Kroger would own most of the grocery stores in Colorado if a proposed merger goes through.Bob Lopez has been living off his pension since 1995. Now, at age 77, he's fighting to ensure he can continue living off that income for his"remaining golden years," he says.
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, a Denver-based union that is one of the largest private-sector worker reps in Colorado, manages a large pension fund that is paid out to any union grocery store employee who has been part of Local 7 for at least five years and is now retired. The amount that is paid out goes up the longer someone works and remains a union member.
The concern with the Kroger-Albertsons merger, according to Local 7 president Kim Cordova, is that it will result in a significant amount of store closures, meaning there will be a drastic reduction in the amount of workers contributing to the pension fund.She recalls how the 2008 financial crisis once put the Local 7 pension fund into"critical status." Active retirees at that time didn't lose benefits, but future retirees took a big hit on their pension plan.
"I would think that there's a lot more members that are retired that the effect [of the merger] would be a lot more devastating to them," he notes.