Kroger Co. | Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility

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<strong>Company:</strong>
<p>Kroger Co.</p>
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<strong>Year:</strong>
<p>2026 </p>
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<strong>Issue Area:</strong>
<p>Human Rights & Worker Rights </p>
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<strong>Focus Area:</strong>
<p>Collective Bargaining/Unionization </p>
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<strong>Status:</strong>
<p>Filed</p>
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<h2>Resolution Text</h2>
<p><strong>WHEREAS</strong>: Freedom of association and collective bargaining are fundamental human rights under internationally recognized human rights frameworks. The United States has seen a “revival of union power” leading to significant changes in employee contracts in multiple industries.[1] A Gallup poll found that almost 70 percent of Americans approve of unions, this support has held steady for the last five years and is the highest approval rating of 60 years.[2],[3]  </p>
<p>Should The Kroger Co. (Kroger) brand be linked to poor union practices, it risks losing customers. Moreover, the presence of unions has been positively correlated with low turnover, improved diversity, investment in training, and reduced legal and regulatory violations.[4] Conversely, companies that actively oppose unionization experience declines in productivity relative to those that are less opposed; “the overall negative effects are driven by manager’s or owner’s dislike of working with unions rather than economic costs of unions.”[5]</p>
<p>Kroger’s Human Rights Policy states “We commit to the corporate responsibility to respect human rights as defined by the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). We also commit to respect internationally recognized human rights as defined by . . . [t]he ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.” Kroger also commits to “embed this Human Rights Policy in our company’s culture, operations and supply chain, conduct human rights due diligence, and provide access to remedy as appropriate.”[6]</p>
<p>The last clear update to this policy was in 2022, and the last progress update to its “Commitment to Respect Human Rights” was for fiscal 2021.[7]</p>
<p>Despite its stated commitments, in the Richmond and Tidewater areas in Virginia, it has been alleged that Kroger is refusing to recognize unions at 11 stores, despite a majority of associates at these stores having agreed to unionization. The local labor union, UFCW Local 400, believes that the company has engaged in an effort to keep the union out of new stores, in violation of the collective bargaining agreement they have in place. Concerns have also been raised that Kroger has closed union stores and replaced them with non-union stores.</p>
<p>Given this inconsistency, a review is requested of the company’s implementation of its stated policies. This would provide investors with greater confidence that Kroger is appropriately managing its relationship to labor.</p>
<p><strong>BE IT RESOLVED</strong>: Shareholders request that the Board of Directors issue a report analyzing whether Kroger’s internal policies regarding non-interference, workers’ freedom of association, and collective bargaining rights are consistent with the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights at reasonable cost and omitting privileged information. </p>
<p>[1] https://hbr.org/2023/10/are-we-seeing-a-revival-of-union-power </p>
<p>[2] https://www.afge.org/article/new-gallup-poll-70-of-americans-approve-of-labor-unions/  </p>
<p>[3] https://news.gallup.com/poll/694472/labor-union-approval-relatively-steady.aspx </p>
<p>[4] https://www.workerscapital.org/our-resources/shared-prosperity-the-investor-case-for-freedom-of-association-and-collective-bargaining/ </p>
<p>[5] https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/newsroom/press-kits/2023/assa/unionization-employer-opposition-preview.pdf , p.3</p>
<p>[6] https://www.thekrogerco.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Kroger-Human-Rights-Policy-Feb-2022.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com </p>
<p>[7] https://www.thekrogerco.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Kroger-Human-Rights-Progress-Update-Policy-Feb-2022.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com </p>

