Grocery East Employer wage proposal way off the mark!

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Our Union Member Bargaining Committee met again this week. We continue to fight for wages that respect our work, maintaining and improving our healthcare, and improvements to our pension. While we know that cost of living is skyrocketing in Spokane and across the region, the Employer representative continued to argue that wages should remain lower than other grocery store wages in the State. We have a long way to go to get the wages and benefits we deserve.

However, we did reach several important Tentative Agreements:  

  • Safeway contributions of $0.03/hour to secure our retirement funding. 

  • Improved vacation accruals. We won vacation accruals based off the average of hours worked in the previous 12 months. This will help ensure that no worker gets less vacation per week than they normally work per week.  

  • Aligned notice of technological changes in the store with other UFCW 3000 grocery store contracts.  

  • Greater scheduling notice so people can plan their lives, changing initial notice from Thursday to Tuesday 6 pm in Safeway/Albertsons.  

While we made progress on many issues like vacation, retirement funding, and scheduling, we are still far apart on the most important issue- wages. 

The employer proposal included: 

  • A 5-year contract—Longer than usual until we can bargain a new agreement. 

  • $0.50 per year for the Journey Rates of pay—Lower than what workers got in California, Colorado, Oregon, and Western Washington. 

  • Paying less in healthcare contributions and reducing our plan reserves. 

The Union Member Bargaining Committee told the employer that their opening proposal was way off the mark from what we deserve. 

Our Union Member Bargaining Comittee continued to propose common sense proposals:   

  • Create Journey wage increases of multiple dollars over the life of the contract. 

  • Institute one wage scale for all UFCW 3000 Eastern Washington, Oregon and Northern Idaho and the same journey wage rate across all grocery scales. 

  • Gain ground on Puget Sound clerk wage rates, because cost of living is high everywhere! 

  • Create raises of multiple dollars for Journey Meat Cutters over the life of the contract, a proposed dollar premium for Head Meat Cutter, and new designation of Head Butcher Block.  

  • Increase the amount to $0.25 between steps so that every step sees an increase as the minimum wage increases with cost of living. 

  • Reduce the length of our wage scales so our coworkers can reach the Journey rate sooner.  

  • Maintain our strong healthcare plan and coverage and improve benefits without increasing employee premiums.  

  • Fund our pension and increase contributions and benefits for future earned benefits.  

  • Institute resort store pay premiums for Chelan, Leavenworth, Sandpoint and CDA. 

  • Create premiums for Person-In-Charge pay.

  • Make a quicker path to Journey for Meat Cutters that complete the Meat Apprenticeship program.  

  • Ensure full back pay to date of expiration. 

 We continued to fight for non-economic proposals including: 

  • Funding for workforce training so we can get the training we need and expand the meat cutters apprenticeship around the state of Washington, Oregon and Idaho.   

  • Worker Severance and Retention language to ensure that, in the event of any merger or sale of the companies, the company must retain workers for a set period and compensate workers fairly if they are laid off or terminated.   

 Next bargaining dates: February 8, 9, 15 and 16.  

Join us and show our unity in fighting for a strong contract!

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