From left, Chris Gray, Anna Putman, Inez Fishbaugh, Teri Briggs, and Jenni Calo picket outside of the Hollywood Fred Meyer store where they all work in Portland, Ore., Aug. 28, 2024. Employees at 28 Fred Meyer locations across Portland went on strike at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning in protest of unfair labor practices.
Anna Lueck / OPB
Workers gather on the picket line outside of the Hollywood Fred Meyer store in Portland.
Anna Lueck / OPB
Picketers hold signs reading "Strike! Strike! Strike!" outside of the Hollywood Fred Meyer store. Fred Meyer employees, who went on strike at 6 a.m. Wednesday, are part of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.
Anna Lueck / OPB
Malcolm Truss, age 3, holds a sign after participating in the Hollywood Fred Meyer picket line. His mother Xochitl Truss, also in attendance, is a Portland Public Schools employee and says, "we had our strike last year. This was on our way home today — we gotta support each other."
Anna Lueck / OPB
From left, Adam Case, David Robertson, and Dallas Vanek, all employees at the Hollywood Fred Meyer location, hold strike signs.
Anna Lueck / OPB
An informational sheet about the rights of picketing employees and flyers intended to distribute to passers by sit on the sidewalk outside the Hollywood Fred Meyer location on the first day of an employee strike.
Anna Lueck / OPB
Wanda Coleman, a cashier at the Hollywood Fred Meyer, poses with her strike sign.
Anna Lueck / OPB
A hiring sign for temporary employees outside of the Hollywood Fred Meyer in Portland, Ore., with picketers gathering in the background. Signs on the store doors said they were hiring temporary employees "as a precautionary measure due to a potential labor dispute with the local UFCW."
Anna Lueck / OPB
A sign in the Hollywood Fred Meyer entryway reading "Hollywood West [Loves] Our Associates."
Anna Lueck / OPB
Fred Meyer employees on the picket line cheer and pump their fists as a car decides against visiting the store and turns around. Picketers chanted "Union, U-Turn!" as cars drove into the Hollywood location's parking lot.
Anna Lueck / OPB
From left, Fred Meyer employees Aaron Bendik and Trenton Respress hold strike signs outside the Hollywood location, where they both work. The existing contract for food and meat workers expired on Aug. 10, and UFCW Local 555 says Fred Meyer is withholding information required to negotiate a new contract.
Anna Lueck / OPB
Around three dozen workers joined the picket line at the Fred Meyer in Portland’s Hollywood district Wednesday morning.
Many rallied at the entrance to the parking lot just off Northeast Broadway and 30th Avenue holding signs exclaiming “strike” and telling potential customers driving up to “take a U-turn” and shop elsewhere.
Representatives from the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 555 say the strike is a necessary tactic to pressure Fred Meyer’s parent company Kroger to reach an equitable deal. An unfair labor practices strike is a common tool used by organized labor.
Overall, workers at 28 Portland-area stores are on strike. About 4,500 Fred Meyer workers in the metro area are represented by the union.
“Our membership came out in overwhelming support of this action,” Dan Clay, UFCW Local 555 president said. “And the community has our back.”
Related: Workers at Portland-area Fred Meyer stores to go on strike starting Wednesday morning
The sides continue to disagree on financial issues, like wage scales and pensions. They’re expected back at the bargaining table on Thursday and Friday. Union leaders say the strike will last until Tuesday morning unless a deal is reached before then.
Todd Kammeyer, the president of Fred Meyer, said the grocery chain respects employees’ right to organize.
“While the company supports our associates’ decision,” Kammeyer said in a statement, “Fred Meyer will remain open to serve the Portland community with access to fresh food, essentials, and pharmacy services.”
A spokesperson said in a statement that Fred Meyer is one of Oregon’s largest unionized employers with 13,000 workers in the state.