September 12, 2005

STATEMENT BY UFCW INTERNATIONAL UNION PRESIDENT JOE HANSEN ON ALBERTSONS, INC., PLANS TO SALE COMPANY

Washington—Recent announcements by Albertsons, the Boise, Idaho, based supermarket chain, that the company would, then wouldn’t, and now apparently will sell the entire company seems to have been made without appropriate concern for the kind of uncertainty this causes store employees, communities the grocer serves or shareholders.

UFCW local unions representing nearly 110,000 Albertsons workers nationwide will be mailing each UFCW Albertsons member a letter this week fully informing them of current developments with the assurance that the UFCW will continue to aggressively represent our members and enforce all union contract provisions while the company seeks a buyer.

UFCW-represented Albertsons employees have helped make the company a major nationwide force in the supermarket industry. In fact, the chain’s most successful and profitable markets are comprised of stores with UFCW-represented workers.

The UFCW intends to protect all Albertson’s employees and the community members who make up Albertsons’ customer base by ensuring that their interests, along with that of Albertsons’ shareholders, are well served.

Consequently, we will actively engage Albertsons and its suitors to ensure that all of the company’s stakeholders emerge from the current situation with a more promising future than Albertsons’ current management thinks it can deliver.