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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Lyndsay Fritz</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>Amalgamated Bank</span></div>
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<strong>Focus Area:</strong>
<p>GHG Reduction and Targets </p>
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<strong>Status:</strong>
<p>Filed</p>
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<h2>Resolution Text</h2>
<p><strong>Whereas</strong>: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has advised that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must decrease 43% by 2030 from 2019 levels and reach net zero by 2050 to limit global warming to 1.5°C[1] and avoid the most damaging effects of climate change. Deloitte estimates that “unchecked climate change could cost the global economy $178 trillion over the next 50 years.”[2]</p>
<p>In its 10-K Kroger recognizes business risks from climate change, stating the effects “present both physical risks…and transition risks…which are expected to be widespread and unpredictable.” Extreme weather events may affect Kroger’s ability, “to procure needed commodities at costs and in quantities that are optimal.” Kroger also acknowledges local, state or federal regulatory responses to climate change may affect its financial condition. </p>
<p>Kroger set a goal to reduce its absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions 30% by 2030, applies climate risk modeling to its direct operations, and mentions having business resilience plans. However, the Company has not provided detailed information on its plans to address Scope 3 emissions (representing approximately 93% of Kroger’s carbon emissions), nor has it applied its risk modeling to its full value chains. Without disclosures detailing efforts to mitigate its largest climate impacts, or plans to boost the agricultural supply chain resiliency that is critical to its Our Brands products (26% of FY25 revenue), Kroger may face elevated supply chain, regulatory, operational, and reputational risk. </p>
<p>Kroger disclosed a Scope 3 footprint for the first time in 2025 but has not outlined its intention or strategies to reduce these emissions, a standard practice among peers. Albertsons and Ahold Delhaize have set science-based value chain emissions reduction targets. Costco and Walmart provide greater detail regarding their supplier engagement strategies, emissions reduction progress, and efforts to reduce Scope 3 emissions.[3]</p>
<p>Developing and reporting on plans and intentions to reduce Kroger’s value chain emissions can help Kroger appropriately manage climate risks and opportunities. This would differ from Kroger’s existing sustainability disclosures by providing shareholders with forward-looking and/or quantitative information, at management’s discretion, describing actions the company will take to reduce full value chain emissions.</p>
<p><strong>RESOLVED</strong>: Shareholders request that The Kroger Co. (“Kroger”) issue a report, above and beyond existing disclosures, describing whether and, if so, how it will increase the scale and pace of its GHG emissions reduction efforts. The report should be updated annually, prepared at reasonable expense, and omit proprietary information.</p>
<p><strong>Supporting Statement</strong></p>
<p>At management’s discretion, the report could cover topics including:</p>

Quantitative reduction pathway to meet existing scope 1 and 2 goals;
If Kroger does not plan to increase the scale and pace of its GHG emissions reduction efforts, disclose why;
Kroger’s supplier engagement emissions reduction efforts, suppliers’ decarbonization progress, and related impacts on Kroger’s carbon footprint; and
Details about Kroger’s plan to invest in and scale projects to reduce value chain emissions and increase supply chain resiliency.

<p>[1] https://www.ipcc.ch/2022/04/04/ipcc-ar6-wgiii-pressrelease/</p>
<p>[2] https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/about/press-room/deloitte-research-reveals-inaction-on-climate-change-could-cost-the-world-economy-us-dollar-178-trillion-by-2070.html</p>
<p>[3] https://mobilecontent.costco.com/staging/resource/img/25w03130/5a_ClimateActionPlan_FY24.pdf; Walmart 2025 ESG report</p>

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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Amy Carr</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>Friends Fiduciary Corporation</span></div>
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<strong>Company:</strong>
<p>Kroger Co.</p>
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<strong>Year:</strong>
<p>2025 </p>
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<strong>Issue Area:</strong>
<p>Food Justice </p>
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<strong>Focus Area:</strong>
<p>Deforestation/Commodities Sourcing </p>
