Dear John,

Think grocery bills are high now? Just wait.

Kroger and Albertsons have announced plans for a $25 billion dollar deal, one of the biggest in history. This mega-merger between the country’s 5th and 10th largest grocers would create a retail behemoth second in size only to Walmart, combining 5,000 supermarket locations and incorporating over 25 brands -- including Safeway, Ralphs, Vons, Harris Teeter, and Pavillions -- into one mega company.

For consumers, workers, and the economy as a whole, this deal is a rotten egg.

At a time when grocery prices are skyrocketing, this mega-merger would send food prices through the stratosphere. Further, concentrating wealth and power in just a few hands invites price gouging, worker layoffs, and union busting.

The merger would kill competition in the market, especially hurting the few Mom-and-Pop grocery stores left across the country, by increasing supermarket closures in inner cities and rural areas to create “food deserts” with devastating consequences for the health and well being of working families.

All told, this deal could affect grocery stores relied on by 85 million households nationwide.

Here’s the good news: The Kroger-Albertsons deal is far from being fully baked.

The Biden administration can still stop this deal!

Watch the report from our friends at More Perfect Union and then take action by sending a direct message to the Federal Trade Commission to stop the Kroger-Albertsons mega-merger now!

WATCH, SIGN & SEND

With grocery bills already through the roof, Kroger buying Albertsons gets rid of the roof altogether. After all, what would stop this new goliath from continually raising prices if customers have nowhere else to shop?

A Kroger-owned mega company would also get away with paying workers even less than it already does – because fewer competitors means less jobs, too. Already, according to a survey by Business Insider, 75% of Kroger workers were food insecure and 14% have experienced homelessness. In fact, one out of every five Kroger workers has relied on government aid to survive.

This is no secret to Kroger execs, either. Recently leaked internal documents reveal that the company has known about the plight of its workers for years.^[1]

This is the story of monopolization, folks. Corporate consolidation is bad news for everyone except the super-rich.

Fortunately, several labor unions, produce growers, antitrust experts, state Attorneys General, and members of Congress, including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, oppose the merger. Let the Federal Trade Commission know you oppose it, too.

Tell the FTC to stop the Kroger-Albertsons mega-merger now!

We need more choices, not less.

Thank you for doing your part and demanding this mega-merger be stopped today.

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action

^{[1] Exclusive: Leaked Memo Reveals Kroger Executives Knew For Years That Most Workers Live In Poverty}