Unionized Kroger Co. employees approve contracts in two states

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Unionized employees of Kroger Co. have approved two new contracts covering about 6,500 workers in Tennessee and Mississippi, the company announced Monday.
The United Food and Commercial Workers union notified Kroger of the contract approvals covering employees in the Memphis area, western Tennessee and Mississippi.
A four-year contract for clerks provides annual wage increases that will raise the top hourly rate for department heads to as much as $15.80 by the last year of the agreement. The top rate for full-time clerks will increase to $12.16 per hour by the last year of the contract, while the top rate for part-time will increase to $9.50 per hour.
A second contract that covers meat, seafood and deli employees provides annual wage increases that will raise the top hourly rate for some department heads to as much as $17.77 by the end of the contract.
In both contracts, Kroger agreed to increase what it pays to provide health-care benefits to employees by up to 8 percent annually.
Kroger is one of the nation's largest retail grocery chains with 2,530 supermarkets and multi-department stores operating in 32 states under names including Kroger, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Food 4 Less, King Soopers, Smith's, Fry's and Fry's Marketplace, Dillons, QFC and City Market.