Our Union Contract was initially set to expire in November of 2023, but the Employer requested that we postpone Negotiations to January 2024. We granted their requested delay since they promised retro pay during the delay for whatever wage increase is eventually agreed upon.
We had our first bargaining date on January 16, 2024, and among many other improvements, we proposed wage increases that would align more closely with what bakery employees are paid at Safeway and Fred Meyer stores. Our work is very similar to the work of grocery store bakery employees, and we deserve equal pay for equal work.
Unfortunately, Franz doesn’t agree that we deserve to be paid the same as grocery store workers and tried to argue to our Bargaining Team that we should only compare our wages to other Franz Bakery Outlets. It’s generally not a good practice to compare wages with yourself, a fair market analysis looks at wages at competitors who are in competition for workers.
Making matters worse, the employer wage proposal of $19.79/hour for clerks is actually LOWER THAN MINIMUM WAGE in both Seattle and Tukwila, not to mention lower than the $22.15/hr UFCW 3000 grocery stores bakery employees earn. When we remind the employer that their proposal is lower than minimum wage, they proudly state, "no it's not, Franz agreed to language that our wages will not be less than .15 cents above minimum wage." How insulting is it for our employer to think we find it acceptable for the wage in our contract to be less than minimum wage, but we should be grateful that they agree not to pay less than .15 cents more!
We are now bringing in a federal mediator to help the parties reach an agreement, but we will need to take action to show Franz, the employer, that we find their proposal to be unacceptable! Our Bargaining Team will reach out to the Teamsters, who drive Franz trucks, to seek their support in our fight for a fair contract. Their support could be instrumental in building leverage towards a fair contract since Franz cannot operate without their truck drivers.
What are you willing to do to win a fair contract?
Contact Union Representative Tae Abraham at 206-436-6631 to discuss how we can win a fair contract.
