After historic votes in Western and Eastern WA grocery contracts. We have been able to define and limit the scope of work permitted by Third-Party Franchise in the produce department.
Read MoreOn October 16, we ratified new contracts for UFCW 3000 grocery stores in Skagit, Island, and Whatcom Counties at Safeway, Haggen, Fred Meyer, and Albertsons/Safeway, and Saar’s Grocery in Oak Harbor.
Read MoreWe overwhelmingly ratified a new agreement at Fred Meyer Richland! Our combined strength with fellow grocery workers across the state established a unified expiration timeline in 2027 for tens of thousands of UFCW 3000 grocery workers bargaining at the same time.
Read MoreJust a few weeks ago, we voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. The success of that vote armed our member-led bargaining team with the power to win an agreement that fixed the low-ball, takeaway offer from Kroger and Albertsons that prompted the strike vote in the first place.
Read MoreOur union member bargaining team reached a Tentative Agreement and recommends a YES vote to accept the proposal from the employers.
“This is the ninth time I’ve sat at this table—this contract allows us to majorly build our power in the region” —Jeff Smith, Fred Meyer GM
Read MoreThis tentative agreement pioneers new staffing language, establishes first-ever staffing programs at our stores, secures strong wage increases, fully funds our healthcare plan with no benefit cuts, provides a pension we can count on, adds a major investment into our apprenticeship and training fund, and significantly boosts our bargaining power in the region and in the western U.S.
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After three days of voting across the Puget Sound area, grocery store workers at Fred Meyer, QFC, Albertsons, Safeway, Haggen and Saars voted to reject the latest contract and to authorize a strike by over 97%.
Our union’s overwhelming support for a strike should serve as a wake-up call to these corporations as we continue to fight for better wages, better staffing, and better stores. As these results show, we’re past tired of waiting.
— Kevin Flynn, Marysville Albertsons, referencing the workers impacted by strike authorization votes taking place in Colorado and Southern California this week.
Our member-led bargaining team returns to the table late next week, June 12 and 13.
• Review your budget and look for ways to save.
• Contact your steward or union rep and learn how to become a strike captain.
• Keep your eyes peeled for strike schedules and W9s to make sure you qualify for strike benefits.
As the time to reach a deal came down to the wire, the companies acted with no urgency. They made our team wait for hours between proposals, and when they did pass something back, they only moved an inch here and there. Their posture at the table spoke volumes: They don’t value our work, and they don’t think we’re ready to fight for what we deserve. We’re happy to prove them wrong.
Our bargaining team unanimously recommends a NO vote on the contract and a YES vote to authorize a strike so corporate knows they can’t push us around.
Read MoreJason Millione and Aric Martinez know a thing or two about fresh cut fruit. The two are produce clerks at the Mill Creek Fred Meyer and have 16 years of experience between them. Their store used to lead the district in Fresh Cut sales.
Read MoreDepending on how our upcoming negotiations go, our Bargaining Team may recommend a NO vote, a strike authorization vote, or a contract ratification vote.
Read MoreFrom April 28 to 30, our member-led Bargaining Team yet again sat across the table from Albertsons and Kroger. We presented data to the companies showing that they have made record profits over the last five years—and yet their CEOs keep slashing staffing to fatten their own wallets and line the pockets of their investors.
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From the first day of negotiations, our member-led bargaining team has worked to reach a fair contract that honors and respects our hard work. Today Kroger and Albertsons proposed the biggest cuts to our health plan since 2013, when we were two hours away from calling a strike. This new proposal would potentially take away coverage from thousands of members and shift more healthcare costs to us. The companies attempting to increase our cost burden are the same ones who have seen profits increase by about 100% over the past five years, four to six times greater than the profits they saw before the COVID pandemic. We will never accept proposals that strip away health coverage from thousands of members.
“We have no interest in accepting proposals that kick people off our health care plan,”
—Ballard QFC Amy Dayley Angell
But the employers’ disrespect did not end with their healthcare proposal. They advanced a wage proposal of $1, $0.50, $0.50. That’s half or less than half depending on your job classification of what we settled for three years ago! We are worth more than fifty cents, which is why our union proposed a compensation package that would reward loyalty, keep up with the cost of living, and bring us in line with the pay of competitors like Costco.
