UNION, KROGER CLASH OVER DEPOT

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

DETROIT - A Teamsters local here is asking consumers to boycott Kroger Co. stores in Michigan because of Kroger's plans to move its perishables warehouse operation from Livonia, Mich., to Delaware, Ohio - a move that could cost the union some of the 500 warehouse jobs its members hold.

Bill Barns, a spokesman for Teamsters Local 337, told SN the union planned to distribute leaflets - entitled, "Don't let the Kroger ogre kill Michigan" - at 20 Kroger stores over the weekend and 30 stores next weekend; it also plans to hand the fliers out at a Kroger night scheduled at a Detroit Tigers game later this summer.

The Livonia facility is owned by Kroger but run by Minneapolis-based Supervalu. Barns said it was Kroger's decision to move the perishables operation to the Kroger-run facility in Delaware, Ohio, "so the Supervalu people aren't happy either."

Meghan Glynn, a Kroger spokeswoman, told SN the move is being made "because the Delaware perishables plant is three years old and the Livonia facility is more than 50 years old."

A spokesman for Supervalu said Kroger has not set a timetable for the move but he expects it to occur by the end of the year.