How Indiana Kroger Workers Won a Groundbreaking Contract
Organizing in a right-to-work state and a highly multilingual warehouse, Indiana Kroger workers faced long odds heading into contract negotiations. Holding open bargaining sessions and work-to-rule actions helped them win big.
Workers won a ban on further outsourcing and the right to honor strikes by other Kroger Teamsters. (Mark Felix / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Teamsters in an Indiana grocery warehouse scored big this year with a contract campaign like none before.
They organized in five languages and sported a multilingual union button. They opened up bargaining sessions for any member to come observe — on the peak day, 150 showed up. They even pulled off a daring work-to-rule action the week before bargaining kicked off, to start from a position of strength.
The final night, June 30, negotiations came down to the wire, stretching past the midnight contract expiration deadline. Some members were itching to walk. The employer, grocery giant Kroger, had prepared for a strike too — it had three hundred scabs waiting in a hotel.
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