Your union bargaining committee met for the first time with CC Filson Management on Wednesday, April 13. Much of our time was spent going over questions we had concerning areas of the contract we want to change, especially safety in the new facility and having retirement benefits. We also made our first proposals and were encouraged that they agreed to extend recall from lay-offs from 12 months to 18 months, and they made some counter proposals that interested us on job posting and bereavement leave.

Management also had prepared economic proposals for us which included:

• New pay for leads

• A bonus for all workers if certain “target metrics” were met on an annually. (We have a lot of questions about what these “target metrics” are).

• BUT they also proposed no increases for Warehouse workers, and only minor increases to manufacturing piece-rate pay!

Their proposal raised many new questions for us, but one thing is for sure, their first economic proposal falls short of what we need, a living wage!

Filson workers need to stand together to show management that we won’t settle for anything less than a fair contract with fair wages. Join us at the new UFCW 3000 union hall at 23040 Pacific Highway South, Des Moines, WA 98198 for a Contract Action Team meeting on Friday, April 22, @ 4PM, where we will discuss plan the next actions we need to take to win a fair contract.

“Today was a good start, but we are far apart on wages, and are serious about bargaining retirement options!”

—Jared O, Bargaining Team Member