UFCW 21 - A Voice for Working America

Summer is almost over and kids are getting back to school. Still the employers have not moved off their proposals that would freeze our wages, increase health plan costs with fewer benefits, and a lot more. (See below for a list of what the employers are still pushing.)

Showing Unity & Taking Action.

Acting together has been the key ingredient in successful negotiations across the nation. Where union members have stood up and taken action together, they have won fair contracts. And here in the Puget Sound is where more members have taken more action in more stores than anywhere else this year.

In the Puget Sound, 25,000 grocery store workers from three unions (UFCW 21, UFCW 81, Teamsters 38) are in negotiations with the big four chains (Safeway, Albertsons, QFC and Fred Meyer). Many of these contracts have now expired.

If the employers want a fight, we are showing them we are ready.

We are not alone.

There are now 24 community organizations signed on to our Grocery Store workers Bill of Rights— joining the more than 12,000 of you who have signed.

Community leaders stood with us in May at the Working Moms events in Bellingham, Bremerton, Bellevue, Everett, Renton, and Seattle. And they have been there time and again as we have presented the Bill of Rights to store managers. (Click here for a video of workers and community allies delivering a Chinese version of the Bill of Rights.)

The Bargaining Committee is scheduled to meet with the employers on Friday, September 3rd. Hopefully, the employers will move towards a fair contract.

As we head into our September 3rd bargaining session,
the big grocery chains are still pushing for:

Health Benefits: Proposed Cuts & Freezes

• Increase deductibles for Plan A and B.
• Require those on Plan B to stay on it for 6 years instead of 3.
• Large increases to prescription co-pays (for example, up to $60 for a 30-day supply).
• Increase maximum out-of-pocket expenses by thousands of dollars.
• Create a new “Plan C” for all new employees that would:
    - Only provide 70/30 coverage.
    - Set deductibles at $500 for individuals and $1,000 for families.
    - Make new hires wait 24 months for dental coverage.
    - Make spouses/domestic partners of new hires wait 24 months for medical benefits.
    - No HRA.

Wages & Pay Rates: Proposed Cuts & Freezes

• Freeze all pay rates in 1st and 2nd years of the contract:
    - 20¢ per hour bonuses in the first and second years for journey-rate employees only.
    - 20¢ raise in the third year for journey-rate employees only.
    - This applies to all journey rates of pay, including Schedule A, B, C, and Fred Meyer GM.
• Cut 10¢ per hour premium above minimum wage for courtesy clerks.
• Cut Sunday pay:
    - Only $1 an hour over pay rate for Schedule A.
    - Just 65¢ per hour for Schedule B/C.
    - No Sunday pay premium at all for helper clerks and courtesy clerks.
• Make new hires wait longer to become eligible for holiday pay, and cut their holiday premium to $1.
• Reduce evening pay premium to $1 per hour on Christmas Eve for new hires and eliminate New Year’s Eve premium.
• Longer wait to get a raise: They have proposed 10,400 hours to get to the top of the wage scale. If you work the average of 28 hours a week, it would take more than 7 years to reach the journey rate of pay.
• Meat Department wage freezes:
    - 20¢ bonuses for journey-rate employees only in the second and third years.

Retirement Benefits: Proposed Cuts & Freezes

• Meat pension: Cut many benefits for employees on the meat pension and eliminate early retirement options, including the rule of 85.

Scheduling and Sick Leave: Proposed Cuts & Freezes

• No improvements to the broken sick leave policy.
• Only three-days notice rights on posted schedule.
• No set day off. “Full availability” still means being able to work 24/7.

Vacation and Job Protections: Proposed Cuts & Freezes

• Longer wait for vacation time (wait an additional year to get 2 weeks of vacation, wait a total of 8 years before you get 3 weeks, and 15 years for 4 weeks).
• Cut the journey-meatcutter-on-duty language.
• Less pay for helper clerks doing checker work.
• Endanger hours for grocery checkers by expanding courtesy clerk duties and raising the percentage of hours that can be worked by helper clerks.