Banks with branches in supermarkets operated by the Kroger, Safeway, and Albertsons chains are bracing for strikes this fall in Cincinnati, Denver, and northern California.
Locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union in these markets are threatening to strike if contract negotiations fail. One of the issues is health-care costs.
Last year 70,000 cashiers, baggers, and clerks staged a five-month strike against a Safeway Inc. unit and Albertsons Inc. in southern California. A Kroger Co. unit there retaliated by locking workers out.
Companies with in-store branches in these supermarkets — including Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., and Downey Savings and Loan Association — reported a large dropoff in business as customers refused to cross the picket lines.
Observers say banks in other regions could also be vulnerable to supermarket strikes.
Jill Cashen, a spokeswoman for United Food and Commercial Workers International in Washington, said locals througout the country will probably have similar fights as contracts expire over the next year or so.
The chains have argued that contracts must change as a result of competition from nonunion outfits like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which now sells groceries in its “Supercenter” stores.
Trish Springfield, the director of business development for National Commerce Bank Services in Memphis, which advises banks on in-store strategies, says that if the union calls for strikes, Wal-Mart and the banks with branches in its stores could get a boost.
“I would assume there would be an increase in foot traffic at Wal-Mart Supercenters, which would create more opportunities for the banks in them to create new relationships,” Ms. Springfield said.
Though the fact that its workers are nonunion (and would probably not strike) makes having branches in Wal-Mart stores advantageous, she said, most banks that have branches in supermarkets probably will not give up on them.
“Grocery stores are still the primary places that customers buy their food, mainly because it’s easier to get in and out of grocery stores than it is a Wal-Mart, and the parking is much better,” Ms. Springfield said.
Many banks with Wal-Mart branches also have branches in supermarkets, because they open more accounts there, she said. Though Wal-Mart draws more shoppers, they come less often, “so these banks want to first have in-store branches” in supermarkets.
The chains are expected to present their final offer to the Colorado local this week. Union officials said its members will vote to strike unless the proposal is substantially different from earlier ones.
As they have done in negotiations with other locals that have expiring contracts, the chains have asked the Colorado workers to pay part of their health-care premiums. (The companies have historically paid the entire premium.) The union has countered that members have given up wage increases over the last decade to get better health-care benefits.
Jason Korstange, a spokesman for TCF Bank, a unit of the $12 billion-asset TCF Financial Corp. in Wayzata, Minn., which has 11 branches in Kroger’s King Soopers stores, said, “If there is a strike, it’s going to affect us greatly, because all of our marketing there has been geared to opening new accounts in the in-stores.”
Mary Jane Rogers, a spokeswoman for JPMorgan Chase Bank, said it has 26 branches in Albertsons in the Denver area. (The branches, which J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. acquired in its July purchase of Bank One Corp., still operate under the Bank One name.)
“We expect some drop in business [if there is a strike], although our customers can also access us online, over the telephone, and at our other branches,” Ms. Rogers said. “I’m most concerned about the safety of our employees and our customers if a strike occurs. Crossing a picket line is never an action we take lightly.”
In Cincinnati, the union and Kroger — the only one of the three supermarkets with stores there — said Thursday that they had reached a tentative agreement over health-care and pension issues but not on wage rises. Workers have already voted to strike if the company does not meet their terms, but the union has not set any deadlines.
Fifth Third Bank, a unit of the $98.3 billion-asset Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati, is the region’s in-store market leader, with 44 branches at Kroger stores.
Roberta R. Jennings, a Fifth Third spokeswoman, said that even though it does not expect to lose a lot of business if a strike occurs, “we’re certainly hopeful that they are able to resolve their issues.”
In California, the unions and the three retailers have extended talks until Dec. 8.
Ron Lind, who represents the coalition of eight local unions involved, said the companies have not presented them with a health-care proposal. But any proposal similar to those offered in negotiations with other locals would be rejected, he said.
Members of the eight locals, which cover an area stretching from 100 miles south of San Francisco to the Oregon border (excluding Sacramento, where locals are under separate contracts), will not hesitate to vote to strike if the stores offer only such a proposal, Mr. Lind said.
Harvey Radin, a spokesman for Bank of America, said it has 46 branches in Albertsons stores in northern California.
“We would probably anticipate less foot traffic if a strike were to occur, but we’d just have to adjust to the circumstances,” Mr. Radin said.
Last year the Charlotte company used signs in front of supermarkets to let customers know where the nearest stand-alone branch was if they did not want to cross a picket line.
Officials at Wells Fargo and Downey Savings and Loan, a unit of the $15.6 billion-asset Downey Financial Corp. in Newport Beach, Calif., would not speculate on how a strike would affect their in-store branches. Wells has 95 Safeway branches, and Downey has five Albertsons branches.
