We are hopeful that the outcome from this federal case will stop the proposed merger, and we will continue to watch and comment on the state cases in Washington, which began yesterday in Seattle, and Colorado, scheduled to begin on September 30 in Denver.
Read MoreSam Dancy has been a union steward and workplace leader for nearly 30 years. Sam has served on the executive board of what was then UFCW Local 21 and, after the merger with Local 1439, he continues to serve on the executive board as a vice president of UFCW 3000. “I try to be a good steward and representative for my coworkers, union, and community,” is how Sam sees his work as a trade union activist.
Read MoreWe wanted to provide you with an update on our efforts to oppose the proposed merger between The Kroger Company (parent company of Fred Meyer and QFC) and Albertsons Companies, Inc. (parent company of Safeway, Albertsons and Haggen stores) and their proposed divestiture of stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers.
On Monday, January 15, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit in King County, Washington court to block the proposed merger. Our UFCW 3000 endorsement of this legal action and a quote from UFCW 3000 grocery store member Yasmin Ashur who works at the Port Orchard Albertsons was part of the news coverage in the Seattle Times news article linked above and other news stories nationwide.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is continuing its review of the proposed merger, and we continue to work closely with them. Many analysts feel it is more than likely that the FTC will challenge the merger. Our local union, in coalition with other local unions from across the United States, has provided extensive information about the proposed merger to the FTC. We remain hopeful that the FTC will also challenge the proposed merger. Both the courts and the FTC have the power to potentially block the merger from being completed.
Recently, Kroger and Albertsons have announced a delay to the merger timeline, until potentially as late as August. No doubt this delay is in response to both news of the lawsuit and the pressure campaign mounted by a broad swath of consumer groups, unions, farmers, ranchers, and others committed to preventing the harmful effects of this merger.
All our grocery store members are invited to join us for a webinar on Tuesday, January 23. Please go to the link below to register for your preferred webinar:
This is far from a done deal: Kroger and Albertsons cannot sell stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers unless and until a merger were approved by regulators, and now, because of the Washington State lawsuit, the courts.
Contrary to comments made by these companies, this proposed merger is not at all necessary. Nor does their announced divestiture plan remedy our concerns. Both Kroger and Albertsons are doing well financially and making strong profits.
The proposed merger is really about greed. These two companies have already profited so much from the labor of grocery store workers all while often under-staffing stores and over-charging customers. Instead of investing in improved working conditions and reduced prices, they have prioritized high CEO pay, large dividends, including an Albertsons $4 Billion give away in early 2023, and massive stock buy backs.
Our efforts over the past year and a half, from actions at the store level, to meeting with regulators, to helping to educate the public and generate hundreds of TV, radio and newspaper stories across the nation, have and continue to have an impact. We can’t let up now. The proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger would no doubt be disastrous for consumers in the form of higher prices, for workers in the form of lost jobs, lower wages, and crippling losses to pension and health benefit plans, for farmers and ranchers who will lose a major buyer of their products, and for thousands of Americans who would find themselves living in food and drug-store deserts without adequate access to everyday necessities. If you haven’t done so already, please tell the FTC and you can also write to Washington’s Attorney General to thank him for his recent lawsuit and let him know why you oppose the proposed merger.
Marc Tabisula started with QFC in 2022, as Meat Service Counter Clerk. He attended the Meat Cutter Pre-Apprenticeship Program and credits it for getting him a meat apprenticeship with QFC. The Pre-Apprenticeship Program helps interested workers find out what it means to have a career as a meat cutter and gives them the knowledge that employers are looking for when hiring apprentices…
Read MoreMeet Astrid Kryger from the North Bend QFC. Astrid has been getting more involved with her union recently after the announcement of the Kroger/Albertsons mega-merger. The impacts of that merger could cause food prices to further inflate, and cause stores to close displacing workers.
Read More
UFCW 3000 Press Release
For Immediate Release: May 3, 2023
Contact: Tom Geiger, 206-604-3421
Workers Win Case for Wearing Black Lives Matter Buttons on the Job –
Fred Meyer and QFC (both Kroger-owned stores) Must Allow Workers to Wear Their Buttons
In a clear statement of the rights of workers to wear buttons and other materials such as masks at work, as part of collective, concerted activity, the Administrative Law Judge, from the National Labor Relations Board Division of Judges in San Francisco today ruled in favor of UFCW 3000’s case for workers wearing Black Lives Matter buttons and ruled against Fred Meyer’s attempts to curtail that right.
