‘I have coworkers . . . barely making it’: A Kroger employee on the recent shareholder vote over wages

During Kroger’s annual meeting last week, shareholders voted against a proposal that could have secured higher wages for hundreds of thousands of workers employed by the grocery giant. The majority of shareholders—about 83%—ultimately rejected the proposal, which was brought by a trio of activist investors and urged the company to pay workers a living wage that would provide the “minimum earnings necessary to meet a family’s basic needs.”

This year, Target and Walgreens have faced similar proposals pushing for living wage policies, both of which were also struck down when put to a vote. At Kroger, however, the proposal comes amid the company’s planned acquisition of Albertsons, which has sparked resistance from workers and union members who worry the merger could drive down wages and lead to job losses. (Kroger did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

In a lawsuit to block the deal, the Federal Trade Commission also argued that the merger could make it more difficult for unionized workers to negotiate higher pay. (Several states have either joined the FTC lawsuit or filed their own suits in response to the proposed merger.)

In 2023, Kroger increased average wages for its associates to about $18 an hour. But tools from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Economic Policy Institute indicate that a living wage can be significantly higher depending on location and family structure.

Miesha Smith—a sales manager and cashier at Ralphs, a California-based supermarket and Kroger subsidiary—now earns over $27 an hour, but only after 29 years of working at the company. In Los Angeles, where Smith lives, the living wage starts at $26 for a single adult without any children. Many of her coworkers, she says, struggle to make ends meet and are forced to take on other work, in addition to their jobs at Ralphs.

In an interview with Fast Company, Smith talked about her experience working at Ralphs and her reaction to the shareholder vote. Her account has been edited for space and clarity.

‘I don’t even make a dollar per year that I’ve been at this company’

I’ve been with Ralph’s since I was 17, so for 29 years. I tell everybody I’m 26, but I’ll be 47 next month. I’m a sales manager for the company. I’m pretty much the manager that you’ll see in the front running a store.

I’m currently making $27.25 an hour. But that’s after 29 years. I don’t even make a dollar per year that I’ve been at this company. We did get a decent union contract the past three years. That was simply because of the pandemic—because we were essential workers. They wanted to make sure there wasn’t an uproar. When the pandemic hit, they didn’t mind if we worked 14 hours. We had to fight for hero pay. We got hero pay, and they took it back.

I am a full-timer, so I do get at least 40 hours a week, but not too much overtime anymore. [And] I have a lot of part-time fellow coworkers and employees that could average between 28 to maybe 32 hours, depending on the schedule for the week or how their hours are going at the store.

I have coworkers that do ask for more hours and management says we don’t have them. The hours have definitely changed over the past year. With the cutback in hours, there’s no cross-coverage half the time, so we have to ask people to stay past their shift. A lot of people have other plans, whether they have to pick up another shift at a different store, or they have another job. Around the holiday time, they try to give you more hours.

A lot of my coworkers—they’re not full-time. It takes years to get to what they consider the top pay for their level. My courtesy clerks are still making a little above minimum wage. Back in the day, being a courtesy clerk was meant for people who were teenagers and just needed a part-time job. Now, I have people who are retired from their regular job who come to supplement their life and income, to have something extra coming in. It’s hard out here.

‘I have coworkers who are barely making it’

Living in California and in Los Angeles is not cheap. I’ve done Instacart in the past. Because what do I know? I know grocery stores. I have coworkers who are barely making it, wishing they could do Uber or something like that, but they don’t have the money for the gas. People are barely making their rents and being able to take care of their families. I have a coworker who’s helping to take care of her grandson. Sometimes she’s like, “Do I put gas in my car? Or do I wait to see if I have to buy more diapers this weekend?” It’s kind of heartbreaking.

I’m not worried too much personally. My husband’s disabled, so we get his disability plus my income. We make it work. We figure out our budget and bills [and] know what we pay. I learned a long time ago not to really use credit cards and things of that nature, so we make it on what we have. For us, going out to eat is truly like a splurge because we’re three people—me, my husband, and my daughter. You go get three meals at McDonald’s, and you’re still paying 40-plus dollars.

So I cook at home. But I don’t always leave work directly on time because, like I said, we don’t have a lot of overlapping coverage. I get to work, and the store opens at 5 a.m. I’m supposed to be off at 2:30 p.m., but by the time I leave, it may be a little after 3 p.m. I fight traffic and get home, and I’m looking at 5 p.m. You come home, prepare, do what you need to do for the household, and get ready to start another day.

‘They can’t afford to give us a living wage, but they have enough money to buy a company’

We deal with a lot—with the public and with our safety. It’s stressful sometimes coming in. We definitely need a raise in today’s world, between $6 to $8 more an hour. I know that might sound like a lot, but it’s not because what you make is not what you bring home. Working for this company was a great thing back in the day. And I’m not saying that it’s not still good today, but you have to fight for what you have and what you need—just the staples of everyday living. I work at Ralphs, but I do the majority of my shopping at a Food 4 Less that’s close to my house.

As a manager, I see the sales in the morning, and when I come back the next day, what they made for that day. To me, that’s a lot of money—bringing in hundreds of thousands in profit a day at this store. It’s very disappointing, to say the least, to see the response to the shareholder proposal. It shows that they don’t care.

It’s like: We need you there, but we’re going to pay you the bare minimum. We’re the reason why these people are able to stay in these top positions and keep their money. This is a company that’s telling me right now that they can’t afford to give us a living wage, but they have enough money to buy a company and take over. That’s upsetting. And how do people get a fair shake when everything’s owned by one company?

We are loyal employees. Did [working here] start off as my plan or my goal? No, but it was a good company to work for. You have pride in yourself and what you do, but the company doesn’t want to acknowledge all the work that you do. Show me that you care about my family the way you expect me to care about your company.