PCC Workers Ratify Industry Leading Collective Bargaining Agreement!

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Today we ratified a new 2-year Collective Bargaining Agreement! 

Our union Bargaining Team put our interests first and we won on our top priorities.  

The contract was not only ratified, workers at every PCC location overwhelmingly voted YES! Many members who were initially skeptical ended up voting yes when they saw the details of the contract.   

The new contract will make our PCC members the highest paid Grocery and Meat workers in the area, improve the safety of our stores, and maintain our healthcare benefits. We also made significant gains in increasing our voices in the operation of PCC going forward. We secured a groundbreaking agreement and process to have workers on the board and begin discussion with the company around profit sharing. Together, our collective action set a new standard for PCC workers and continues the fight of moving PCC closer to its CO-op roots. We stood together for each other and our community.    

“For the first time ever, we won wage escalators to ensure our lowest wage workers stay above the minimum wage.  We fought hard for helper clerks and won wage increases for our lowest paid deli workers. We did this by standing together and fighting together.” -Atsuko Koseki, Deli, PCC Edmonds 

“Healthcare was a top priority and we fought back PCC takeaways. We also reduced our wage scales and won a path for permanent worker representation on the PCC Board of directors. Our co-workers and customers stood with us. And we won.” -Keith Allery, Deli, PCC Green Lake Village 

“Perserverance to prosperity, I am grateful for the largest pay raise in PCC history.” -Allison Smith, Meat Cutter, PCC Issaquah 

“My coworkers and fellow union members are happy with our union contract and we won a groundbreaking contract. There were outside agitators who tried to divide us, but we stood together. Can’t wait two years from now to bargain again. We must build off every contract.” -Yasab Pfister, PIC, PCC Burien 

PCC Tentative Agreement Reached! Bargaining Committee is recommending a YES vote!

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After a Powerful Strike Vote, UFCW 3000 PCC Bargaining Team Reaches a Tentative Agreement on a New Contract and Recommends a YES vote!

Contract Vote: Tuesday, February 6.

After months of bargaining and a powerful strike authorization vote, we reached an overall tentative agreement with PCC that will once again make our workplace an industry leader in workplace standards, wages, and benefits. 

We strengthened our voice as workers over the future of the co-op for the first time ever securing permanent seats for PCC workers on the Board of Trustees, improving our Worker Caucus Language, and setting up a Labor Management Committee that is tasked with exploring profit sharing, improving the workplace and more. PCC workers know better than anyone what works in our stores. Workers' voices will make PCC successful. 

We won wage increases that will put us ahead of every other grocery store in the region, recognizing our hard work and expertise. We won wage scales that will help foster retention by allowing workers to reach top of the scale within three years of employment. We protected our high road healthcare and pension.

Key Tentative Agreements include:

  • Wages: Largest wage increases ever at PCC, making PCC workers some of the highest paid Grocery Store workers in the Puget Sound

  • Healthcare: Maintaining our high road healthcare plan and controlling cost for workers

  • Pension: Securing our pension for all workers

  • WeTrain Funding: Funding for future training programs and keeping our Meat Apprenticeship Program strong

  • Improvements to Work Schedules: Allowing workers to pick up more hours when they are available

  • Improvements to Leave of Absence, Bereavement

  • Improvements to the Workers Caucus Committee

  • Establishment of a committee to discuss gainshare and profit share for PCC workers to benefit from PCC profits and gain greater insight into PCC financials

  • Increases to the night premium, time and one half for all work after 8th day (Grocery), increasing rest between shifts from 10 hours to 12 hours

  • Orca Pass: provided for no more than $20, stronger promotion language

  • Improved Safety language

  • And more

Contract Vote: Tuesday, February 6.

You may attend any vote location during the polling times to vote on the tentative agreement. The full tentative agreement will be available to review at the voting locations. All members in good standing are eligible and encouraged to vote on the tentative agreement.

