Latest news with #unionofficials
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Fury as probe exposes how America's second biggest grocer overcharges customers by listing false sales prices
Kroger is facing scrutiny after an investigation alleged the grocery giant has been overcharging customers by listing expired sale prices on shelves — only to ring up full prices at checkout. The second largest grocery chain in the US used the tactic in at least 14 stores across 14 states and Washington DC, the report by the Guardian US and Consumer Reports alleges. 'Secret shopper' tests at stores in March, April and May found more than 150 items labeled on shelf edges with outdated discounts that no longer applied at the register. This produced an average 18 percent markup on the items found, according to the report. But some items jumped by as much as 60 percent. On average, the expired discount tags were two weeks out of date, meaning that thousands of Americans could have ended up spending more than they expected on items they thought were discounted. It comes as consumers are feeling the pinch with high grocery prices as well as the prospect of substantial price increases on everyday items as a result of Trump's tariffs. Food prices have rose 24 percent between 2020 and 2024, according to the US Department of Agriculture. The sneaky sales tags often don't clearly state that a discount offer has ended, the investigation found. At other times the expiration dates are only noted in corporate code or in very small print. While some shoppers catch the price increase at the checkout, many busy consumers do not recognize the uplift, union officials and Kroger workers told the researchers. 'It really makes me feel bad because some of them are on fixed incomes and they're older. They're not going to pay attention,' Joy Alexander, a Kroger worker from Denver, told the Guardian and Consumer Reports. 'They think that when they took it off the shelf, it was $2.50. They don't know that they're paying $3.75 for that one item.' Other examples cited by the investigation include personal pizzas which were posted as on sale for $1 a piece which rang up for $1.25 each, and an 8oz jar of minced garlic listed at the low price of $2.49 which cost $3.99 at checkout – a 60 percent jump. both directly to the company and to state attorney generals. An investigation from Consumer Reports found hundreds of mispriced items at Kroger stores Consumers are already stretched after years of inflation and now tariff-related price hikes Kroger's acting CEO Ronald Sargent took over at the grocery store last month 'We just spent $121 for two seniors for a week's groceries,' the customer argued, adding that they were overcharged $8.07 on a frozen turkey. 'We shop there regularly and three out of five times we have to correct them on prices.' In a statement provided to a spokesperson for Kroger said the 'allegations boil down to misinformation, reviewing a handful of discrete issues from billions of daily transactions. 'It in no way reflects the seriousness with which we take our transparent and affordable pricing,' they added. This is not the first time Kroger has been investigated over sneaky pricing tactics. Last year US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bob Casey investigated the supermarket over concerns its electronic price labels were being used to raise and lower prices in accordance with demand. Kroger's planned takeover of Albertsons was also stopped by a legal challenge from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) because of concerns it would eliminate competition and raise prices for consumers. During a court hearing Kroger admitted to raising the cost of essential items more than was needed to keep pace with inflation. The grocery chain's top pricing executive testified to a judge in August last year that the store raised the prices of milk and eggs more than required. 'On milk and eggs, retail inflation has been significantly higher than cost inflation,' executive Andy Groff wrote in an email to his bosses in March that was used as evidence in court. The company also made headlines in March when former CEO Rodney McMullen unexpectedly resigned over 'personal conduct.' Bosses refused to give details beyond saying that it was 'unrelated to the business' and 'inconsistent with Kroger's policy on business ethics.'
Washington Post
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Cash-strapped Bureau of Prisons freezes some hiring to 'avoid more extreme measures,' director says
The Trump administration is halting some hiring at the federal Bureau of Prisons, the crisis-plagued agency where chronic understaffing has led to long overtime shifts and the use of prison nurses, teachers, cooks and other workers to guard inmates. The move, which coincides with President Donald Trump's aggressive campaign to cut the cost and size of the federal government, was announced Thursday by the agency's newly appointed director, William K. Marshall III. Some union officials characterized the move as a 'hiring freeze,' though the agency denied that, saying some positions would continue to be filled.
