Friday, November 13, 2020 at 8 p.m. UPDATE: (WVNS) — A tentative agreement has been reached between union members and Kroger.

Last week, members of the UFCW Local 400 approved a strike. Members then spent this week negotiating with Kroger representatives. A tentative agreement was reached on Friday, November 13, 2020.

Part of this agreement includes health care funding, raises, and a cap on prescription drug costs.

Members of the union will review the tentative agreement in detail next week and voting in stores will take place throughout the region.

BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) — Negotiations continued on Monday, November 9, 2020 between union leaders and representatives from Kroger. Union members are fighting for better pay and benefits.

Mark Cordle is a local union member and worked for Kroger for almost four decades. He said these negotiations have been going on since August.

“The last straw was that they handed what they called, not their final proposal, but a proposal they thought maybe we could work with and they told us to mull it over,” Cordle explained.

Cordle said there is no resolution in sight.

“I think it was over 1,400 votes against the contract, and if I’m not mistaken somewhere in the neighborhood of 170 to accept the contract,” Cordle said.

Another meeting was held on Monday, but Cordle said no decision was made.

“We were asked to come in for a zoom call and the union said since Kroger isn’t gonna offer anything else or even talk to us, it’s time for us to get a proposal together and send it back to them and right now. We’re just waiting on them to come back and give us an answer, or meet us at the bargaining table and talk some things over,” Cordle said.

Kroger released the following statement to 59News:

We are disappointed that our Comprehensive Best Offer to Settle was not accepted.  We remain committed to reaching an agreement. We have told union leaders we remain ready and willing to meet in additional negotiation sessions to see how we might resolve any outstanding issues. 

It’s business as usual at Kroger. Associates are continuing to report to work as scheduled.  A strike authorization doesn’t mean a strike. At this point, the union has not called for a work stoppage. Our focus remains on our associates and recognizing and rewarding them for their hard work.

Statement from Kroger