Finding in favor of the Union’s core argument that the workers’ actions were protected under Federal labor law because racism is a workplace issue, Administrative Law Judge Mara-Louise Anzalone wrote in their decision that, “by collectively displaying the ‘Black Lives Matter’ message on their work uniforms, the employees in this case acted to advance their interest—as employees—to an affirmatively anti-racist, pro-civil rights, and pro-justice workplace.”
The judge’s ruling also struck down the Employers’ overly broad dress codes.
The ALJ’s decision essentially agreed with earlier findings in this case going back to the September of 2022 finding of Region 19 of the National Relations Labor Board (NLRB) that Fred Meyer and QFC violated federal labor law when they prohibited workers from wearing union-sponsored Black Lives Matter buttons. There was a lengthy trial before the ALJ when Kroger refused to reach a settlement agreement. The decision by the ALJ was issued today and is subject to appeal to the NLRB in Washington DC.
Sam Dancy outside of his QFC in the summer of 2020
“It feels good to win again! When we as workers speak out through these buttons and collectively say Black Lives Matter and then QFC and Fred Meyer said to take the buttons off, that was insulting and a violation of the law. We knew all along we had the right to call out social and racial injustice in the workplace and in our neighborhoods and this judge’s decision reiterates that right,” said Sam Dancy a Front End Supervisor at the Westwood Village QFC in West Seattle, WA who has worked for QFC for over 30 years.
UFCW 3000 President Faye Guenther concluded, “It is important that workers’ rights and legal standards be protected. Kroger, the owner QFC and Fred Meyer continues to be a problem and needs to do a better job of hiring and promoting workers who are Black at every level of the company and making it clear that it will not tolerate racism from customers or employees.”
Background
After Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd on May 25, 2020, many UFCW 21 members working in grocery and retail stores chose to express their opposition to racism at work and in the community by wearing face masks (otherwise worn for protection from COVID) or other items bearing the Black Lives Matter slogan.
Although Kroger issued public statements expressing sympathy with the Black Lives Matter movement, managers at Kroger-owned stores in Western Washington started ordering UFCW 21 members to remove Black Lives Matter masks in August 2020.
UFCW 21 responded to the company’s Black Lives Matter ban by collaborating with Fred Meyer and QFC workers to distribute union-sponsored Black Lives Matter buttons with the UFCW 21 logo. When managers banned the Union buttons, UFCW 21 filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board. Kroger’s ban and the Union response received widespread local and national attention. In September of 2021, Region 19 of the NLRB ruled in favor of the UFCW 3000 grocery store workers. The case was unable to reach a settlement and therefore went to trial in April of 2022 before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who today ruled in the favor of the workers and found Kroger’s Fred Meyer and QFC were in the wrong and had violated the workers’ rights. As a result of the ruling, the workers will be allowed to wear the buttons.
UFCW 3000 represents over 50,000 workers at grocery stores, retail, healthcare, and other industry jobs.
Dalton was one of many grocry members participating in the stop the merger actions across the country recently.
Dalton Adams is a shop steward at the Downtown Bellevue QFC store and is active in many parts of our union. In January of this year, he went to Olympia to talk with Washington State Legislators about the increasing safety issues he and his coworkers face around organized retail theft and strongarm robberies. The political pressure forced Kroger and other employers to come to the table and work with our union on how to best protect workers.
Safety on the job is a big issue for Dalton and other shop stewards, last fall they came together with workplace leaders from 3 states at a Safety Summit to share stories, learn, and organize to make sure that workers are safer on the job.
Dalton and other stewards are also very concerned about what would happen to their jobs and communities if the Kroger/Albertsons mega-merger was allowed to go through. He and other grocery store workers took recently action recently across the country to inform customers of the perils of this monopoly-creating merger. Dalton asked customers and send a letter to the FTC via the No Grocery Merger Website, telling them to stop this merger from moving forward.
Dalton knows when workers organize, take action, and show solidarity with each other, what we can accomplish together is greater than what we could do alone.
Coming soon to a store near you!
