On the heels of Albertsons announcing that it will pay out a $4 billion dividend to shareholders on November 7, as well as the proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons, UFCW Local 135 strongly opposes this dividend payout and are calling upon elected officials and regulators to stop the payment and the resulting devaluation of the company.
We believe that this $4 billion dividend represents most of the liquid assets available to Albertsons. Pulling out this much of their liquid assets could put the company at a competitive disadvantage, placing Albertsons in a tight financial position, making the merger much more likely with possible higher prices due to less competition, and no money to keep stores viably safe.
The $4 billion could be better spent on lowering prices, marketing against Amazon and the competition, giving better pay and benefits to their workers, investing in safer stores, and providing a better shopping experience and work environment.
UFCW is looking to regulators and elected officials to join us in putting public pressure on the corporation to have Albertsons invest this $4 billion in workers and lower prices for families, rather than enriching executives and shareholders. Why should shareholders be rewarded for the hard work done by union members like you?
Though the merger is a concerning development that we will follow closely, the dividend payout is our immediate concern. And we are doing all that we can to fight it.
We’ll share more news as it comes.