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<strong>Status:</strong>
<p>Filed</p>
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<h2>Resolution Text</h2>
<p class><strong>WHEREAS:</strong> Public reporting suggests that Kroger may source avocados from illegally deforested land,[1] harming ecosystem function and local communities and posing reputational and regulatory risks to Kroger.</p>
<p class>Mexico accounts for nearly 90 percent of avocado shipments to the United States.[2] It is estimated that, for the past decade, more than ten football fields a day of Mexican forests have been cleared for avocado orchards.[3]</p>
<p class>Over the past two decades, virtually all avocado-related deforestation in the states of Michoacán and Jalisco – the largest sources of avocados for the U.S. market – has violated Mexican federal law, which prohibits conversion of forested areas to agricultural production without government authorization. The additional crime of intentionally setting forest fires frequently facilitates deforestation in this region.[4]</p>
<p class>This burning and deforestation releases greenhouse gases, reduces carbon storage, increases floods and landslides, and undercuts biodiversity and the replenishment of aquifers.[5] Some of this deforestation is occurring within the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, further imperiling an endangered species.[6]</p>
<p class>Avocado production is also water intensive. Mexico’s main avocado-growing regions are currently in a severe drought,[7] and much of the water used for avocado plantations is obtained illegally.[8] The combination of illegally diverting streams, digging wells for irrigation, and replacing native forests with plantations is depleting water supplies for communities and making forests and farms more vulnerable to fires and disease.</p>
<p class>The environmental damage from avocado-related deforestation has prompted lawsuits against major avocado importers over misleading sustainability claims.[9] Additionally, Mexican avocado imports into the U.S. have been suspended three times since 2020 due to security concerns related to criminal activity in avocado production.[10] Ensuring avocados are not associated with illegal activities can help reduce supply disruptions.</p>
<p class>Kroger expects its vendors to “comply with all applicable environmental laws.”[11] However, Mexican government records indicate that orchards containing illegally deforested land are supplying avocados to Kroger,[12] calling into question the sufficiency of Kroger’s due diligence protocols for its avocado vendors.</p>
<p class>Importantly, a government-sanctioned tool to help retailers and suppliers identify orchards on illegally deforested land is available and recognized by a major avocado exporting company.[13] Adequate due diligence of its supply chain standards will help Kroger address the likelihood of supply chain disruption and lawsuits, prevent greenwashing accusations, and avoid reputational risk, while protecting human rights and critical habitat.</p>
<p class><strong>BE IT RESOLVED:</strong> Shareholders request that Kroger assess and report on the effectiveness of its due diligence policies to ensure vendor compliance with local and state laws and Kroger’s Standards, such as illegal deforestation from avocado supply chains. </p>
<p class><strong>SUPPORTING STATEMENT:</strong> Proponents recommend, at management discretion, that the report identify actions Kroger can take to identify, avoid, and/or reduce the future sale of avocados from illegally deforested lands.</p>
<p> </p>
<p class>[1] https://cri.org/reports/unholy-guacamole/</p>
<p class>[2] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33126191/ </p>
<p class>[3] https://biologicaldiversity.org/species/invertebrates/monarch_butterfly/pdfs/Mexican-Avocado-Imports-Marketing-Linked-to-Deforestation-Need-to-End-4-18-2024.pdf</p>
<p class>[4] https://cri.org/reports/unholy-guacamole/</p>
<p class>[5] https://cri.org/reports/unholy-guacamole/  </p>
<p class>[6] https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7159/1/4/23</p>
<p class>[7] https://smn.conagua.gob.mx/es/climatologia/monitor-de-sequia/monitor-de-sequia-en-mexico </p>
<p class>[8] https://cri.org/reports/unholy-guacamole/</p>
<p class>[9] https://www.reuters.com/investigations/avocado-goldrush-links-us-companies-with-mexicos-deforestation-disaster-2024-08-06/ </p>
<p class>[10] https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-18/usda-halts-avocado-inspections-in-mexico-citing-security-concerns</p>
<p class>[11] https://www.thekrogerco.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/code-of-conduct.pdf</p>
<p class>[12] https://cri.org/reports/unholy-guacamole/</p>
<p class>[13] www.forestavo.com; https://www.lavozdemichoacan.com.mx/michoacan/mission-produce-se-suma-al-guardian-forestal-no-adquirira-aguacate-de-279-huertas-ilegales-bedolla/</p>

