As a Krogers employee and 20 yr Veteran of the United States Army I was floored when I viewed The Krogers Company website. In bright bold letters "Join are Ranks: encouranging veterans to join the ranks of Krogers. I also looked at the top 53 companys listed in a report provided on Krogers website. Krogers was not listed. All the companys give credit for military experience, not Krogers. I was a Army Recruiter and Army Career Counselor for 14 of the 20 yrs and recruited for the Army as a civilian for 2 yrs. I believe if I can sell a young civilain to join or sell a soldier that they should stay in, then I belive I can convince a shopper to buy a loaf of bread. I make $7.35 an hour. All for 16 yrs experience in Customer Service, Sales and Office Management. I encourage all Veterans to express their views on this topic. I encourange veterans who are thinking about employment with Krogers dont apply, not enough hours. bad pay and the Union is all about the Union. So there are no benefits here. Krogers if you talk the talk then support the great men and women whom have served and protected this great country, so you can make your 93 billion a year!
Kroger simply states they hire veterans, not that they treat them any differently from civilians! lol.
Fact is, Kroger isn't going to give credit to anybody, not even veterans. This is a company that is DRASTICALLY changing its workforce to be much like McDonalds - young kids, preferably high schoolers for baggers, young adults in college for all other positions, and people looking for career advancement in dept manager positions.
Kroger doesn't want you long term unless you plan on going into management/district etc, which is all salaried. In its eyes, Kroger doesn't think someone should work as a stocker or a cashier for 20 years - it sort of makes sense from an HR standpoint. A lot of places let people go if they are in a lower-level position for 20 years and don't want to advance.
With all that being said, there can be a number of different opinions. Personally, I think they should pay at least a few dollars above minimum wage and pay veterans some sort of credit or at least offer more benefits like insurance coverage. I do agree that these old-timers, who work very slow and have low productivity, should not be getting paid 16.00 an hour with 6th day and Sunday overtime with 5 vacations and who knows how many personal days. However, I don't think slashing pay and not giving any sort of credit to our veterans is they way to combat these money-suckers either.
Veterans should go somewhere where their service in the military and their prior job experiences are valued and appreciated, not ignored.
-- Edited by SCO on Wednesday 18th of December 2013 12:40:54 PM
Most Kroger CBAs allow people to maintain seniority if they leave the company for military service and come back. We've had people start as a cashier at 18, do a four year hitch, and come back with all the same benefits as if they've never left.
Ok this is going to sound rude but what does military service have to do with Kroger?
While I respect what you did, what does it have to do with your job in your department? The military is a career choice like anything else. People like you chose to go into that line of work, just the same as someone accepting any other job.
While I do think you deserve benefits for doing what you did, it's not the Kroger company's responsibility, it's the government's.
Please don't think I don't support the military - I have respect for anyone who does join. I just don't see how it means you should get to be above anyone else who does the same job you're doing now. If you've been in the military 20 years you should already have benefits the rest of us don't have. If you don't, again, that's the government's fault.
Ok this is going to sound rude but what does military service have to do with Kroger?
While I respect what you did, what does it have to do with your job in your department? The military is a career choice like anything else. People like you chose to go into that line of work, just the same as someone accepting any other job.
While I do think you deserve benefits for doing what you did, it's not the Kroger company's responsibility, it's the government's.
Please don't think I don't support the military - I have respect for anyone who does join. I just don't see how it means you should get to be above anyone else who does the same job you're doing now. If you've been in the military 20 years you should already have benefits the rest of us don't have. If you don't, again, that's the government's fault.
While I do see your point and agree in a way, I also believe that it should be up to private companies to WANT to provide good benefits for veterans. They claim to support the NSO but not when it comes to using their HR or wages. We shouldn't have to depend on the government to do everything, but then again it would cost more money for Kroger to go the extra mile and it's not a law, so why would they do it?
I was asking since I have 16 yrs of customer service sales and office management that I should have started out with a starting pay of more than 7.30 per hour. Yes I do have benefits that most people don't have, I didn't join the US Army to get rich, I choose to serve and protect this great nation, if Krogers promoted off merit and hard work I would be making 12 to 15 dollars ph, but they don't, I enjoy what I do, I don't enjoy the nickel raises I get ever 6 months, The union is worthless and I can careless about benefits, I have those as promised to me by this great nation we live in. Don't you think you should be Paid more? If you don't something is wrong. I'm a hard charger that put the some effort into my job as I did while serving in the US Army and see lazy people get more hours and better pay because they have been employed by Krogers longer. Krogers isn't rocket science, nothing is hard about what we do, in any department......................................
Yes I think we should all be paid more for what we do but you summed it up in your last sentence.
If you say nothing is hard about what we do, what motive does the company have to pay us more? By that logic instead of giving you the 15 dollars you might deserve, they can just dump you and hire someone who they CAN pay 7.30 an hour.
Obviously this isn't fair but just like the McDonald's workers wanting $15 an hour, it's just not going to happen. :(
