We held a UFCW Locals Stop the Merger coalition press conference on the courthouse steps an hour prior to the first day of the FTC case and our concerns were aired in news coverage from coast to coast.
Read MoreWe met with the employer on Monday, August 26, for our first bargaining session.
Read MoreThe Stop the Merger Coalition led by UFCW Locals 7, 324, 400, 770, 1564 and 3000 today held a press conference immediately prior to the much-anticipated Federal Court hearings of the Federal Trade Commission’s challenge to block the proposed mega-merger of Kroger and Albertsons. Workers and leaders from California, Washington and Colorado, representing over 100,000 union grocery store members, reiterated their opposition to the anti-competitive, anti-worker and anti-community scheme.
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It was a great week of voting in Lewiston, Clarkston, Walla Walla, Moses Lake, and Ephrata and sharing our new contract that won:
Strongest journey wage increases in any past Grocery Store negotiation! We increased our Journeyperson wages by $4.00/hr or more over the term of the contract.
Won an “All Purpose Clerk” scale with historic pay raises for many departments —some will see an over 25% wage increase over the term of the contract.
More than quadrupling our wage escalators —that means strong wage increases throughout the pay scale when minimum wage goes up and when workers are moving through the apprentice rates.
Healthcare benefit improvements with NO increases to healthcare premiums or deductibles. Healthcare eligibility will now be based on all compensable hours.
Benefits Holiday for healthcare premiums – For Safeway/Albertsons the holiday months are: June, July, August, and September. For Kroger the holiday months of: May, June, July, and August.
Major improvements to our vacation banks that will ensure that we get vacation based off of hours worked.
Automatic pension funding increases that go up every time wages increase.
Dedicated money to fund training and workforce development to ensure that we get the training we need to do our jobs and prepare for the future of the industry.
Stronger safety language to address top issues we face in our stores.
This is our first union negotiations for these contracts since we became UFCW 3000 and our combined strength has helped us win record wage increases and major contract improvements. In the midst of a proposed grocery mega-merger, we’ve sent a clear message —We have power in our communities, we have a voice in our workplace, we have a strong new contract that will be the backbone for our future, and we are going to continue to fight for more!
If you have any questions about our new contract please reach out to your Union Representative.
Matthew was hired on as a meat wrapper at Safeway in March of 2023. After a few paychecks he noticed he was not being paid as promised, so he talked to his union representative.
Read MoreAfter nearly six months of bargaining with Albertson/Safeway and Kroger for a new contract that respects our work, increases our wages, and improves our retirement and healthcare, we are holding a contract votes across Washington, Idaho and NE Oregon! This notice serves to inform all members that a critical membership meeting will be held on August 20, 21 & 22, 2024. We will be conducting a vote on the fully recommended tentative agreement our bargaining team reached on April 30, 2024.
Read MoreApril Webb has worked for Macy's at the Lancôme cosmetics counter for just 1 year, but has quickly grown to become a skilled workplace leader. As a new hire during the last Macy’s contract campaign in 2023, she started by getting her coworkers to wear union buttons and to participate in the summer and fall info pickets. When Macy’s workers went on strike over Macy’s unfair labor practices in November she helped make sure her coworkers in cosmetics were ready to strike on Black Friday.
Read MoreWhen we last talked about Unfair Labor Practice Strikes it involved nurses at a hospital. Unfair Labor Practice Strikes in other industries often look very different. Michaela talks with Macy’s retail workers who went on strike in Black Friday in 2023 and again on MLK Day 2024 about the unfair labor practices and reasons that they went on strike during their contract negotiations. She also interviews community members about why they joined the Macy’s picket lines, and reviews the differences and similarities between Macy’s and her career in healthcare. Please note that this episode has parts where both English and Spanish are spoken.
Read MoreShelly Clark has worked for Safeway for almost 8 years and in that time has become a leader at the Cheney store (just Southwest of Spokane). Her fellow coworkers consider her the "Store Mom," and she happily takes that title. She keeps track of her coworker's birthdays to wish them a happy birthday, and keeps morale up with her positive energy and sense of humor. She has worked in several different positions for Safeway, including cashiering, file maintenance, night stocking, and is currently the head bookkeeper.
Read MoreThe lawsuit filed by the Colorado Attorney General led to a ruling today from a Colorado court to temporarily halt the proposed mega-merger and helps to clarify this point – the merger is by no means a done deal. That case is now scheduled to be heard starting on September 30th.
Read MoreOur union won historic wage increases for our region through months of fighting for our contract through negotiations. We deserve to get these raises in a timely manner after winning these wage increases. Our union met with Albertsons/Safeway to discuss the implementation of All Purpose Clerk raises and retro pay.