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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Elizabeth Levy</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>As You Sow</span></div>
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<strong>Company:</strong>
<p>Kroger Co.</p>
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<strong>Year:</strong>
<p>2025 </p>
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<strong>Issue Area:</strong>
<p>Human Rights & Worker Rights </p>
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<strong>Focus Area:</strong>
<p>Worker Rights, Health & Safety </p>
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<strong>Status:</strong>
<p>Filed</p>
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<h2>Resolution Text</h2>
<p class=”p1″><strong>Resolved</strong>: Shareholders of the Kroger Company (“Kroger”) request that the Board of Directors commission an audit on the impact of the company’s policies and practices on the safety and well-being of workers. A report on the audit, prepared at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, should be made available on the company’s website. The scope of the requested audit would exclude heat stress.</p>
<p class=”p3″><strong>Supporting Statement</strong>: At company discretion, the proponents recommend that an audit include:</p>

Evaluation of management and business practices that contribute to an unsafe environment, including staffing capacity;
Meaningful consultation with workers and customers to inform appropriate solutions; and
Recommendations for actions and regular reporting with progress on identified actions.

<p class=”p1″><strong>Whereas</strong>: Kroger is the ninth largest private employer in the United States,1 operating 2,722 supermarkets with 414,000 full- and part-time employees.2 According to data reported by the company to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”), Kroger has significantly reduced store level staffing over the last several years, even while the company has added significant new e-commerce related tasks to employees’ workloads. In fact, between 2019 and 2023 labor hours per store have fallen by over 13%.</p>
<p class=”p1″>-image-</p>
<p class=”p1″>A recent national survey of retail workers found that a majority of those workers were concerned about workplace safety and 63% said staffing shortages have made it harder to keep their stores safe.3 Since 2000, OSHA has issued Kroger $2.3 million in penalties for 175 workplace safety or health violations.4 During the last four years, concurrent with the period of significant declines in staffing, Kroger has been fined significantly larger aggregate penalties by OSHA for a variety of health and safety violations.</p>
<p class=”p1″>-image-</p>
<p class=”p1″>A 2022 survey of Kroger workers identified insufficient COVID-19 protections, dealing with angry and abusive customers, insufficient security, and short staffing as top concerns impacting worker and customer safety.5</p>
<p class=”p1″>The growing adoption of self-checkout machines to lower labor costs and reduce customer wait times has had unintended consequences for retailers through negative impacts on job quality, customer experience, and financial performance. Self-checkout machines are not a replacement for cashiers and require troubleshooting from workers to appease often frustrated customers who require assistance. Since 2021 Kroger has increased the use of self-checkout scanners in its stores.6 A 2024 study by the Shift Project found that workers in stores with self-checkouts reported higher rates of understaffing, and that understaffed stores had higher rates of customers bullying workers and failing to treat workers with respect.7</p>
<p class=”p1″>1 https://stockanalysis.com/list/most-employees/</p>
<p class=”p2″>2 https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0000056873/6b0fa036-24ed-4c1e-b7de-e02ca22d356c.pdf</p>
<p class=”p3″>3 https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240521425456/en/80-of-Retail-Workers-Feel-Unsafe- While-on-the-Job-New-Theatro-Study-Shows</p>
<p class=”p1″>4 https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/?company_op=starts&company=kroger&offense_group=&agency _code=OSHA&order=pen_year&sort=asc</p>
<p class=”p4″>5 https://economicrt.org/publication/hungry-at-the-table/</p>
<p class=”p5″>6 https://cw33.com/news/local/self-checkout-yay-or-nay-walmart-kroger-say-nay/</p>
<p class=”p3″>7 https://shift.hks.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Selfcheckout_Layout_V8.pdf</p>

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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Laura Campos</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>Nathan Cummings Foundation</span></div>
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<strong>Company:</strong>
<p>Kroger Co.</p>
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<strong>Year:</strong>
<p>2025 </p>
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<strong>Issue Area:</strong>
<p>Environment, Health </p>
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<strong>Focus Area:</strong>
<p>Tobacco </p>
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<strong>Status:</strong>
<p>Filed</p>
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<h2>Resolution Text</h2>
<p><strong>Whereas: </strong>In its 2023 ESG Report, Kroger proudly touts its many initiatives to reduce the use of plastics and waste in general, but oddly ignores cigarettes and the resulting environmental harm they create.</p>
<p>Cigarette butts are the most common form of litter in the world, as approximately 5.6 trillion cigarettes are smoked every year worldwide. Cigarette waste constitutes an estimated 30% of the total litter (by count) on US shorelines, waterways and on land.[1]</p>
<p>The World Health Organization states that products such as cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes add to the build-up of plastic pollution. Cigarette filters contain microplastics and make up the second-highest form of plastic pollution worldwide. Tobacco product waste also contains over 7000 toxic chemicals, including known human carcinogens.[2] Additionally, “every year the tobacco industry costs the world more than 8 million human lives, 600 million trees, 200,000 hectares of land, 22 billion tonnes of water and 84 million tonnes of CO2.”[3]</p>
<p>Despite claims by the tobacco industry that tobacco use the United States is declining, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that the number of cigarettes that the largest cigarette companies in the United States sold to wholesalers and retailers nationwide increased from 202.9 billion in 2019 to 203.7 billion in 2020. [4]</p>
<p>The US is the second largest market for cigarettes in the world, with revenues exceeding $82 billion in 2023.[5] It is estimated that over 80%, or over 4 trillion cigarette butts are littered each year. In the US, some 263 billion cigarettes were sold, and, assuming 80% were disposed of improperly, this would mean about 77 million pounds of cigarette-butt litter are dropped on the ground each year. [6]</p>
<p>A study published in 2022 concluded that smokers’ knowledge of cigarette butts’ toxicity, biodegradability, harmfulness to human and marine health was a key determinant in how they disposed of used cigarettes. In fact, “Smokers who thought of cigarette butts as litter were 3.68 (95% CI 2.04 to 6.66) times more likely to properly dispose of their butts.”[7]</p>
<p><strong>BE IT RESOLVED: </strong> Shareholders request that our Company report on its efforts to educate its customers who purchase tobacco products about the environmental damage caused by improperly discarded tobacco products and provide information on methods of proper disposal.</p>
<p><strong>Supporting Statement: </strong>  Kroger describes in its 2023 ESG report that it has adopted circular economy principles to divert items from landfills and reduce waste.  We believe that because our Company sells tobacco products, it bears a responsibility to educate customers about proper ways to dispose of these products.</p>
<p><br> </p>
<p>[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3088407/</p>
<p>[2] https://www.oceancare.org/en/stories_and_news/cigarette-butts-pollution/</p>
<p>[3] https://www.who.int/news/item/31-05-2022-who-raises-alarm-on-tobacco-industry-environmental-impact</p>
<p>[4] FTC Report Finds Annual Cigarette Sales Increased for the First Time in 20 Years | Federal Trade Commission</p>
<p>[5] https://www.statista.com/topics/7137/cigarettes-in-the-us/#topicOverview</p>
<p>[6] Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behaviors about Cigarette-Butt Littering among College-Aged Adults in the United States – PMC (nih.gov) 2.1</p>
<p>[7] Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behaviors about Cigarette-Butt Littering among College-Aged Adults in the United States – PMC (nih.gov) 2.3</p>

