Kroger Co.'s efforts to transfer a Louisville warehouse operation to two private companies has hit a roadblock.
Teamsters Local 89, which represents the warehouse's 800 workers, has rejected the latest offer from the company on the transfer, according to a Louisville Courier-Journal story.
The union has threatened to strike if Kroger (NYSE: KR) turns over the operation to Zenith Logistics, part of Walton-based Verst Group Logistics, and Transervice Logistics Inc., based in Lake Success, N.Y.
Kroger had put off its November date to transfer the operation to allow for more negotiations. Its latest offer, a guarantee that there would be no work-force reduction and an offer of arbitration if retiree health-care obligations weren't met, was rejected by the union, according to the story.
A Kroger manager said in the story that plans are moving ahead to have Transervice take over the warehouse's transportation operations, with Zenith to take over the rest of the operation at an unspecified time.
Kroger, headquartered in Cincinnati, operates more than 2,500 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states.
