Several United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) locals on Thursday asserted that Kroger and Albertsons’ proposed divestiture of hundreds of stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers would constrain consumer access to medication and hurt competition in the pharmacy industry on a national level.
After holding several meetings with C&S leadership, the labor groups have concluded that C&S does not have the “capacity to stand up a retail grocery and pharmacy chain,” John Marshall, a financial analyst with UFCW Local 3000 and UFCW Local 3245, said during a virtual press conference.
The UFCW local unions (7, 324, 400, 770 and 3000) that hosted the press conference are part of a coalition of UFCW local unions raising concerns about the megamerger.
A majority of the 579 stores C&S is slated to acquire would include pharmacies, according to Marshall.
C&S has limited pharmacy experience, which combined with an already unstable pharmacy landscape would lead to pharmacy closures, limit access to medication and degrade conditions for workers, Jessica Crowley, a staff pharmacist at a Pavilions in Los Angeles and a member of UFCW Local 770, said during the event.
Competition and variability are vital to medication access, Crowley said, adding that if the pharmacy she works at doesn’t carry a customer’s medication, she refers them to a competing pharmacy that can fill their prescription.
“If chain and independent pharmacies with decades of experience can’t keep their pharmacies from shutting down, I can guarantee that pharmacies within C&S are doomed to fail,” Crowley said.
The press conference was held a few days after Kroger and Albertsons publicly disclosed all of the assets they plan to divest to C&S if their merger is approved — a list that “changes nothing” about the UFCW locals’ opposition to the deal, UFCW Local 770 President Kathy Finn said at the press conference.
When Kroger chose to end its pharmacy agreement with Express Scripts in 2023, patients with that insurance were forced to find other pharmacies for coverage, according to Crowley.
“If they become one gigantic company, patients will have limited options to fill their prescriptions,” Crowley added.
Despite these claims, Kroger and Albertsons are confident in C&S’ ability to take on the planned divested assets, spokespeople for the grocers said in separate emailed statements.
“We committed to zero frontline worker layoffs and zero store or pharmacy closures as a result of the merger, meaning families can continue to work with pharmacists they know and trust,” a Kroger spokesperson said.
Albertsons did not address the union locals’ points about how the divestiture plan would impact the pharmacy industry.
C&S also said it is capable of operating the pharmacies it is slated to acquire, noting in a statement that it has “experience across all key functions related to the pharmacy business.”
C&S added it has held licenses for pharmacy operations in multiple states and is currently certified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. The wholesaler also noted that it has a digital pharmacy solutions partnership with McKesson Enterprise Solutions that provides customers with text reminders for prescription refills and vaccine updates.
“In order to ensure these stores continue to thrive, we also will be welcoming hundreds of highly skilled grocery retail veterans and tens of thousands of store associates from Kroger and Albertsons who are currently responsible for these stores and pharmacies. Their pharmacist today, and the whole leadership and store associates within that location will continue to serve those customers and keep supporting their health,” C&S said in its statement.
