Grocery Bargaining Underway
The 2007 Contract: A fair share for grocery workers
March 21, 2007
“This is about justice for everyone who’s currently not treated fairly. It’s called justice. Let’s get it right.”
Barbara Rhodes
Deli, QFC #847 (Harvard Market), Union Bargaining Team
Contract negotiations began, with the union bargaining team presenting our non‑economic proposal.
Issues like scheduling and sick leave have a big impact on our working lives that can’t always be measured in dollars. Before we start talking about major economic issues like wages, health care, and pensions, we want to address other issues that affect the quality of our work lives. That’s why we began negotiations primarily with non-economic proposals—to make sure these issues get the attention they deserve.
Highlights of Our Non‑Economic Proposals
The union bargaining team made a wide-ranging proposal to address key issues of fair treatment in the workplace. Our proposal was based on information from bargaining surveys, a scientific poll of union members, and feedback from stewards and other members in the stores.
Highlights of our proposal include:
Fairness in Scheduling
- Allow employees to select their shift schedules according to seniority, instead of leaving managers to pick and choose which hours we work. Additional hours that become available would also be offered by seniority.
- Do not allow employers to require anyone to work on Christmas Day, and provide double-time pay for those who choose to work that day.
- Lengthen breaks to 15 minutes — 5 minutes more can make a big difference!
Fairness in Sick Leave
- The right to sick leave on the first day of an illness.
- Create a shared leave program so employees can voluntarily donate a portion of their sick leave to a critically ill co-worker who has depleted their leave.
Fairness in Vacation
- New vacation schedule that ensures full-time workers get full-time vacation hours. Full-time employees should not lose out on vacation pay because they miss just a few hours of work over the year.
- Allow employees to take off a single day of vacation at a time, if they choose to do so, instead of being required to take vacation only in full weeks.
Fairness on the Job
- A second chance for minor mistakes that currently mean automatic termination.
- Change funeral leave to bereavement leave so that employees are not required to attend a funeral to grieve the loss of loved ones. Expand the leave by two days for out-of-state travel, and include step‑parents and domestic partners.
- Require “reasonable grounds” for drug testing.
- Post all permanent job openings in the stores.
- Streamline and impove the grievance procedure, and remove limits on how much back pay a grievant can win in arbitration.
Fairness in Bargaining
- Line up the expiration dates of all Puget Sound grocery contracts. From Whatcom County to King County to the Olympic Pensinsula, we’re all impacted by these negotiations. We should all bargain our contracts together, and they should all expire together.
What Happens Next
As we presented our proposals, the employers asked some clarifying questions.
The employers did not formally respond, but they have committed to provide their response to our non‑economic proposals and make their own proposals at the next meeting.
We’ll keep you posted as negotiations continue.
Take Action Today
Sign the Petition:
We’re closing in our goal of 10,000 petition signatures by March 30th — but we need your help to bring our petition drive to a strong close. Talk to your union steward or Union Rep and get involved today.
Spread the Word:
Join our phone bank and help spread the word to fellow union members about what’s at stake in our negotiations this year. Talk to your Union Rep about signing up for a phone bank shift on April 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th.
Log On & Sound Off:
Visit us online to share your thoughts about negotiations so far: click on Tell Us What You Think and give us your feedback. And while you’re online, be sure to sign up for e-mail updates!
Your Union Bargaining Team
Michael Ashlock
QFC #801 (Roosevelt), Night Crew
Daniel Boyer
Safeway #1572 (Duvall), Starbucks
Melissa Champion
Safeway #1062 (Jefferson Sq.), Checker
Steve Conway
UFCW Local 81 Secretary/Treasurer
Janine Dibble
Teamsters 38 Representative
Mike Dick
QFC #855 (Lynnwood), Meat Cutter
Rhonda Fisher-Ivie
Safeway #1467 (Callow Ave), Checker
Myle Garcia
Town & Country #215 (Bainbridge), Floral
Vinod Goswami
Fred Meyer #608 (Ballard), CCK
Arnethia Hammick
Albertsons #473 (Burien), Deli
Sharon Hankinson
QFC #101 (Belfair), Produce
Mike Hatfield
UFCW Local 44 President
Paul Henry
QFC #844 (Des Moines), Produce
Andy Heyman
Fred Meyer #458 (Mill Creek),Meat Cutter
Robin Hillistad
QFC #858 (North Seattle), Bakery
Gayle Hineline
Albertsons #459 (Woodinville), Checker
Marsha Huard
Safeway #1294 (Kent Valley), Checker
Lou Hynek
Safeway #1082 (Port Orchard), Dairy
George Keller
Safeway #1485 (Marysville), Meat Cutter
Tom Kingshott
UFCW Local 44 Secretary/Treasurer
Eleanor Knight
Fred Meyer #658 (Issaquah), CCK
Greg Marquez
Safeway #1551 (E. John), Checker
Sharon Matland
Fred Meyer #95 (Everett), CCK
Karen McEntire
Safeway #464 (Bear Creek), Night Crew
Emily Reilly
Metropolitan Market #15 (Sand Point), Deli
Barbara Rhodes
QFC #847 (Harvard Market), Deli
Don Rubidoux
Albertsons #469 (Mukilteo), Meat Cutter
Margaret Rose
Safeway #1550 (Roosevelt), Courtesy Clerk
Dave Schmitz
UFCW Local 21 President
Richard Waits
Haggen #69 (Mt. Vernon), Deli
Dian Warman-Gurnett
Safeway #1845 (Greenwood), Internet Shopper
Mike Williams
UFCW Local 81 President
Diane Zahn
UFCW Local 21 Secretary-Treasurer