Grocery store workers from seven UFCW Local Unions – representing over 100,000 Kroger and Albertsons workers in eleven states and the District of Columbia – will hold actions in front of stores between April 4th – 13th to connect with customers about the impacts of the proposed megamerger. Since the companies announced the proposed merger in October, workers, unions, consumer groups and others have raised the alarm about the negative impact on workers, shoppers, and suppliers such as farmers and ranchers. In mid-March a national coalition of over 100 organizations was announced with a new website: https://www.nogrocerymerger.com/
If the $24.6 billion megamerger is approved, it will drive out competition, increase food prices, create food deserts, and put up to 100,000 union jobs at risk. The growing opposition is asking the Federal Trade Commission to block the megamerger from moving forward and prevent its negative impact on both consumer and labor markets.
All the local unions include: UFCW 3000 (WA & northern ID), UFCW 400 (MD, DC, VA, WV, OH, KY, TN), UFCW 7 (CO & WY), UFCW 770 (Southern CA), UFCW 5 (Northern CA), and UFCW 324 (Orange County CA/Southern Los Angeles County) and UFCW 367, South Puget Sound of Washington State.
4/4/2023 11:00AM
Fred Meyer Port Orchard,
1900 SE Sedgwick Rd, Port Orchard, WA
4/4/2023 11:00AM
Fred Meyer Ballard,
915 NW 45Th St, Seattle, WA
4/5/2023 10:30AM
QFC 825,
2500 SW Barton St, Seattle WA
4/5/2023 11:00AM
Safeway 3317,
3355 Bethel RD Port Orchard, WA
4/5/2023 11:00AM
Safeway 414,
4301 212th St SW, Mountlake Terrace, WA
4/5/2023 11:00AM
Safeway 464,
17246 Redmond Way, Redmond, WA
4/5/2023 12:00PM
QFC 826,
15600 NE 8th St Suite K-1 Bellevue, WA
4/5/2023 1:00 PM
Haggen 3450,
2601 E Divition St, Mount Vernon, WA
4/5/2023 1:45 PM
QFC 829,
460 E North Bend Way, North Bend, WA
4/5/2023 2:00 PM
Albertsons 471,
301 Marysville Mall, Marysville, WA
4/5/2023 2:15 PM
Haggen 3436,
757 Haggen Dr, Burlington, WA
4/5/2023 3:00 PM 18325
Fred Meyer 13,
18325 Aurora Ave. N
4/5/2023 4:00 PM
Albertsons 3412,
1128 N Miller St, Wenatchee, WA
4/5/2023 4:30 PM
Safeway 3213,
15332 Aurora Ave N Shoreline, WA
4/6/2023 12:00 PM
Albertsons 453,
4621 Sunset Blvd. NE, Renton, WA
4/6/2023 12:00 PM
Safeway 494,
152 Roosevelt Way E, Enumclaw, WA
4/6/2023 12:00 PM
Albertsons 483,
4010 A St. SE, Auburn, WA
4/6/2023 3:00 PM
Fred Meyer 172,
10201 SE 240th St., Kent, WA
4/6/2023 3:00 PM
Fred Meyer 209,
9925 State Street, Marysville, WA
4/6/2023 4:00 PM
Safeway 252,
690 Gage Blvd, Richland, WA
4/6/2023 4:00 PM
Albertsons 265,
6520 North Nevada St., Spokane, WA
4/6/2023 6:00 PM
Fred Meyer 101,
Wellsian Way, Richland, WA
4/7/2023 11:00 AM
Safeway 1524
1401 NE McWilliams Rd, Bremerton, WA
4/7/2023 11:00 AM
QFC Ballard,
5700 24th Ave NW, Seattle, WA
4/7/2023 11:00 AM
Safeway 1524,
1401 NE McWilliams Rd Bremerton WA 98311
4/6/2023 12:00 PM
QFC Holman Road,
9999 Holman Rd NW, Seattle, WA
4/7/2023 12:15 PM
Fred Meyer 171
5050 WA-303, Bremerton WA
UFCW 3000 Leadership with allies ready to testify before the federal trade commission
UFCW 3000 and our fellow UFCW locals continue to work aggressively to stop the mega-merger between Albertsons/Safeway and Kroger (parent company of Fred Meyer and QFC).
Recently, union presidents from UFCW Locals 7, 324, 400, 770, and 3000 presented compelling evidence to the Federal Trade Commission on the negative impacts of this merger and our negative experiences with past grocery mergers. Representatives from 10 states’ Attorneys General offices attended, along with UFCW 3000 member and leader Naomi Oligario, a longtime Safeway worker from Port Orchard who shared her story of how the Safeway-Albertsons merger caused her and two other family members to lose their jobs.
