I just wanted to throw this out there....does it seem like only selected employees are being targeted in their stores, by means of being written up, harassed, etc? Is there a certain age group that management has been told to get rid of if they can? It seems like whether or not your a dept head or a regular full time employee but of a certain age, no matter how good of a worker you are or how much you produce for the company, they are going after you which makes no sense in my opinion. I have heard this is going on....does anyone here on this forum know why else they are targeting solid performers unless it has to be because of their age? The stuff people are getting written up for are petty, some people have been with the company 7 or more years and have never had issues with their management until this past year. Looking forward to hearing your replies! As far as the Union getting behind these members...they are doing little, not really fighting for them like they use to in past years.
I agree that the company is going after certain people that has been with them over 20 years. the manager at my store has suspended me four times over petty things. I have 26 years with Kroger and I never call in sick, if I do call in sick it is rare, I am never late to work but for some strange reason management tells me I have never done anything right in all my years with Kroger. it has has to be my age and I have to many years with Kroger. you would think that if I have been such a bad worker like they are saying I would have been fired long time ago. I want my old Kroger back this did not happen that much years ago but I know the old Kroger is gone for ever. I do not like Kroger anymore and I thought I would never say that. the union will not support you like they used to do. ever time I finally got back to work the union would not help me get my back pay. the union will tell you that everything was your fault and the union years ago would never say that they would fight for you but not now the union is in krogers pocket. if I make it to 2015 I can sign my retirement papers and the last of January 2016 I am retiring from Kroger. I will be 62 years of age. I just pray every day that I go into work that I am not called into the managers office and accused of something I did not do. you cannot trust your co-workers. they will tell a lie on you. I know favoritism has always been at Kroger but it has run amuck now. I want my money back from the union they are supposed to be working for us workers but apparently Kroger is paying them more money than we are and the ufcw unions are now a company union.
I am 61 years old, been employed with Kroger for the past 3 years, started as Courtesy Clerk, currently a part-time Checker. From personal experiences, I can say yes, this company definitely has an agenda of age discrimination, harassment, etc. to write up and get rid of older (good) workers so they can have younger people who slack off, screw up, call in "sick", etc. Probably because "age discrimination" is almost impossible to "prove", it goes on all the time. This is the agenda of "management" of Kroger, and the UFCW Union does not want to bother to interfere with it.
I agree. It seems as if Kroger is trying to wt rid if the old folk before retirement. We had one guy who use to work there... 64 years old, he was accused by management for company theft, misuse of company property, no calls no shows, tardiness, etc. he DARED them to prove it; his record was flawless! In return they gave him his "vacation" and wished him best of luck. He went to court, won, and now management that use to work there DESPISED him.
This is terrible what has been going on as of late. I don't know if it is anyone that is 50 and over that they are targeting but that is age discrimination and yes you are right, it is hard to prove. I think they are trying to force these good employees to quit. There are people who take pride in their work, never call in sick, excel in their job but are getting harassed over petty stuff that was never issues before. The union is very weak now, it's like the country song "who's bed have your boots been under". I do not know how these people sleep at night. They will soon learn that you can not replace your hard working employees with just anyone. Nothing against young people but there are key dept positions that are being replaced with younger help that just do not have the expertise as someone with 20 plus years of experience. Instead of rewarding them for their efforts, management is trying to punish them with bogus write ups, etc and push them out the door, with the union right along their side throwing their members under the bus. Pathetic!
Like many have said, older people are primarily targeted.
In my store, we've got a bunch of idiotic courtesy clerks. Plenty of them are lazy as well. Same goes for some of our cashiers. Yet they never get in "trouble" apart from the manager just saying "quit screwing around" once and then letting them be.
The front end supervisor in my store is in his 20's, and he's much, much more considerate to the senior employees under him. Meanwhile, management always gets on to the older people whether it's by seniority or age.
At my store it seems that it isn't really the older employees being hassled. It's the part timers like myself who are at the top end of the pay scale. Management won't bother the long term employees because thats the only ones the union seems to care about. And they don't hassle the younger and low seniority employees because they ain't costing as much money.
From what I have seen and heard and can attest by....management is definitely targeting those top paid dept heads and/or full time employees that are older and that are making over the $18 hour pay. Believe me, the union is not protecting these employees, when they should be, especially when they are exemplary employees. It has to be because of their age. This seems to be happening in the mid south...maybe it's not happening in other areas.
Well my belief is the longer your there the more pension and s.s u get...I been there 22 yrs and I do believe thats what they are doing to me..I mean, really?...I have a cpl friends that after they ht the 20 mark, mngt was on them so bad...
Interesting way of putting it...discrimination but of a different variety then age. This is my opinion, I think it is a particular group that has been singled out and targeted by a Company agenda. I think it has to do with several factors and if you fall in that group, watch out. I think it might have to do with future liability down the road as far as costs to their balance sheets. With that being said, examples would be, if you will be getting a pension, if you filed any worker comp claims in the past, if your over a magic number (age), if your a high paid hourly worker or if you have ever won an arbitration/or past grievance that they had to give you your back pay on. I am sure that I have left something out on that list. Again, this would only make sense when nothing else does to why they are going out of their way to harass and write-up hard workers that have never had issues before. They will ride you until they have enough bogus crap to fire you or until you have had enough and just quit, which is what they are probably hoping for to avoid a possibility of receiving unemployment benefits. Too bad, use to be a good company, so much greed and no consideration of how they are effecting morale in their stores. Integrity has flown out the window with management.
I don't if its a age thing or not. I do realize if you stand up to them; you are a threat. Or even if you show them how smart you are. Some thease managers are job scared. As for the union. I have nothing postive to say for them. we have a sorry union. We should be making alot more then what krogers is paying us.
Yes...that is one that I forgot to list "if you are a threat to them". I had heard that before by other employees who are still with the company. If you are smart, expertise in your trade and /or grocery side of business and you stand up for yourself when confronted by management who have no clue what their talking about over issues in your departments, I suppose they would want to get rid of you because you don't kiss butt. I wonder if the union feels threaten as well when employees don't back down to them either? You would think the company would want employees who are good at their jobs, they are assets...you don't ever have to worry about them not doing good jobs for the company because they are smart and know how to get the job done! They are of great value to the company and should be a welcome part of the team but instead so many, not all, Co Managers or Store Managers are so insecure within themselves, they seem them as a threat I guess. Someone higher up in the Kroger chain, needs to clean house with management at these stores...they have no leadership skills and are hurting the company's bottem line which should be profits.
in the past 6 months they tried to get one older employee out of my store. i gave a heads up as to what i suspected. that helped the person meet the new arbitrary goals anyway and management gave up... for now. besides the younger people they were using instead were unreliable. never on time and called out often.