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Emily Weisenburger, PCC Issaquah; Kelly Campbell, PCC View Ridge; Chloe Jett, PCC Bellevue; Scott Norman, PCC West Seattle; Scott Shiflett, PCC Redmond; Scott Jue, PCC Central District (Alternate); Kerry Hudson, PCC Burien (Alternate)
“The LMC will be able to make recommendations to the PCC Board of Trustees on various issues including staffing, scheduling, workflow and finances. We will have a voice in ensuring that the co-op thrives for workers and customers. I’m happy and honored to serve on this new committee. Open to hearing your ideas!” -- Scott Shiflett, PCC Redmond
After winning historic language during contract negotiations for a voice in the workplace, we, the PCC workers, democratically nominated 10 candidates for our Labor Management Committee (LMC). Those nominated were presented to the PCC Governance Board and Membership Committee for final selection.
Next steps: The LMC will write out their charter. The LMC charter will be developed by its members for review and approval by the Board of Trustees. The LMC will then meet 4 times a year and report deliberations to us, the PCC workers.
On a nice sunny day in Ellensburg our Union Bargaining Team met with representatives from Kroger and put forth our initial proposals. The proposals we delivered are building on the strength of our union, from Spokane to Seattle. With the power of us workers inside the store, and our collective power as a union that helped us reach 39 TA’s (Tentative Agreements) with the employer! Although we are working through non-economic proposals at the moment, to achieve that many TA’s in a first contract is a great foundation for a strong contract.
Some of the TA’s include: Discipline language that prevents you from being disciplined without just cause. An article that protects workers from discrimination based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and more. Also we won great leave of absence language with protections on approved leave for up to 9 months. There are many more TA’s we achieved and are ready to continue bargaining to ensure we get a contract we can be proud of.
We have our next bargaining date set for July 22 and we are hoping to continue grabbing wins as we progress through the process. Please reach out to your union rep Tammerly Evans at 360-409-0586 or talk to a bargaining team member to get more information.
"This proposed merger was a bad idea from the get-go and I'm glad our Washington State Attorney General is one of many going to court to stop it,” said Brendan Gallagher a meat wrapper at a Kroger-owned QFC in Seattle and member of UFCW 3000. “It's bad for our customers and bad for us as grocery store workers because it would raise prices, close stores, and lay off workers. These companies should do just the opposite: stop the merger, lower prices, hire more staff and open more stores."
Read MoreStop the Merger Coalition of UFCW Locals to Hold Press Briefing
Read MoreUFCW 7, UFCW 324, UFCW 400, UFCW 770 and UFCW 3000
UFCW Locals issue statement in response to Kroger and Albertsons release of store divestiture list
July 9, 2024 – Today, a coalition of United Food & Commercial Workers local unions made the following statement after Kroger and Albertsons released to the public a specific list of stores the companies would plan to divest to C&S Wholesale Grocers if their proposed mega-merger of the two companies were approved:
“Today’s announcement changes nothing. The merger is not a done deal, far from it. We remain focused on stopping the proposed mega-merger for the same reasons we have stated since it was first announced over 20 months ago -- because we know it would harm workers, it would harm shoppers, it would harm suppliers and communities, and it is illegal. The merger proposal was rejected in January and February by the Attorneys General from the states of Colorado and Washington and the Federal Trade Commission. We applaud their actions. They have been in possession of this proposed divestiture list, made public today by the companies, for months and that did not change their opposition to the proposed merger. These legal challenges to the proposed merger are moving forward with hearings beginning at the end of July and scheduled to go through September.”
No matter who you are, sometimes life can be pretty rough. And sometimes the problems we’re faced with just can’t be solved while our regular day-to-day lives continue. The boss’s attitude is often, “Not my problem. You need to work your regularly scheduled shift!” Which is why union contracts generally have provisions for leaves in these situations, and why the labor movement has always pushed for laws to protect workers from unjust terminations and discipline when they need to take time off work for emergency situations.
Read MoreWe had our first meeting with the Employer on June 12, to share concerns over retention and the current economic situation and how that has affected our membership.
Read MoreThis is our first union negotiations since we became UFCW 3000 and our combined strength has helped us win a contract with record wages and major contract improvements. In the midst of a proposed grocery mega-merger, we’ve sent a clear message —We have power in our communities, we have a voice in our workplace, and we have a strong new contract that will be the backbone for our future.
Read MoreAlycia Barrow has worked in the grocery industry since she was 19 years old, and has stepped-up on and off the job to make her community a better place, “ I have a diverse set of skills, from being trained on de-escalation tactics, to knowing how to deal with someone in a mental health/addiction crisis, and who to call. I am also trained on how to use Narcan and know general community resources, having to navigate those systems for my own family.”
Read MoreWe are the Union. The members of UFCW 3000 are over 50,000 members working in grocery, retail, health care, meat packing, cannabis, & other industries across Washington state, north-east Oregon, and northern Idaho. UFCW 3000 is a chartered member of UFCW International with over 1.4 million workers in North America.
To build a powerful Union that fights for economic, political and social justice in our workplaces and in our communities.