Morning Votes 8:00AM — 12:00PM

West Seattle PCC: 2749 California Ave SW. Seattle, WA 98116

Burien PCC: 15840 1st Ave. South, Burien, WA 98148

Green Lake Village PCC: 450 NE 71st St. Seattle, WA 98115

Bothell PCC: 22621 Bothell Everett Highway, Bothell, WA 98021

Fremont PCC: 600 North 34th St. Seattle, WA 98103

Bellevue PCC: 11615 NE 4th St. Bellevue, WA 98004

Ballard PCC: 1451 NW 46th St. Seattle, WA 98107

View Ridge PCC: 6514 40th Ave NE. Seattle, WA 98115

Afternoon Votes 2:00PM — 6:00PM

Columbia City PCC: 3610 South Edmunds St. Seattle, WA 98118

Central District PCC: 2230 E Union St. Seattle, WA 98122

Redmond PCC: 11435 Avondale Rd NE. Redmond, WA 98052

Edmonds PCC: 9803 Edmonds Wy. Edmonds, WA 98020

Issaquah PCC: 1810 12th Ave NW. Issaquah, WA 98027

Kirkland PCC: 430 Kirkland Wy. Kirkland, WA 98033

Greenlake PCC: 7504 Aurora Avenue N. Seattle, WA 98103   

Our Union Bargaining Committee: 
Atsuko Koseki – PCC Edmonds – Deli
Scott Shiflett – PCC Redmond – Meat
Greg Brooks – PCC Burien – Meat
Allison Smith – PCC Issaquah – Meat
Cina Ebrahimi – PCC View Ridge – Grocery
Yasab Pfister – PCC Burien – Front End
Keith Allery – GLV – Night Crew Deli
Emily Weisenburger – Issaquah – HBC
Arlo Bender-Simon – Bothell – Grocery  
Marlin Hathaway –  GLV – Grocery
Jordan Young – View Ridge – Grocery

UFCW 3000 Member Stories: Kamila Aburkis

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Kamila Aburkis

Kamila Aburkis works in the deli at the Kirkland Metropolitan Market and enjoys her work, both preparing delicious food and serving her customers, “Maintaining strong customer relationships is important to me. My goal is to be a friendly face to our customers, so they keep coming back.”

Kamila previous worked at Fred Meyer as a cake decorator, having taken a class in the trade when she previously lived in Utah. Her food experience however, goes far beyond cake decorating:

“I have extensive experience in the kitchen and have had a catering business in the past. I solely cooked for up to 500 people at times for my local mosque. I would make my family recipe of fataha, which is a fried tuna sandwich, using my family recipe. I also would make a stuffed cauliflower (with a ground beef mixture). I was also known for making another family recipe of Malahowta, which is a beef stewed with a lot of parsley. Libyan couscous, Libyan soup, and baklawa.”

“I wrote a cookbook years ago on North African cooking, which has all my family recipes. I copywrited it, but have not published it.”

Wow! Not only are we amazed, but are also hungry and are hoping that someday her cookbook will be published.

Away from work, Kamila enjoys exercising and spending time with her kids and grandkids (who of course she loves cooking for). She raised her children as a single mother after her husband passed away suddenly in 1996 and is very proud of them, “One child has a law degree and one has a medical degree.”

Recently Kamila stepped up to offer aid and solidarity to UFCW 3000 members working at area Macy’s stores who were on strike, by agreeing to appear in a commercial for the contract campaign. Unfortunately, it won’t air, because fortunately Macy’s finally settled the contract with their workers, ending the strike last week, and members just ratified the contract on Monday, January 29th. But her efforts do not go unrecognized! Because it is members like Kamila who truly are the backbone of the labor movement and an inspiration to all workers!

Kamila Burkis, her union rep Rhonda FIsher-Ive and two photographers at the Macy’s commercial shoot

Stop the Merger Telephone Town Hall Call Thursday!

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Attention all UFCW 3000 Grocery Store Members. You are invited to join our live Telephone Town Hall on Thursday, February 1 at 4pm to hear updates on our efforts to oppose the Kroger and Albertsons’ proposed merger, and a live Question and Answer session with members on this important topic. We will be joined by our union’s top officers, experts, and also our partners from Teamsters 38.

When your phone rings Thursday at 4pm, just answer and you will join the call. If for some reason you do not get a call or you get disconnected, you can also join us by dialing 1-888-652-0383 and entering meeting ID 7803 during the time of the call.

