Union Members OK Contracts With Kroger

Unionized employees of Kroger Co. have approved two new contracts covering about 6,500 workers in Tennessee and Mississippi.

The four-year contracts with the United Food and Commercial Workers eventually raise the top hourly rate for full-time clerks to $12.16 an hour. A second contract that covers meat, seafood and deli employees provides annual wage increases of up to $17.77.

In both contracts, Kroger agreed to increase what it pays to provide healthcare benefits to employees by up to 8% annually.