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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Tom McCaney</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia</span></div>
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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Cathy Rowan</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>Trinity Health</span></div>
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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Laura Krausa</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>CommonSpirit Health</span></div>
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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Susan Jordan</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province</span></div>
</div>
<div class=”views-row”>
<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Josie Chrosniak</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>Sisters of the Humility of Mary, OH</span></div>
</div>
<div class=”views-row”>
<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Timnit Ghermay</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>PeaceHealth</span></div>
</div>

</div>

</div>
</div>

</div>
</div>
</aside&gt

Resolution Details

Company:

Kroger Co.

Year:

2024

Issue Area:

Climate Change, Human Rights & Worker Rights

Focus Area:

Just Transition

Status:

Filed

Resolution Text

A “just transition” is increasingly recognized as an important component of climate action to address the needs, priorities, and realities of society while mitigating climate change and fostering resilience. The International Labor Organization (ILO) published just transition guidelines for governments and businesses with guidance on anticipating, preparing, and adapting to the employment impacts of climate change,[1] premised on respect for rights at work and fundamental labor protections, including against forced labor. The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) developed a methodology to assess companies on their contribution to a just transition.[2]

Kroger acknowledges in its 10K and CDP report that climate change presents physical and transition risks that may impact the company’s ability to operate its own facilities and supply chain. The food and agriculture industry contributes one third of global greenhouse gas emissions, and the agricultural supply chain is vulnerable to changing patterns of drought, extreme heat, and precipitation, as well as climate migration. In 2030, the sector may account for 60 percent of global work hours lost to heat stress. Farmworkers face heightened climate related risks, including heat related illness and death,[3] exhaustion and heat stress,[4] mental health stressors, increased pesticide exposure,[5] as well as other severe human rights violations including forced labor.[6]

Yet, Kroger’s disclosures overlook the climate-related risks to workers, such as impacts of heat stress on job quality and productivity for workers that harvest and deliver the commodities and products to Kroger’s stores. Failure to identify, evaluate, and adapt to these risks can lead to business disruptions, lack of supply chain resilience, and legal and reputational risk. In 2023 a Kroger distribution center employee died on the job due to heat-related causes.[7] Despite Kroger’s existing responsible sourcing policies, it has been connected in 2023 and 2024 to major forced labor cases in the United States involving its suppliers, which resulted in convictions or are currently being prosecuted.[8]

Worker-driven social responsibility models, including the Fair Food Program (FFP),[9] have been responsive to identifying the risks of climate change and developing appropriate and enforceable protections from these risks and others facing farmworkers, without fear of retaliation.[10]

RESOLVED: Shareholders request that the Board of Directors publish a just transition report, at reasonable cost omitting proprietary information, disclosing how Kroger is assessing and addressing the impacts of climate change and ensuring fundamental labor protections for workers in its agricultural supply chain, consistent with the ILO’s just transition guidelines.

SUPPORTING STATEMENT: Shareholders recommend the report include, at Board discretion:

A set of measurable, time-bound indicators, such as those recommended by the WBA,
An evaluation of the risks facing its agricultural supply chain workers, and how, if at all Kroger is addressing them, detailing how its efforts compare to other effective mechanisms such as the FFP, and
Disclosure on the stakeholder engagement process used in developing its just transition report.

[1] https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_emp/@emp_ent/documents/publication/wcms_432859.pdf; https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—dgreports/—dcomm/—publ/documents/publication/wcms_711919.pdf

[2] https://assets.worldbenchmarkingalliance.org/app/uploads/2021/07/Just-Transition-Methodology.pdf

[3] https://insideclimatenews.org/news/31122023/california-farmworkers-dying-in-the-heat/

[4] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-12/farmworkers-overheat-on-frontlines-of-climate-change

[5] https://www.farmworkerjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/EJ-Symposium-Issue-Brief-Climate-Change_FINAL.pdf

[6] https://polarisproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Polaris_Labor_Exploitation_and_Trafficking_of_Agricultural_Workers_During_the_Pandemic.pdf

[7] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/28/kroger-worker-dies-heat-temperature

[8] https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20230202-2; https://www.levernews.com/how-krogers-merger-push-leads-back-to-alleged-human-trafficker/

[9] https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2021-Aug/CBP%202021%20VTW%20FAQs%20%28Forced%20Labor%29.pdf; https://blog.dol.gov/2022/01/13/exposing-the-brutality-of-human-trafficking; https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants/flsp/faq

[10]https://ciw-online.org/blog/2023/11/how-the-fair-food-programs-heat-protections-are-saving-lives-and-leading-the-way-toward-a-worker-driven-solution/; https://www.thepacker.com/news/social-responsibility/farming-under-big-red-sun-worker-advocates-push-heat-stress-protections

Resolution Details

Company:

Kroger Co.