UFCW 3000 Podcast Episode 11: Our Union and Politics

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How and why does a union engage with politics? What's the "people power" we talk about in "people-powered politics"? Michaela talks with UFCW 3000 political organizer Derrick about the power of union members taking an active role in local and state elections and in politics beyond elections. Washington State legislature is now in session, and while this was recorded before the recent elections, it's also about all the work that UFCW 3000 members will now be doing to hold those elected lawmakers accountable! They discuss the potential corporate grocery mega-merger that our local is fighting against, and at the end of the episode you'll hear from longtime grocery worker and UFCW 3000 member Naomi speaking out at a press conference about that merger. Learn more about our political advocacy work, our 2024 legislative agenda, how to register to vote, and more at our website: https://ufcw3000.org/people-powered-politics Our Winter General Membership Meetings, also discussed here, are also coming up! Find your local quarterly meeting at: https://ufcw3000.org/gmmcall

UFCW 3000 union shop steward Michaela is always ready to answer fellow members’ questions about their union. She’s also a devoted murder podcast listener. Put those interests together, and she decided to start a union podcast to get all her coworkers’ questions and her own questions answered, and to meet as many people as possible who could share what it means to be a part of UFCW 3000. (No murder on this podcast, only solidarity!)

*The information shared on this podcast is offered by rank and file union member leaders of UFCW 3000. There may be inaccuracies or misstatements shared, as members will be speaking from the lenses of their perspectives and life experiences. While members are doing their best to share good information, we can make no claims to 100% accuracy and this podcast should not be construed as legal advice.

PCC Strike Vote Results: Strike Authorization APPROVED, Contract Offer REJECTED

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Today, PCC workers overwhelmingly voted to reject PCC’s most recent contract offer and voted to authorize a strike!

PCC has historically led the grocery store industry, but now they are making proposals that are far behind other stores—Town and Country, Saar’s, Safeway, and every other union grocery store in this region pays more than PCC.

We are sending a clear message: We will no longer allow our wages to lag behind and we are ready to strike.

PCC is the largest food co-op in the United States. When they were doing well, PCC was all too happy to spend money on fancy executive offices, or on big payouts to recruit Kroger and Starbucks management, or to install, then uninstall, then install again banks of USCAN machines, or to expand beyond their ability to operate. They spent their money in ways that did not benefit workers or improve the customer experience, over the objections of workers and our union. And now, after years of poor executive decision-making, PCC wants to balance their books on the backs of the workers.

We will not tolerate a grocery store that claims to care about the community and its members while undercutting community standards.

PCC has lost its way. And the only way for PCC to find its way again is to have workers involved in the decisions. Workers know better than anyone what works in our stores. Workers know the customers. Workers’ voices will make PCC successful.

Our message is clear: If we must strike, we will.

We are back at the bargaining table Tuesday, January 30. We must stand against the corporatization of PCC, we must stand together to keep up with industry standard wages, and we must stand up for ourselves.

Our Union Bargaining Committee: 
Atsuko Koseki – PCC Edmonds – Deli
Scott Shiflett – PCC Redmond – Meat
Greg Brooks – PCC Burien – Meat
Allison Smith – PCC Kirkland – Meat
Ebrahimi – PCC View Ridge – Grocery
Yasab Pfister – PCC Burien – Front End
Keith Allery – GLV – Night Crew Deli
Emily Weisenburger – HBC – Issaquah
Arlo Bender-Simon – Bothell – Grocery  
Marlin Hathaway – GLV – Grocery
Jordan Young – View Ridge – Grocery

Swain's General Store Negotiations Continue!

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Our Union Negotiations Team (left to right): Mike Nichols, Floor Clerk (Shoes); Robert Sommers, Receiving Clerk; Richard Drake, Receiving Clerk/Warehouse Contact; Shawn Price, Cashier/Person In Charge (not pictured)

On Tuesday January 23 and Wednesday January 24 our Union Bargaining Team met with Management to continue contract negotiations. By the end of two long days, we were able to come to tentative agreements on almost all our proposals. We exchanged multiple wage scale proposals, however, and at the end of Wednesday evening Management asked us to consider their last proposal of the day for consideration as part of a fully recommended offer. We made the decision to talk to our coworkers about it first to see how we all feel.

Contract Action Team Meeting!

We will be holding a Contract Action Team meeting at the Teamsters 589 office on Sunday, February 4 at 6:30PM to get your input! Please arrive promptly so that we can discuss this as a group. The address is 1293 S C St, Port Angeles, WA 98363.

PCC Friday Contract Vote and Strike Authorization Vote

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Friday Strike Vote: Our UFCW 3000 PCC Bargaining Team Unanimously Recommends a NO Vote on the Contract Offer and a YES Vote to Authorize a STRIKE! 

