According to a new lawsuit filed by Colorado’s attorney general last week, Kroger and Albertsons — two of the country’s largest supermarket companies, which have been petitioning the Federal Trade Commission to approve a mega-merger for over a year — allegedly illegally colluded to weaken striking workers’ leverage in 2022 by agreeing to “no-poach” and “non-solicitation” agreements.
“Despite being competitors, Kroger and ACI [Albertsons Companies, Inc] have already colluded to suppress the wages and benefits of workers,” Colorado Attorney General Philip J. Weiser wrote in the suit. “In January 2022, unionized employees at 78 King Soopers stores in Colorado. Fearful that striking workers might flee to ACI, and that concerned customers would too, Kroger reached out to ACI to make a nefarious bargain.”