Year:

2024

Issue Area:

Human Rights & Worker Rights

Focus Area:

Living Wage

Status:

Filed

Resolution Text

BE IT RESOLVED, shareholders ask that the board and management exercise their discretion to establish Company wage policies that are consistent with fiduciary duties and reasonably designed to provide workers with the minimum earnings necessary to meet a family’s basic needs, because Company compensation practices that fail to provide a living wage are harmful to the economy and therefore to the returns of diversified shareholders.1

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

Kroger increased associates’ average hourly wage to $18/hour in 2023, suggesting its lowest paid workers earn still less. The living wage in 2022 was $25.02 per hour per worker annually for a family of four (two working adults).2 Kroger’s CEO, meanwhile, makes 671 times more than the Company’s median employee. While Kroger’s workforce is 49.6 percent female and 40.7 percent people of color, these groups compose only 31.7 percent and 26.3 percent of store leaders,3 indicating they make up a disproportionate number of employees not earning a living wage. In response to a recent survey, 75 percent of Kroger workers said they were food insecure, 14 percent said they were homeless, and 63 percent said they earned too little to cover basic expenses.4

Such inequality and disparity harm the entire economy. For example, closing the living wage gap worldwide could generate an additional $4.56 trillion every year through increased productivity and spending,5 translating to a more than 4 percent increase in annual GDP. A 2020 report found that had four key racial gaps for Black Americans—wages, education, housing, and investment—been closed in 2000, $16 trillion could have been added to the U.S. economy. Closing those gaps in 2020 could have added $5 trillion to the U.S. economy over the ensuing five years.6

By underpaying so many of its employees, Kroger may believe it will increase margins and thus financial performance. But gain in Company profit that comes at the expense of society and the economy is a bad trade for Company shareholders who are diversified and rely on broad economic growth to achieve their financial objectives. The costs and risks created by low wages and inequality will directly reduce long- term diversified portfolio returns because a drag on GDP directly reduces returns on diversified portfolios.7

This proposal asks the Board to set a Company compensation policy of paying a living wage to prevent contributing to inequality and racial/gender disparity. Kroger could achieve this Proposal’s objective by securing Living Wage for US Employer certification.8 Additionally, MIT has an online living wage calculator, or Kroger can work within frameworks promulgated by organizations such as IDH Sustainable Trade Initiative or The Living Wage Network. Kroger should use such frameworks in a manner that allows shareholders to gauge compliance and progress, while providing the Company with discretion as to how to achieve the living-wage goal.

Please vote for: Set compensation policy that optimizes portfolio value for Company shareholders –

Proposal 4*

1 https://theshareholdercommons.com/case-studies/labor-and-inequality-case-study/

2 https://livingwage.mit.edu/articles/103-new-data-posted-2023-living-wage-calculator

3 https://www.thekrogerco.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Kroger-Co-2023-ESG-Report_Final.pdf

4 https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/12/business/kroger-grocery-stores-workers-pay.html

5 https://tacklinginequality.org/files/introduction.pdf

6 https://ir.citi.com/%2FPRxPvgNWu319AU1ajGf%2BsKbjJjBJSaTOSdw2DF4xynPwFB8a2jV1FaA3Idy7vY59bOtN2lxVQ M=

7 https://www.epi.org/publication/secular-stagnation/

8 https://livingwageforus.org/becoming-certified/

Resolution Details

Company:

Kroger Co.

Year:

2024

Issue Area:

Health

Focus Area:

Tobacco

Status:

Filed

Resolution Text

RESOLVED, shareholders ask that the board commission and disclose a report on the external public health costs created by the sale of tobacco products by our company (the “Company”) and the manner in which such costs affect the vast majority of its shareholders who rely on overall market returns.

The negative health and productivity impacts from consumption of tobacco products impose $1.2 trillion in social damage; tobacco’s unpriced social burden amounts to almost 3 percent of global GDP annually.[1] Yet, in spite of the Company dedicating an entire division, Kroger Health, to addressing its customers’ healthcare needs[2], as well as the overwhelming evidence that tobacco – a known carcinogen that impairs respiratory function – significantly prejudices the health outcomes of smokers, the Company continues to sell tobacco products in its stores. In 2019 the company discontinued the sale of e-cigarettes in response to news reports of vaping-related illnesses and deaths. The science on cigarettes and other combustible tobacco products is settled. They cause illness and death.