Yesterday, after having six weeks to prepare a fair proposal, PCC came to our bargaining session only willing to propose a move of 10 cents for the Grocery contract and 20 cents for the Meat contract at the top of our scales. PCC then left the session without even responding to our counter proposals. PCC has clearly decided that our wages should be lower than our region’s grocery store standards. They think we deserve less than the grocery store worker across the street.

Our Member Bargaining Team thinks our work is worth more than that. We are ready to stand up for a fair contract.

PCC has historically led the grocery store industry and now they have fallen far behind. PCC is behind Town and Country, Saar's, Safeway, and every other union grocery store in this region.

We are sending a clear message: We will no longer allow our wages to lag behind and we are ready to strike.

PCC is the largest food co-op in the United States. When they were doing well, PCC was to happy to spend money on fancy executive offices, or big payouts to recruit Kroger and Starbucks management, or to expand beyond PCC's ability to operate, or to install, then uninstall, then install again U-SCAN machines. PCC has spent money in ways that did not benefit workers or improve the customer experience, over the objections of workers and our union. Now, after years of poor executive decision-making, PCC wants to balance their books on the backs of workers.

We will not tolerate a grocery store that claims to care about the community and its members while undercutting community standards.

PCC Management has lost its way. And the only way for them to find their way again is to have workers involved in their decisions. Workers know better than anyone what works in our stores. Workers know our customers. Workers' voices will make PCC successful.

If we must strike, it will be a strike to protect PCC from itself.

Contract Votes and Strike Authorization Meetings: Friday, January 26

Tomorrow, Friday, January 26, we will be holding Strike Authorization votes at all 15 PCC store locations. All members in good standing are eligible to vote. Copies of the PCC contract offer highlight sheet will be available for review at each vote location. Our Union Bargaining Team is recommending a NO vote to reject PCC's latest contract proposal and YES vote to authorize a strike.

Morning Votes 8:00AM — 12:00PM

West Seattle PCC: 2749 California Ave SW. Seattle, WA 98116  

Burien PCC: 15840 1st Ave. South, Burien, WA 98148  

Green Lake Village PCC: 450 NE 71st St. Seattle, WA 98115  

Bothell PCC: 22621 Bothell Everett Highway, Bothell, WA 98021  

Fremont PCC: 600 North 34th St. Seattle, WA 98103  

Bellevue PCC: 11615 NE 4th St. Bellevue, WA 98004  

Ballard PCC: 1451 NW 46th St. Seattle, WA 98107  

View Ridge PCC: 6514 40th Ave NE. Seattle, WA 98115  

Afternoon Votes 2:00PM — 6:00PM  

Columbia City PCC: 3610 South Edmunds St. Seattle, WA 98118  

Central District PCC: 2230 E Union St. Seattle, WA 98122  

Redmond PCC: 11435 Avondale Rd NE. Redmond, WA 98052  

Edmonds PCC: 9803 Edmonds Wy. Edmonds, WA 98020  

Issaquah PCC: 1810 12th Ave NW. Issaquah, WA 98027  

Kirkland PCC: 430 Kirkland Wy. Kirkland, WA 98033  

Greenlake PCC: 7504 Aurora Avenue N. Seattle, WA 98103  

Resources

Strike Frequently Asked Questions document >>
Make sure you have filled-out and submitted a W9 form for union strike benefits during a strike >>

Our Union Bargaining Comittee: 
Atsuko Koseki – PCC Edmonds – Deli
Scott Shiflett – PCC Redmond – Meat
Greg Brooks – PCC Burien – Meat
Allison Smith – PCC Kirkland – Meat
Ebrahimi – PCC View Ridge – Grocery
Yasab Pfister – PCC Burien – Front End
Keith Allery – GLV – Night Crew Deli
Emily Weisenburger – HBC – Issaquah
Arlo Bender-Simon – Bothell – Grocery  
Marlin Hathaway –  GLV – Grocery
Jordan Young – View Ridge – Grocery

National Press Conference on Opposition to Kroger and Albertsons’ Proposed Mega-Merger

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For Immediate Release – Wednesday January 24th, 2024

PRESS ADVISORY for Friday, January 26th, 2024 (9AM PST, 12 noon EST)

Virtual Press Conference. Register HERE in advance

Grocery Store Workers and their UFCW Local Unions Hold National Press Conference on Ongoing Efforts to Oppose Kroger and Albertsons’ Proposed Mega-Merger

What: A national press conference to update media and expose many of the troubling details underlying the proposed merger as well as debunking the claims being made by the companies about themselves, the reasons for the proposed merger in the 1st place, the troubling picture of C&S as the proposed divestiture company, and more. Short informational session will be followed by a Q and A session for the media.

