For the first time in 15 years, grocery store workers in the Puget Sound area and the big national chains reached a tentative agreement before expiration of their contract.
The new three-year contract that starts in May protects the health plan, shores up pension funding and improves wages and working conditions, according to a United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) local 21 union media release on Friday.
Workers have been active in pushing for stronger contracts in negotiations, taking actions to pass higher minimum wage and paid sick leave as well as protecting their union grocery jobs from expansion efforts of non-union grocers. In addition, these workers have deepened partnerships with scores of community organizations committed to a shared vision for a better Puget Sound region, according to the union statement.
“This contract is a big step forward toward a better life for thousands of workers in our region,” said Ariana Davis, a Safeway worker from Renton. “We have been able to protect our health benefits, secure our retirement and make many other improvements to pass our new contract before it expires. We hope this sets a new tone for negotiations in future years. As workers who have been taking action since the last negotiation in 2013, we will continue to take action together between now and our next bargain.”
UFCW 21 represents about 30,000 grocery store workers in King, Snohomish, Kitsap, Mason and Thurston counties at the big chains as well as the independent stores. The contract covers workers at Safeway, Albertsons, QFC and Fred Meyer.
Pay range for grocery store workers starts at 10 cents above state minimum wage ($9.47 per hour) to $20 per hour for the highest paid employees, although a few could be paid more than $20 based on their employment history, said Tom Geiger, UFCW 21 spokesman, in a phone interview.
The week of vote meetings concluded Thursday night. The new contract, passed by a strong majority of members, includes the following:
• Increased funding by employers to maintain workers’ high quality low cost health plan
• The opportunity to earn higher wages through transfer and promotion rights and three years of wage increases for those at the top of the wage scales
• Continue to guarantee raises above the current minimum wage on the wage scales to ensure raises for workers coming up the scale
• Substantially increased funding to continue to secure the pension plan for the future
Another part of the union’s 2016 plan is to pass Initiative-1433, the higher statewide Minimum Wage and Paid Sick and Leave law. This initiative campaign would phase in a higher minimum wage to $13.50 over four years (by 2020) and provide up to seven days of paid sick leave. UFCW 21, 367 and Teamsters 38 support the change.
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