These public health costs, year after year, are devastating to economic growth and further compound the financial devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet Kroger does not disclose any methodology to address the public health costs of its tobacco sales. Thus, shareholders have no guidance as to costs the Company is externalizing and consequent economic harm. This information is essential to shareholders, the majority of whom are beneficial owners with broadly diversified interests.

But Kroger undermines its commitments to promoting good health and ultimately the interests of its diversified shareholders by not disclosing the social and environmental costs and risks imposed on stakeholders, even when these costs and risks threaten society, the economy and the performance of other companies. All stakeholders are unalterably harmed when companies impose costs on the economy that lower GDP, which reduces equity value.[3] While the Company may profit by ignoring costs it externalizes, diversified shareholders will ultimately pay these costs, and they have a right to ask what they are.

The Company’s disclosures do not address this issue, because they do not address the public health costs that Kroger’s tobacco sales impose on shareholders as diversified investors who must fund retirement, education, public goods and other critical social needs. This is a separate social issue of great importance. A report would help shareholders determine whether these externalized costs and the economic harm they may create ultimately serve their interests.

[1]https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/economics/econ_facts/index.htm

[2]Kroger Health – Business & Community Health Solutions

[3]https://www.unepfi.org/fileadmin/documents/universal_ownership_full.pdf

Resolution Details

Company:

Kroger Co.

Year:

2023

Issue Area:

Human Rights & Worker Rights

Focus Area:

Human Rights

Status:

Omitted

Resolution Text

RESOLVED: Shareholders request the Board take the necessary steps to pilot participation in the Fair Food Program for the Company’s tomato purchases in the Southeast United States, in order to mitigate severe risks of forced labor and other human rights violations in Kroger’s produce supply chain.

Whereas:

Human rights abuses, including modern-day slavery, are widespread in agricultural supply chains, with severe risks in Mexico and the Southeast United States. Recent law enforcement actions include an import ban on millions of pounds of Mexican tomatoes to distributors that supply Kroger and Albertsons,[1] 24 indictments in one forced labor conspiracy in the Southeast involving over 70,000 farmworkers,[2] and indictments and convictions in two others there.[3]

Kroger has faced scrutiny from investors and customers regarding its supply chain and has been encouraged to join the Fair Food Program (FFP), a worker-driven social responsibility program recognized as the gold standard for preventing human rights abuses, especially forced labor.[4] It includes worker to worker education, rigorous monitoring, and ensures access to remedy through a 24/7 complaint mechanism. Founded in 2011 in Florida by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), it now operates on farms in nine states, including major tomato growers in five Southeast states. Its reach is expanding due to demand from supermarkets[5] and the U.S. government.[6]

Proponents are concerned that Kroger participates in programs and processes that may lack adequate oversight or be ineffective at addressing forced labor and other human rights abuses, exposing Kroger to legal and reputational risk. Kroger itself acknowledged the “success of the” FFP represents “best practices for respecting human rights.”[7] But instead of participating in the FFP, Kroger uses social audits or self-assessments of suppliers, and purchases its Our Brands tomatoes from Mexican and Arizona farms certified by Fair Trade USA (FTUSA).[8] Kroger indicates FTUSA purchases “improve livelihoods,” but abuse on Mexican farms certified by FTUSA have recently been documented, including retaliation against workers complaining of unsafe conditions.[9] Moreover, social audits have been declared “ineffective in identifying and reducing forced labor” in supply chains by the U.S. government[10] and experts,[11] who recommend the FFP instead.

Kroger remains an outlier—compared to peers like Walmart, Whole Foods, Giant, Stop & Shop, Fresh Market, and Trader Joe’s—in not joining the FFP. In explaining its decision, Kroger misrepresented the Program as only operating in Florida, though the FFP has market density in tomatoes on farms throughout the Southeast. Kroger also implied the FFP negotiates produce prices, but the Program is not involved in negotiations with suppliers and simply includes a price premium, similar to other certifications Kroger uses. If Kroger is going to invest resources attempting to manage human rights risks through commitments to certification programs or audits, it should fully evaluate investment in a solution recognized to work, starting in the high-risk Southeast region with the most widely available FFP crop, tomatoes.