Who: 

  • Faye Guenther, President, UFCW 3000 (WA)

  • Tom Olson, Grocery store worker and UFCW 7 member (CO)

  • John Marshall, CFA, Capital Strategies Director, UFCW 324 (CA) and UFCW 3000 (WA)

Upon request, post event interviews can be arranged for media with local grocery store workers in Washington State. And interviews with grocery store members at UFCW locals in CA, WA, CO and the Washington DC/surrounding states areas can also be arranged.

When: Friday January 26, 2024: 9 AM PST, 12 Noon EST

Where: Pre-register here in advance of the press conference HERE >>

Contact: Tom Geiger, UFCW 3000, 206-604-3421

Grocery East Join the next Contract Action Meeting

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Join us for a Contract Action Team (CAT) meeting to review our action plan to win a fair contract! At these meetings, we will have an in depth discussions about our next steps to win better wages and the contract we all deserve.

Pendleton/Hermiston: February 1, 2024 5pm – 6Pm

Pendleton Convention Center 1601 Westgate, Pendleton Ore 97801

Spokane: February 7, 2024 10am – 11am or 5:30PM – 6:30PM

UFCW 3000 office, 2805 N. Market St. Spokane, WA 99207

Yakima: February 7, 2024 5:30pm – 6:30pm

UFCW 3000 office, 507 S 3rd St Yakima, WA 98901

Wenatchee: February 8, 2024 5:30pm – 6:30pm

UFCW 3000 office, 330 King St, Suite 4. Wenatchee, WA 98801

Tri cities: February 8, 2024 5:30pm – 6pm & February 28, 2024 5:30pm – 6:30pm

UFCW 3000 office, 2505 Duportail St, Suite D. Richland, WA 99352

Update on Our Efforts to Protect Workers and Customers from the Proposed Kroger-Albertsons Merger/C&S Divestiture

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We wanted to provide you with an update on our efforts to oppose the proposed merger between The Kroger Company (parent company of Fred Meyer and QFC) and Albertsons Companies, Inc. (parent company of Safeway, Albertsons and Haggen stores) and their proposed divestiture of stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers.

  1. On Monday, January 15, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit in King County, Washington court to block the proposed merger. Our UFCW 3000 endorsement of this legal action and a quote from UFCW 3000 grocery store member Yasmin Ashur who works at the Port Orchard Albertsons was part of the news coverage in the Seattle Times news article linked above and other news stories nationwide.

  2. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is continuing its review of the proposed merger, and we continue to work closely with them. Many analysts feel it is more than likely that the FTC will challenge the merger. Our local union, in coalition with other local unions from across the United States, has provided extensive information about the proposed merger to the FTC. We remain hopeful that the FTC will also challenge the proposed merger. Both the courts and the FTC have the power to potentially block the merger from being completed.

  3. Recently, Kroger and Albertsons have announced a delay to the merger timeline, until potentially as late as August. No doubt this delay is in response to both news of the lawsuit and the pressure campaign mounted by a broad swath of consumer groups, unions, farmers, ranchers, and others committed to preventing the harmful effects of this merger.

JOIN US!

All our grocery store members are invited to join us for a webinar on Tuesday, January 23. Please go to the link below to register for your preferred webinar:

MORNING MEETING:

Tuesday 1/23/24

8 AM

EVENING MEETING:

Tuesday 1/23/24

5 PM

Additional information:

  • This is far from a done deal: Kroger and Albertsons cannot sell stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers unless and until a merger were approved by regulators, and now, because of the Washington State lawsuit, the courts.

  • Contrary to comments made by these companies, this proposed merger is not at all necessary. Nor does their announced divestiture plan remedy our concerns. Both Kroger and Albertsons are doing well financially and making strong profits.

  • The proposed merger is really about greed. These two companies have already profited so much from the labor of grocery store workers all while often under-staffing stores and over-charging customers. Instead of investing in improved working conditions and reduced prices, they have prioritized high CEO pay, large dividends, including an Albertsons $4 Billion give away in early 2023, and massive stock buy backs.