We will not stop fighting against this corporate greed and overreach, and bring frontline grocery store workers’ voices front and center so our lawmakers, regulators, and employers hear directly from experts who work in these stores and serve our communities every day.
“My name is Naomi Oligario. I started working at my local Safeway store, in Port Orchard, Washington in 1985. I raised my four kids with my income and benefits from this job. My kids were Safeway babies. As they have grown up, over the years, at one point or another, each have worked at a Safeway store. And my customers are like family too. It is a tight relationship that we all have. We share our triumphs and our tragedies.
In 2015, after nearly 30 years with the company, after coming in on extra shifts, doing extra work to make the store run, after working through holidays, I found out one day, without any advance notice or for-planning, that my store would be bought by Haggen, and that no one would be allowed to transfer to another store. […]
I lived through the debacle of my Safeway store closing, and the new Haggen opening, but quickly it became clear that this was not a good situation. The prices were too high. Many of my loyal customers, within three weeks or less, came to me with tears in their eyes and apologized to me. They said they’d tried but could not shop here anymore. Sales dropped through the floor. Our hours were cut, and quickly many staff were having to look for work elsewhere any where they could find employment… This impacted three income earners in my one family. But the fallout from that failed merger was huge. It was not just me and my family. Similar experiences were felt by workers at over a hundred closed stores. […]
It’s just greed. Plain and simple. A few months ago, back in November, I was in the Senate Subcommittee hearing room and saw the Kroger CEO say they would not close stores or lay off workers. Under oath he said that to a US Senator. But they’re not telling the truth. They will end up closing stores and laying off workers just like happened to me, my family and my co-workers seven years ago. And our customers will lose out again too. This merger is a bad idea and needs to be stopped.”
Naomi (L) and FAYE (R) traveled to speak directly with the ftc on the proposed merger.
“My name is Faye Guenther, President of UFCW 3000, representing 50,000 workers in Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. I represented workers in Fred Meyer in 1999, prior to its purchase by Kroger. In 2008, I represented workers in Kroger, Albertsons, Safeway, and Haggen. […]
Haggen was a 90-year-old, union, family-owned company, headquartered in Bellingham, WA. After the divestiture of 146 stores to Haggen (as a result of the Albertsons/Safeway merger), we watched this once-local company go bankrupt in a few short months. Workers were hurt in too many ways to enumerate here today. Instead of offering competition, all remaining Haggen stores now belong to Albertson.
The divested Haggen stores were in trouble fast. Something was wrong and workers started calling us immediately. At the store by my house, the banner was changed, but the only things that changed in the store were higher prices and wilted lettuce. Customers fled. Hours were cut, impacting everything from pension contributions to healthcare qualifications and leave banks.
After bankruptcy, we had to then negotiate with Albertsons, to try restore workers who re-applied to get their seniority back which impacted Sunday pay, healthcare and every other wage and benefit issue.”
Attention all UFCW 3000 Grocery Store Members at QFC, Fred Meyer, Albertsons, Safeway and Haggen
Ever since the day in mid-October when Kroger and Albertsons announced they were proposing to merge, we have been taking action to protect grocery store workers and our customers. What are all the threats of the merger and what actions have we taken already to protect jobs and community? Please watch the webinar above on the proposed Albertsons/Kroger merger to learn more about the activities our local union, in coordination with a handful of other UFCW locals, has been doing since the announcement. While much is still not known about what specifically these companies propose, it is clear that the proposed mega-merger would impact workers’ jobs, our shoppers and our communities.
For immediate release: October 26, 2022
Contact: Tom Geiger, 206-604-3421
In part of the proposed merger announced by Kroger and Albertsons less than two weeks ago, the companies buried that Albertsons is planning a $4 billion payout to shareholders. Today, six Attorneys General including CA and WA pushed back on Albertsons to protect workers and consumers by demanding the companies stop the issuance of the special dividend until regulatory review of the merger is complete.
We expect the CEOs to respond positively to the Attorneys General by the end of the day on Friday and stop the issuance of the special dividend. Any effort to rush this payment threatens thousands of jobs of essential grocery store workers and millions of shoppers who would suffer from reduced competition, reduced choice and increased costs in markets across the United States.
We applaud Attorneys General Ferguson (WA), Bonta (CA), and Racine (DC) for their leadership and action to protect workers and consumers in our state.
