At the Bargaining Table
MEMBER ACTIVISM MADE SUCCESSFUL MASTER
FOOD NEGOTIATIONS POSSIBLE
On August 8th, Grocery
Clerks and Meat Cutters
overwhelmingly ratified
a new 3-year Master
Food Agreement. This
agreement included wage
increases of $0.85 per hour
for those at the top rates
plus even greater increases
for newer workers who
are still moving through
KATHY FINN
the progression steps. This
Director of Research,
Agreement also protects
Bargaining and Education our healthcare and pension
plans by requiring Albertsons/Vons and Ralphs to pay
another $0.85 per hour into those plans for every hour
worked by every UFCW worker in Southern California.
In addition to these financial improvements, these
grocery companies agreed to give workers more notice
of the work schedule each week. Instead of posting the
schedule by noon on Friday for the following week, the
new contract requires the companies to post the schedule
by noon on Monday for the following week. This gives
workers an entire week to plan ahead rather than just 3
days.
Thousands March for a Fair Contract
This is an amazing result! After months of saying “no,”
why did these Companies eventually agree to protect
the healthcare and pension plans, to give adequate
wage increases and to provide more notice of the work
schedule? Member activism is the answer. Hundreds of
770 members asked for customer support in front of their
Issue 3
stores and attended rallies to show Albertsons/Vons and
Ralphs that they were not willing to accept anything less.
But there was also another type of activism that made this
contract possible: POLITICAL ACTIVISM! How did
political activism make this contract possible? Political
activism of union members throughout California in
“The Fight for $15” resulted in the largest increase in
the minimum wage in our history. In bargaining, we were
able to use the new minimum wage to increase the starting
rates and most of the other rates in our contract as well.
UFCW 770 Members Rally for Fight for $15
On the issue of scheduling, our political activism helped
us achieve increased notice of weekly schedules in our
contract as well. Many labor-friendly elected officials who
we helped to elect have been working for the last several
years on legislation to require all employers to give more
scheduling notice. Although this legislation has not been
signed into law yet, just the fact that such legislation was
pending made the companies more willing to move on
this issue in our negotiations.
Member activism in the stores, on the streets, and in the
political arena is the crucial element in achieving good
contracts. If you were active in any of these ways, thank
yourself for the improvements in the new contract. If you
weren’t active, imagine the even better contract we could
achieve if everyone participates next time.
Get Active!
THE VOICE
September 2016
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