Keeping up the Effort to Protect Workers and Customers

Our efforts over the past year and a half, from actions at the store level, to meeting with regulators, to helping to educate the public and generate hundreds of TV, radio and newspaper stories across the nation, have and continue to have an impact. We can’t let up now. The proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger would no doubt be disastrous for consumers in the form of higher prices, for workers in the form of lost jobs, lower wages, and crippling losses to pension and health benefit plans, for farmers and ranchers who will lose a major buyer of their products,  and for thousands of Americans who would find themselves living in food and drug-store deserts without adequate access to everyday necessities. If you haven’t done so already, please tell the FTC and you can also write to Washington’s Attorney General to thank him for his recent lawsuit and let him know why you oppose the proposed merger.

PCC Contract Votes are Coming!

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We will be bargaining with the Employer on January 23 and 24...

If we do not reach a Tentative Agreement:

For a successor contract we will hold strike vote meetings on Friday, January 26 for all PCC workers in good standing. Members will be able to review the most recent offer from Management, ask the union member Bargaining Committee questions, and vote on whether to accept or reject the offer and vote to authorize a strike at PCC.

Tentative Votes for Friday, January 26:

8:00am — 12:00pm

West Seattle PCC: 2749 California Ave SW. Seattle, WA 98116

Burien PCC: 15840 1st Ave. South, Burien, WA 98148

Green Lake Village PCC: 450 NE 71st St. Seattle, WA 98115

Bothell PCC: 22621 Bothell Everett Highway, Bothell, WA 98021

Fremont PCC: 600 North 34th St. Seattle, WA 98103

Bellevue PCC: 11615 NE 4th St. Bellevue, WA 98004

Ballard PCC: 1451 NW 46th St. Seattle, WA 98107

View Ridge PCC: 6514 40th Ave NE. Seattle, WA 98115

2:00pm — 6:00pm

Columbia City PCC: 3610 South Edmunds St. Seattle, WA 98118

Central District PCC: 2230 E Union St. Seattle, WA 98122

Redmond PCC: 11435 Avondale Rd NE. Redmond, WA 98052

Edmonds PCC: 9803 Edmonds Wy. Edmonds, WA 98020

Issaquah PCC: 1810 12th Ave NW. Issaquah, WA 98027

Kirkland PCC: 430 Kirkland Wy. Kirkland, WA 98033

Greenlake PCC: 7504 Aurora Avenue N. Seattle, WA 98103

If we reach a Tentative Agreement:

If we reach a tentative agreement with PCC during bargaining on Tuesday 23 & 24 we will cancel the Strike Authorization Vote meetings on January 26 and reschedule the vote for a later date to give members time to review the contract offer and union Bargaining Committee recommendation.

Reach out to a Union Rep, Shop Steward, or Bargaining Team member with any questions.

WA Attorney General files lawsuit to block Kroger-Albertsons mega merger

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We have been clear and strong in our opposition to the proposed Kroger and Albertsons merger from day one. Attorney General Ferguson has been a leader in the effort to protect workers and consumers and he led the effort last year to try to stop Albertsons' $4 billion payout to wealthy shareholders. That was important. The announcement today of his lawsuit to stop the merger itself is welcome news.

 “As a grocery store worker and leader in our union, I feel very supported to have Attorney General Ferguson taking action to protect us from this bad merger proposal. Workers, shoppers and our communities need to prevent this proposed mega-merger from taking place,” - Yasmin Ashur, UFCW 3000 grocery store worker from the Albertsons in Port Orchard, WA.

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!

More information:

Our PCC Bargain Continues

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We are preparing for a ULP strike if we are unable to reach a tentative agreement during our next bargaining session on January 23 and 24.

RSVP as soon as you can!

Next Bargaining dates are January 23 and 24 at the Federal Mediation and Consolatory Service office located at 2001 6th Ave #2500, Seattle, WA 98121. If you plan to attend bargaining, you must RSVP by January 15 to ensure you are on the list and can attend as an observer. You will need to RSVP with your name as it appears on your government ID and supply a valid email address. Upon arrival, you must present a government ID to check into the building. Bargaining begins at 9:00 AM.

>> Observe our next bargaining session with PCC!

Grocery East Bargaining Update

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Our union member Bargaining Committee had our second bargaining session with the Employers to fight for a safer workplace, maintain and strengthen our benefits, and improve wages.

