Negotiations over grocery workers’ contract now in fourth month
July 15th, 2010 by Rachel PritchettBy Rachel Pritchett
Contract negotiations representing 25,000 grocery-store workers
throughout Puget Sound including 1,400 workers in Kitsap County are
now in their fourth month, with progress reported over
pensions.
“The employers are actually moving on this pension,” said United
Food and Commercial Workers Local 21 spokesman Tom Geiger. The
union wants the employer to contribute more into the pensions to
make up for losses in the recession.
“There ‘s been a tremendous amount of energy focused around the
pension and working to come to some resolution on that,” he
said.
Grocery workers in many stores are affected by the contract
negotiations, including those in Fred Meyer, Albertsons and
Safeway. Store owners are represented by Allied Employers.
A three-year contract expired in early May and workers have been
under extensions since then.
Other areas remaining to be settled include wages. Allied Employers
representing the grocery stores wishes to freeze them, according to
Geiger. The union wants its workers to be able to reach upper
salary levels faster.
A third of the workers earn $10 an hour or less, he said.
A final area of contention between negotiators is heath-care
coverage. The union is asking Allied to contribute more into
employees’ plans.
Negotiators have been meeting frequently and will meet again on
Monday and Tuesday.
“I think there’s a feeling amongst the membership that we want to
get on with it,” Geiger said.
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
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