Kroger Announces Former Walmart Exec as New CEO: What It Means for Kroger Workers
Kroger has announced Greg Foran, former president and CEO of Walmart U.S., will be the new Kroger CEO after Rodney McMullen was ousted nearly a year ago.
Kroger has announced a new CEO will take over after Rodney McMullen’s departure from the company last March. McMullen left Kroger after an internal board investigation into McMullen’s personal conduct, but details of the investigation have never been released.
Greg Foran, who has been tapped as Kroger’s new CEO, formerly served as the president and CEO of Walmart’s U.S. operations from 2014 to 2019.
With over 1.6 million employees, Walmart is the largest private employer in the United States. Walmart has fought tooth and nail to union-bust, keeping wages and benefits for their workers at rock-bottom while those at the top make billions.
Walmart ranked first on a list of U.S. employers with the most workers relying on public benefits like SNAP (“food stamps”) and/or Medicaid. Meanwhile, the Walton family is the wealthiest family in America, with a net worth of around $500 billion.
In 2019, Walmart paid a $282 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) for failing to stop international corruption in the company and its international subsidiaries.
A 2025 Business Insider report claimed the median annual salary for a Walmart worker was $29,469.
The UFCW has made multiple attempts to organize Walmart workers, including the OUR Walmart campaign launched in 2005. The OUR Walmart campaign focused on Walmart’s corporate practices, but did not actually hold union elections at Walmart. Then, the UFCW cut funding for OUR Walmart in 2015, after President Marc Perrone was appointed following the retirement of President Joseph Hansen.
Whether at Walmart or Kroger, grocery workers are still fighting the same fight for fair wages, healthcare coverage, and decent hours. Corporate greed in the grocery industry makes wages lower for grocery workers while raising grocery prices for everyone.
Grocery executives have been fighting for years to make good union grocery jobs look more like Walmart work. To fight back, we need a strong union where rank and file members have the power. That’s why EW4D activists are fighting to rebuild union power from the shop floor on up.