Over the two days of bargaining, we came to several Tentative Agreements:

  • Greater Workplace Safety. We secured an agreement for a Master Safety Committee, which will allow us to raise safety issues that are not being addressed at the store level, up to the corporate Management level. We also established yearly walk-through trainings for emergency situations, including natural disasters and active shooter situations.

  • Increases to Leaves of Absences for personal illness/pregnancy from 6 months to 9 months.

  • The ability to keep our information updated so that we can get critical information about our wages, benefits and working conditions.

We continued to trade proposals over important contract language items, including:

  • Funding for Workforce Training, so we can get the training we need and expand the Meat Cutters Apprenticeship Program around the state of Washington.

  • Worker Severance and Retention language to ensure that, in the event of any merger or sale of the companies, the Employer must retain workers for a set period and compensate workers fairly if there are lay offs or terminations.

  • Allowing workers to accept tips from customers.

We also proposed the following IMPROVEMENTS to our contract:

  • Improve vacation accruals and lower qualifying threshold for vacation. We proposed vacation accruals be 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. Additionally, we proposed to lower the threshold to qualify for vacation from 1000 hours to 800 hours worked in a year.

  • Increased scheduling notice so we can better plan our lives.

  • Add Presidents Day as an additional holiday.

  • Align past experience credit among all contracts so workers can claim more hours upon hire.

We proposed the following UPDATES to our contract:

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

Finally, we made a comprehensive economic proposal that would:

  • 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 the 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 between steps from $0.10 above minimum wage and $0.05 between steps to $0.25 and above the minimum wage and 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.

  • Award $800 longevity bonuses for workers with more than 10 years of service.

  • Create premiums for short staffing & 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.

Next bargaining dates: January 10, 11 and 12

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

UFCW 3000 Member Story: Allison Smith

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Allison Smith at the Issaquah PCC during the recent contract vote meetings. It’s pretty clear where she stands on the offer that was voted down.

Allison Smith has worked for PCC as a meat cutter since 2013, and is currently home-stored at the Issaquah store, which has been great for her as it is close to home.

During Allison’s time at PCC, she has stepped up to become a leader, including currently serving on the bargaining team for the new PCC contract. She knows that to win a fair contract, bargaining team members not only have to represent coworkers in negotiation sessions with management but also have to be organizing on the shop floor. Allison not only keeps her Issaquah meat and grocery coworkers informed and ready to take action, she also reaches out to other meat departments in the area to make sure that PCC management knows it isn’t just the bargaining committee at the table, it is all PCC workers collectively fighting together!

Petitions, fliering customers outside the store, and info picket lines aren’t done by activists. It is the rank-and-file union members standing together in solidarity that advance a contract campaign. Recently PCC members voted to reject their employer’s latest contract offer, and held info pickets just ahead of the Holidays. There will be more actions to come unless PCC offers a fair union contract to its workers, and it will be shop stewards like Allison leading the way.

Organizing to fight for better working conditions, wages, and safety is as much of a full-time job as the job that our employers hired us for. Allison’s coworkers are lucky to have such a dedicated activist representing them at the PCC bargaining table!

PCC Preparing to be Strike Ready

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PCC workers are preparing for a possible strike if we are unable to reach a tentative agreement during our next bargaining session on January 23 and 24. If we do not reach an agreement that is recommended by our Bargaining Committee on January 23 and 24, then we plan to hold a strike authorization vote on January 26. At this vote workers will be able to review PCC’s most recent offer, vote to accept or reject the offer, as well as vote on whether to authorize a strike or not.

As part of our preparation for a possible strike PCC workers met last Thursday at 6pm virtually, including members of our bargaining team, to discuss how we can best prepare for a possible strike. We discussed what a strike could be like, the importance of having Strike Picket Captain trainings at our next round of Contract Action Team (CAT) meetings, strike benefits and more. Our Bargaining Committee plans to hold regular Thursday virtual open meetings at 6pm going forward. Feel free to drop by and ask any questions or share any ideas you have about the bargain, the contract and strike authorization votes and more.