“They are proposing to give us less in wage increases than Colorado, California, Spokane, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon—they must be joking, right?”
— Princetta Woodhouse, Redondo Fred Meyer
If you factor in inflation and the increased healthcare premiums the employers are demanding, their wage proposal would likely amount to a pay cut for all of us. Pay cuts for us while the companies each pay their CEOs more than $15 million a year? No way!
We know these greedy corporate CEOs can afford to keep our high-quality health plan intact and pay us what we are worth because the companies collectively spent nearly $16 billion in stock buybacks and dividends ($6.6 billion for Albertsons, and $9.2 billion for Kroger) between 2018 and 2022. That’s money they should have used to increase staff, wages, benefits, remodel stores, purchase new equipment, and lower prices for customers.
Next bargaining dates:
April 21, 22, 28, 29 and 30.
Step up:
Join a brief workplace leaflet next week and sign a strike pledge card if you haven’t already. Contact your union steward or union rep for more information.
Speak up:
File a staffing report at nogrocerylines.org >>
Dive deeper:
Read more information about our negotiations on our website! >>
Our Union Bargaining Team: Back row (L-R): Todd Heuer, Ballard Fred Meyer; Kim Hayes, Everett Safeway; Teamsters Local 38 E-Board Member Caprii Nakihei; Jeff Smith, Fred Meyer; Bryan Gilderoy, Kent Fred Meyer; Sam Dancy, Westwood Village QFC; Debra Rix, Callow Ave Safeway; Cliff Powers, Anacortes Safeway; Dan Howes, Crown Hill Metro Market; Roger Yanez, Bella Bottega QFC. Middle row (L-R): Kyle Doherty, Stanwood Haggen; Kevin Flynn, Marysville Albertsons; Kyong Barry, S Auburn Albertsons; Princetta Woodhouse, Redondo Fred Meyer; Joseph Baltz, Anacortes Fred Meyer; Daisy Hannelore, Benson Plaza Fred Meyer; Yasmin Ashur, Port Orchard Albertsons. Front row (L-R): Amy Dayley Angell, Ballard QFC; J’Nee Delancey, Ballard Town and Country. Not pictured: UFCW 3000 President Faye Guenther; UFCW 3000 Secretary-Treasurer Joe Mizrahi; Teamsters Local 38 Union Rep Luke Vauley; Teamsters Local 38 Secretary-Treasurer Samantha Kantak; Teamsters Local 38 President Pete Lamb
On Thursday April 3, our union members grabbed bullhorns, hoisted up informational picket signs, and marched outside of Fred Meyers and QFCs across Puget Sound to fight for better wages, better staffing, and better stores.
Read MoreIn this week’s meetings with Kroger and Albertsons/Safeway, our member-led Bargaining Team heard the first staffing proposal from Kroger. Unfortunately, their proposal fell well short of what we need to ensure safe stores for workers and customers.
Read MoreOnly days after Kroger’s CEO resigned for unknown ethical reasons, our bargaining team faced Kroger bargainers who seem hell-bent on stripping away workers’ rights.
Read MoreLast week, our union and Teamsters 38 held a webinar to discuss our proposals to ensure better staffing at grocery stores across the region.
Read MoreJoin your coworkers at a monthly Contract Action Team meeting—Let’s stay organized to win a strong contract this year.
Read MoreOn February 3 & 4, our Bargaining Team met with the Employers and focused on sharing stories about the impacts of low staffing on our workplaces.
Read MoreOur Bargaining Team met January 21 and 22 to share our core concerns with the Employers. We focused on major issues like addressing under-staffing, U-SCAN usage, and store safety. We will begin to work on our wage, pension, and healthcare proposals with the goal of putting all our issues on the table in March.
Read MoreAfter months of bargaining, we have ratified a new 3-year contract with many amazing improvements including…
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.
