Today marks one month until our contract is set to expire, and we have spent the last two days meeting with Food4Less / Foods Co. for our third round of bargaining.
With only four bargaining dates left until contract expiration, the company finally handed us their initial wage offer. This offer fails to address our concerns and deliver us the wages we deserve.
Under the company’s wage proposal:
- There would be no new wage increases for over half of us
- There would be no change to the progression steps that require us to work thousands of hours with minimal wage increases
- The disparity between hardworking Food4Less / Foods Co. members and similar workers at other union grocery stores in the area would widen
We made it very clear – we will not accept inadequate increases and maintain a system that forces many of our co-workers to work thousands of hours with only miniscule wage increases. The cost of our groceries, our gas, our rent, and our childcare has increased dramatically since our last contract, and so has our company’s profits because of our hard work. We deserve meaningful raises every year of a three-year contract, and we know our company can afford to deliver them.
We offered the company several additional proposals on scheduling and seniority that would allow us to make progress in these negotiations.
Our next bargaining session is on May 22nd, where we have asked the company to come back to the table with a reasonable three-year wage package that responds to our initial wage proposal with much needed pay increases to all of us, allowing us to move up the progression steps to get the raises we deserve.
What will it take to get the contract we deserve?
While the company has been dragging their feet in these negotiations, we’ve been building strength and power like never before. Thousands of us across all seven UFCW Locals and hundreds of Food4Less / Foods Co. stores have signed a petition telling the company that we deserve a fair contract now. Today, we delivered those 4,184 signatures to management, sending a clear message to the company that our hard work merits higher wages, equity with other union grocery stores, and better staffing.
We have the power, and the company knows it. We will be continuing to escalate our campaign, and the more we participate in actions, stay involved in bargaining, and stand together, the more power we have at the table to negotiate for the contract we deserve, including meaningful wage increases for every member in every year of this contract.
As always, do not hesitate to reach out to your Steward, Union Rep, or Bargaining Committee Member with any questions you might have.
In Solidarity,
Your UFCW Food 4 Less/Foods Co. Bargaining Committee
