KROGER STRIKE AVOIDED IN TEXAS

Union workers at Kroger Co. stores in Dallas and Houston averted a strike by ratifying a three-year agreement with the grocery chain on a new contract that had been hung up on health care benefits, according to the AP.The contract, ratified Sunday, provides wage increases, increased vacation and affordable health care, said Chad Young, a vice president with United Food and Commercial Workers International.Before the two sides reached a tentative agreement late last week, Kroger had taken out newspaper advertisements