Judge tosses claims Albertsons and Kroger violated workers rights with no-poach strike deal

DENVER (CN) — A Denver judge on Monday dismissed Colorado’s claim that a 2022 non-poach agreement between two of the state’s largest grocers violated striking workers rights.

“The court does not need to be able to tell for certain whether the National Labor Relations Board dismissed the charges because it thought that the no-poach and non-solicitation agreements were ‘not illegal,’” wrote Second Judicial District Judge Andrew Luxen in a 14-page opinion.

Unionized workers went on strike in January 2022 against the Kroger-owned Colorado grocery chain King Soopers, advocating for better wages. During the strike, competing grocer Albertsons agreed not to poach striking Kroger workers and not to solicit King Soopers’ pharmacy customers.

As part of a 2024 lawsuit angling to block the two grocery giants from merging, Colorado claimed the strike pact violated the state’s anticompetition laws and violated workers rights. Workers filed their own class action, which was removed to federal court.

During a bench trial on the state’s claims, Second Judicial District Judge Andrew Luxen considered whether the proposed merger and the strike agreements violated state law. In March 2025, Luxen dismissed the state’s claim to prevent the merger as moot since a federal judge in Oregon blocked the business deal, and the companies have since filed suit against each other.

In Monday’s opinion, Luxen found the challenge to the grocers’ strike agreement belonged before the National Labor Relations Board and not in state court.

“As for the state’s argument that state regulation of antitrust matters falls under the exception for regulation of interests deeply rooted in local feeling and responsibility, this cannot be the case. Again, such an exception would swallow the rule. Colorado’s general interest in regulating antitrust matters is no greater than the interest any other state would have,” Luxen added.

Kroger, which owns 2,719 grocery stores nationwide, announced a plan in October 2022 to purchase 2,271 Albertsons stores. In Colorado, Kroger’s King Soopers and City Market stores dominate the landscape alongside Albertsons subsidiary Safeway and Walmart.

Kroger owns 137 stores in the Centennial State and Albertsons has 105 — 91 of which were to be divested to C&S Wholesalers as a condition of the merger.

Through the trial, Kroger argued the merger would lower grocery prices and increase wages — relief needed in an inflated economy. Kroger touted its flywheel business model, which draws customers in with low prices, then collects consumer data to generate “non-grocery revenue,” used to invest in lower prices and higher wages.

The merger, Kroger had argued, was necessary for the company to obtain a national footprint and a larger pool of customers. Albertsons said it cannot compete in the increasingly fractured grocery market and had long been looking for a buyer.

King Soopers workers who belong to the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 union went on strike again in February 2025 between the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day in opposition of unfair labor practices.

Follow @bright_lamp