

“We’re very confident that an impartial judge in each of those states is going to block the merger in those states,” Marshall said. “And we think if that happens, it would be very difficult for the merger to occur nationally without those two states being part of the deal.”

Advertisement



Source link

Colorado

Colorado Rockies spring training game no. 17 thread: Kyle Freeland vs. Jedisxson Paez

Published

on

Colorado Rockies spring training game no. 17 thread: Kyle Freeland vs. Jedisxson Paez


In his first spring training action of 2026, Kyle Freeland faced the daunting task of pitching against Team USA in an exhibition game on March 4. He gave up a solo homer to Aaron Judge in a two-hit, one-strikeout performance in one inning.

Today, Freeland and the Rockies (8-6-1) will take part in his first Cactus League action against the White Sox (10-7) at Camelback Ranch. The Rockies are 5-2 on the road this spring vs. 3-5-1, including the showdown vs. Team USA, at Salt River Fields.

Advertisement

Today’s game represents a rematch of a Feb. 23 showdown where the Rockies beat the White Sox 5-4. Chicago will send Jedisxson Paez to the mound to start the game. The 22-year-old RHP will be making his third spring appearance. He’s posted a 23.14 ERA in 2 1/3 innings over two starts with six earned runs, six hits, including one homer, three strikeouts and one walk. Former Rockie Drew Romo will be starting at catcher for the White Sox.

Advertisement

On Sunday, four pitchers combined to throw five scoreless innings and Kyle Karros and Tyler Freeman each had two-hit performances in the Rockies 4-4 tie with Cleveland. Even though it’s only spring training, the Rockies offense has been much improved thus far. The Rockies rank among all Major League teams this Spring in: on-base percentage (.381, T-1st), home runs (23, T-4th), average (.287, 3rd), HBP (14, T-2nd), slugging (.492, 3rd), OPS (.871, 3rd), runs scored (98, 5th), RBI (91, 6th) and total bases (254, 6th).

Earlier on Monday, the Rockies released a new motto for the 2026 campaign: “New era. At altitude. We are here for the climb.”



Source link

Continue Reading

Colorado

Outraged over incentives for data centers that are no good for Colorado (Letters)

Published

on

Outraged over incentives for data centers that are no good for Colorado (Letters)


Data centers: What good are they for Colorado?

Re: “Dueling policies for data centers,” March 1 news story

The Denver Post article about two competing bills in the legislature regarding new data centers in Colorado seems to start with the presumption that we want the data centers.

Why do we want them and who wants them? Is it the politicians wanting bragging rights about our state becoming another Silicon Valley? Perhaps they want more businesses so they can collect more taxes from the new residents. Alternatively, they just want more power in Washington by increasing our population. Has anyone stopped to ask why we want to attract more people to our state?

Colorado is in a fight with other Western states to obtain more water for our growing population. Our wildlife is being crowded out by the increased urbanization. The roads are so crowded that it is not uncommon to come to a complete stop on our interchanges during rush hour. We have a serious housing shortage. The air is being polluted by the increased number of cars. These are all the result of a growing population. Did anyone stop to ask why we want more people?

Advertisement

During my 53 years living in Colorado, I have never heard anyone (other than politicians) say, “We need more people.” On the contrary, the conversation is more often about how we are becoming overcrowded. I would like the politicians to explain why we need more businesses and more people in our state. It should not be a presumption that more is better! Are our elected representatives truly reflecting the wishes of their constituents?

Doug Hurst, Parker

Anger and disbelief were our reactions when we read about House Bill 1030, which is under consideration at the statehouse. This outrageous corporate welfare bill would provide some of the world’s wealthiest corporations with massive state tax reductions to build monstrous resource-thirsty data centers. Analysts projected a $92.5 million tax loss in just three years if a bunch of these data centers are built. Just one 160-megawatt facility would gobble up as much power as 176,000 homes once completed. Consider for comparison that the entire DIA airport uses around 45 megawatts of power!

As the state legislature grapples with bone-deep budget cuts, we cannot afford to exempt data centers from paying their own way nor allow their unregulated construction. Taxpayer-funded corporate handouts would entail massive hits to tax revenue that should be used for our schools, roads, infrastructure, and valid state needs. What essential services will potentially be cut or axed to cover the lost revenue to the state from this corporate giveaway?

These data centers also demand massive amounts of our water. A CoreSite data center in Denver alone will use approximately 805,000 gallons of water per day to air-condition its computers. That is the same as the average daily indoor water use of 16,100 Denver homes.

Advertisement

I pray our state legislature will condemn HB-1030 to the corporate welfare hell where it belongs in. Instead, they should support Senate Bill 102 that will hopefully properly regulate these tax-eating, water-wasting, and electricity-gobbling monstrosities.

Terry Talbot, Grand Junction



Source link

Continue Reading

Colorado

Skier killed in avalanche in Colorado’s Boss Basin, first ski death of the season

Published

on

Skier killed in avalanche in Colorado’s Boss Basin, first ski death of the season


Early Sunday morning, Colorado rescue crews found the body of a missing skier who was killed in a recent avalanche.

The skier was reported missing in the Boss Basin area in the upper portion of Resolution Creek on March 7.

Advertisement

Colorado Avalanche Information Center


Summit County Rescue Group, Vail Mountain Rescue and the Summit and Eagle County Sheriff’s Offices began searching the area and discovered the site of the avalanche. They noticed that nearby ski and snowmobile tracks led up to where it occurred.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center says Flight for Life helped with the search. They found the body of the missing skier in the avalanche debris on Sunday, around sunrise.

boss-basin-fatal-avalanche-1-slide-from-caic-on-fb.jpg

Advertisement

Colorado Avalanche Information Center


CAIC staff said the avalanche started near the treeline on a northeast-facing slope and was about two feet deep. The slope angles ranged from 33 to 36 degrees.

According to CAIC data, this is the first person killed in an avalanche during the 2025-2026 ski season.

colorado-avalanche-danger-march-8-2026.png

Colorado Avalanche Information Center

Advertisement


Avalanche danger in some parts of the high country is considerable, particularly on north- and east-facing slopes and on large open slopes just below ridgelines.

The CAIC Forecast for Sunday says:

“The avalanche danger will stay at CONSIDERABLE (3of5) on Sunday for the places that picked up the most snow in this last storm (Elk and Sawatch Ranges). Areas that received less than 8 inches will go back to MODERATE danger, but this may vary significantly from drainage to drainage and with elevation. Assume a higher danger if you find a foot or more of new snow. Across the region, wind-drifted slopes will remain the most dangerous regardless of the danger. In the shallower areas (Elks and Sawatch), we’re more concerned about avalanches in motion breaking deeper, failing in buried facet layers.

On Sunday, as the sun pops out, remember that a strong spring sun can make sunny slopes unstable rather quickly. Keep an eye out for roller balls as an indication of a forthcoming shed cycle of loose avalanches.”



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending