8000 Indiana Kroger Grocery Workers Reject Contract for the Second Time
Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 700 members across Indiana voted on July 10 and 11 to reject a tentative agreement covering 8,000 Kroger retail workers. A copy of the rejected Tentative Agreement is available here.
This is the second contract Kroger workers have rejected this year, after voting down the last offer by 74 percent.
Kroger’s offer included just a $0.90 increase over 3 years for starting pay, and a $200 Kroger gift card that members called “insulting.”
“We’re fighting for livable wages because we can’t afford to shop where we work,” said Eli Robertson, a Kroger worker in Avon.
“We have food pantries in our breakrooms,” said Amy Reynolds, a 24-year Kroger worker in Fishers. “Kroger needs to pay us a living wage with dollar raises, not cents.”
“When customers see long lines and closed counters, that’s because Kroger is cutting our hours and keeping stores understaffed to protect their bottom line,” said Janice Mize, a front-end cashier at Kroger. “One worker today is doing the work of six workers just a few years ago.”
Over 300 Kroger workers have signed a petition demanding dollar wage increases, not cents, fair staffing language, and affordable healthcare. They’re also fighting for greater job security against automation and artificial intelligence.
Community members have also shown their support for Kroger workers. Six Indianapolis city council members signed on to a solidarity statement. "Grocery workers are a crucial part of our community,” they wrote. “ In the event of a strike, we will not cross the picket line, and we ask our community to do the same."
Community members have also circulated a solidarity pledge online, committing their support to Kroger workers.
Teamsters Local 135 President Dustin Roach wrote in a statement on June 13, 2025, “We stand shoulder to shoulder with grocery workers and are prepared to support them in every legal way possible.”
Some workers have called for more transparent union negotiations after the tentative agreement was recommended for a “Yes” vote by local union leadership, despite protests from rank-and-file members.
“We’re calling on our union leadership for more transparent negotiations,” added Amy Reynolds. “We want a democratic, transparent union where members are in charge — that’s what unions are about.”