Albertsons Companies, Inc. (“Albertsons”) is responding to significant inaccuracies in a January 27, 2020 article in the New York Post concerning Safeway’s potential liabilities to the Food Employers Labor Relations Association and United Food and Commercial Workers Pension Fund... Albertsons has approximately 270,000 employees nationwide, of which 170,000 are union employees. Most retirement benefits for union employees are provided through multiemployer pension plans... Albertsons negotiates changes to these retirement programs through collective bargaining. Albertsons fully expects an agreement between Safeway and the Union locals representing 10,400 employees in the Mid-Atlantic area will be reached... The New York Post’s article about Safeway’s potential liabilities to FELRA contains many errors.

... It was never agreed that Safeway would stand behind, and guarantee, the PBGC’s obligations in the extremely unlikely event that the PBGC itself becomes insolvent... The Unions’ allegation that Safeway refused to put up $200 million and withdrew from the PBGC negotiations is incorrect.