[1] https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-12-31/u-s-blocks-tomato-shipments-from-mexican-farms-accused-of-abusing-workers

[2] https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdga/pr/human-smuggling-forced-labor-among-allegations-south-georgia-federal-indictment

[3] https://www.justice.gov/usao-sc/pr/multi-count-federal-indictment-returned-labor-trafficking-violations; https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-defendants-sentenced-multi-state-racketeering-conspiracy-involving-forced-labor-mexican

[4] https://fairfoodprogram.org/recognition/

[5] https://ciw-online.org/blog/2020/08/largest-cut-flower-farm-on-us-east-coast-joins-the-fair-food-program/

[6] https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=344432

[7] https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/56873/000110465922054782/tm2212949-2_defc14a.htm

[8] https://www.thekrogerco.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/The-Kroger-Co._Social-Compliance-Program_2018-July.pdf ; https://www.thekrogerco.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Kroger-Co-2022-ESG-Report.pdf

[9] https://online.ucpress.edu/msem/article-abstract/38/3/379/194642/Fairwashing-and-Union-Busting-The-Privatization-of?redirectedFrom=fulltext

[10] https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2021-Aug/CBP%202021%20VTW%20FAQs%20%28Forced%20Labor%29.pdf

[11] https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/16/ethical-labels-not-fit-for-purpose-report-warns-consumers; https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/big-issues/labour-rights/beyond-social-auditing/

Resolution Details

Company:

Kroger Co.

Year:

2023

Issue Area:

Human Rights & Worker Rights

Focus Area:

Living Wage, Racial Justice

Status:

Omitted

Resolution Text

RESOLVED, shareholders ask that the board commission and publish a report on (1) whether the Company participates in compensation and workforce practices that prioritize Company financial performance over the economic and social costs and risks created by income inequality and racial and gender disparities and (2) the manner in which any such costs and risks threaten returns of diversified shareholders who rely on a stable and productive economy

WHEREAS:

Kroger employs nearly 420,000 associates and while the company has raised wages and expanded benefits for associates in 2022, Kroger’s average hourly wage is only $17,1 with no disclosure of the number, or demographics, of associates earning at or above this amount. This puts the company behind an increasing number of retailer peers who have raised their starting wages to at least $15 an hour.2 The 2021 total compensation of Kroger’s median associate was $26,763.3 While the company’s workforce is 50.4% female and 38.5% minority, these groups only make up only 33% and 26% of store leaders.4

More than half the U.S. population fails to earn a living wage.5 According to MIT, the national average living wage is $17.46 per hour – or $36,311 annually.6 The current federal minimum wage stands at $7.25 and applies in 20 states.

A JUST Capital poll shows that 87% of Americans say large U.S. companies have responsibility to regularly increase wages to keep up with the rising cost of living.7

Increasing wages for those earning the least is fundamental to ensuring an equitable economy that leaves no one behind while promoting shared prosperity, and helpful in closing gender and racial pay gaps.8

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that income inequality has risen between 1979 and 2019, even after accounting for transfers and taxes.9

Research reveals that:

Income inequality slows U.S. economic growth by reducing demand by 2 to 4 percent.10
A 1% increase in inequality leads to a 1.1% per capita GDP loss. 11

Excessive inequality increases health costs and decreases the value of human capital.12 By paying its employees less than a living wage, the Company increases its margins and thus financial performance. But gains in Company profits that come at the expense of society and the economy is a bad trade for most Company shareholders, who are diversified and rely on broad economic growth to achieve their financial objectives. The costs and risks created by inequality will directly reduce long-term diversified portfolio returns.

Kroger’s 10-K, reports operating profit of $3.5 billion and lists labor costs and inflation among risks that could adversely affect the company’s financial position,13 but fails to consider the costs that their compensation practices has on the broader economy and for the diversified investor.

1 https://www.thekrogerco.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Kroger-Co-2022-ESG-Report.pdf 2https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/29/minimum-wage-employers-moving-faster-than-states-to-raise-hourly-pay.html
3 https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0000056873/638cf5c4-bc98-48d2-95bc-e236a21fec76.html
4 https://www.thekrogerco.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Kroger-Co-2022-ESG-Report.pdf
5 https://livingwageforus.org/living-wage-for-us-data-shows-over-half-of-americans-earning-less-than-a-livi ng-wage/
6 https://justcapital.com/reports/living-wage-guide-for-business-just-jobs-explained/#:~:text=The%20nation al%20average%20living%20wage,per%20hour%20%E2%80%93%20or%20%2436%2C311%20annually. ; https://livingwage.mit.edu/articles/99-a-calculation-of-the-living-wage 7https://justcapital.com/reports/2022-survey-workers-and-wages-are-more-important-than-ever-to-the-ame rican-public/
8 https://www.nelp.org/publication/what-a-15-minimum-wage-means-for-women-and-workers-of-color/
9 The Distrihttps://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2022-11/58353-HouseholdIncome.pdfbution of Household Income, 2019 (cbo.gov)
10 https://www.epi.org/publication/secular-stagnation/
11 https://www.pionline.com/sponsored-content/facing-hard-truths-material-risk-rising-inequality
12 https://www.pionline.com/sponsored-content/facing-hard-truths-material-risk-rising-inequality
13 https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0000056873/107badbb-3656-4d1e-8e88-bede8ee11566.pdf

Respect Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining

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