Next Steps:

Preparándonos para la Huelga 

Los trabajadores de PCC estamos preparándonos para una huelga posible si no podemos lograr un acuerdo tentativo durante la próxima sesión de negociaciones del 23 y 24 de enero. Si no logramos el acuerdo recomendado por el comité de negociaciones, tenemos planeado una votación de autorización de huelga el día 26 de enero en donde los trabajadores podrán revisar la oferta más reciente de PCC, votar por aceptar o rechazar la oferta, y además votar por hacer huelga o no. Como parte de la preparación para la posible huelga, los trabajadores de PCC, incluidos los miembros de nuestro comité de negociaciones, nos reunimos virtualmente el jueves pasado a las 6pm para hablar de la mejor manera de prepararnos para la posible huelga. Hablamos de cómo podría ser la huelga, de la importancia de realizar capacitaciones de Capitanes de Piquete de Huelga durante la próxima ronda de reuniones del Equipo de Acción por el Contrato (CAT por sus siglas en inglés), de las prestaciones en caso de huelga, y de otros temas más. Nuestro comité de negociaciones tiene planeado realizar de aquí en adelante reuniones abiertas por medio virtual todos los jueves a las 6pm. Se les invita asistir a las reuniones y hacer cualquier pregunta o compartir cualquier idea que tengan acerca de las negociaciones, el contrato, el voto de autorización de huelga y más. 

Los Próximos Pasos:  

Asista a nuestra próxima reunión de Preguntas y Respuestas (Q&A) este jueves, 4 de enero a las 6pm

La próxima semana, del 8 al 12 de enero se le invita asistir a las reuniones del Equipo de Acción por el Contrato (CAT) donde vamos a repasar la capacitación de Capitanes de Piquete de Huelga. Este taller ayudará a los trabajadores de PCC a estar mejor preparados para la huelga y permitirá tiempo para repasar todas las preguntas que puedan tener. 

Las próximas fechas de Negociación son el 23 y 24 de enero en la oficina del Servicio Federal de Mediación y Conciliación ubicada en el 2001 6th Ave #2500, Seattle, WA 98121. Si piensa asistir a estas negociaciones tiene que confirmar su asistencia para el 15 de enero en el. Para garantizar que esté en la lista y que pueda asistir como observador tiene que confirmar su asistencia (RSVP) con el nombre que aparece en su credencial de identificación emitida por el gobierno y tiene que incluir una dirección válida de correo electrónico. Cuando llega debe presentar su Identificación emitida por el gobierno para registrar su entrada al edificio. 

PCC January Contract Action Team Meetings

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Tuesday, January 9, 6:00pm – 7:00pm @ Kingsgate Library 12315 NE 143rd St, Kirkland, WA 98034

Tuesday, January 9, 4:00pm – 5:00pm @ Bellevue Library 1111 110th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98004

Wednesday, January 10, 2:00pm – 3:00pm @ Seattle Library: Columbia City Branch 4721 Rainier Ave S, Seattle, WA 98118

Thursday, January 11, 9:00am – 10:00am @ Lynnwood Library 19200 44th Ave W, Lynnwood, WA 98036

Thursday, January 11, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM @ Seattle Library: University Branch 5009 Roosevelt Way NE Seattle, WA 98105

Join Zoom Meeting >> Meeting ID: 871 1956 3836 Passcode: 095974

This is a recurring meeting at the same times as the in person meetings listed.

UFCW 3000 Member Stories: Sheila Sloan-Evans

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SHeila SLoan-Evans in the deli

Here is Sheila Sloan-Evans’s story in her own words:

Prior to the pandemic, I was a job coach with Northwest Center in a high school transition program. I so enjoyed training a client in his new grocery job that I realized grocery might be a fit for me too! I have been a PCC member for many years, but during COVID, the Redmond PCC was my go-to store, always a safe and welcoming place with quality products.

I began work at PCC on October 4th, 2022. I take customer service and food safety seriously but also have fun in the process. I enjoy helping people in both French and English--and attempting to learn Spanish from my coworkers!

In late May of this year, Sheila became injured off the job and had to apply for a leave of absence. It was here that her story took a troubling turn:

I provided Redmond PCC and HR a return-to-work letter for July 7th, 2023; Redmond staff and managers were very supportive. PCC human resources called me en route to surgery to terminate me as ineligible for the 6 weeks off and inform me that my insurance coverage would end the next day as well. It was devasting.

Sheila reached out to her rep and the Member Resource Center, who filed a grievance for her termination. After some meetings with PCC, they agreed to restore her employment and bring her back to work!

I truly love this job. I say that every day and am genuinely surprised by that, as it is an unexpected joy to work with these great people in grocery who have so much to teach me. The support of the union was essential. Having strong union advocates really helped me focus on healing and getting back to work. Thank you!!