###
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 22, 2022
Contact: Tom Geiger, 206-604-3421
Union members and leaders available for media interviews
Seattle, WA – On the heels of the proposed merger between grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons, on Tuesday, Albertsons announced that it will pay out a $4 billion dividend to shareholders November 7, 2022. The 64,000+ hard-working members of UFCW 3000, UFCW 367 and Teamsters 38 strongly oppose this dividend payout and are calling upon elected officials and regulators to stop this payment and the resulting devaluation of the company at a time when consumers are facing crushing inflation.
“Taking billions in assets out of a company that is running well, employs hundreds of thousands of essential workers, and provides daily necessities for millions of customers is a bad idea for the workers as well as customers,” said Joe Mizrahi, Secretary Treasurer of UFCW 3000. “That $4 billion could be much-better spent to lower prices of food for consumers facing unprecedented levels of inflation, pay workers more or invest in safer stores for workers and customers. Our essential grocery store members will do everything we can to stop Albertsons from squeezing workers and customers to the bone to shower executives and shareholders with billions.”
UFCW is looking to regulators and elected officials to join us in putting public pressure on Albertsons to invest this $4 billion in workers and lower prices for families, rather than enriching executives and shareholders.
“Our stores are already underfunded,” said longtime grocery store worker Kyong Barry who works at the South Auburn Safeway/Albertsons store in Washington State and is a member of UFCW 3000. “Albertsons just wants to pay out stockholders and bosses instead of investing in workers like me or keeping our stores safer for customers. Paying $4 billion to stockholders is ridiculous when skyrocketing food prices are forcing people in our communities to go hungry. Albertsons should be lowering prices instead of padding our bosses’ pockets.”
# # #
Essential grocery store workers from UFCW in Colorado, California and now here in our State of Washington are gaining some of the respect, pay and protections we deserve. After months of preparation and workers taking action, marathon bargaining sessions have led to Tentative Agreements with Albertsons/Safeway and Kroger. Our Union Member Bargaining Team reached this Tentative Agreement and recommends a YES VOTE to accept the proposal from the employers.
These votes are open to all active members of UFCW 3000 Grocery Store Workers in King, Snohomish, Kitsap, Mason, and Thurston Counties at the big chains (Safeway, Albertsons, Fred Meyer and QFC) and independent stores covered by this Tentative Agreement.
Active members are eligible to vote at whichever location is most convenient, during any time when polling is open.
All vote meetings will be open between the hours of 8:00AM — 12 Noon and 4:00PM — 8:00PM
Lynnwood Convention Center, Rooms 1DEF, 3711 196th St SW, Lynnwood (8am–12pm & 4pm–8pm)
Hilton Seatac, Emerald Ballroom, 17620 International Blvd, SeaTac (8am–12pm & 4pm–8pm)
Meydenbauer Center, Rooms 404-406, 11100 NE 6th St, Bellevue (8am–12pm & 4pm–8pm)
Kitsap Conference Center, Puget Sound Ballrooms C&D, 100 Washington Ave, Bremerton (8am–12pm & 4pm–8pm)
The Olympia Center Room 208, 222 Columbia St NW, Olympia (8am–12pm & 4pm–8pm)
First Floor Conference Room (Joe Crump Hall), 5030 First Avenue South, Seattle (8am-12pm & 4pm-8pm)
Ames Reinhold, Metropolitan Market
Amy Dayley Angell, QFC
Aaron Streepy, Attorney
Cliff Powers, Safeway
Caprii Nakihei, Safeway
Cosmo Villini, Safeway
Eric Renner. UFCW 3000
Enrique Romero, Fred Meyer
Suzi Geffre, Fred Meyer
Faye Guenther, UFCW 3000 President
Jeff Smith, Fred Meyer
J’Nee DeLancey, Town & Country
Joanna Clapham, Fred Meyer
Joe Mizrahi, UFCW 3000 Secretary Treasurer
Kevin Flynn, Albertsons
Kyong Barry, Albertsons
Maggie Breshears, Fred Meyer
Naomi Oligario, Safeway
Roger Yanez, QFC
Sam Dancy, QFC
Sam Kantak, Teamsters 38 Secretary Treasurer
Shawn Hayenga, Metropolitan Market
Tammi Brady, Teamsters 38 President
Wil Peterson, Fred Meyer
After months of preparation and workers taking action, marathon bargaining sessions have now led to a Tentative Agreement with Kroger, in addition to the tentative agreement reached with Albertsons/Safeway last week. This historic agreement with Kroger, reached at 9:15 pm today, April 19, is a direct result of our actions and commitment to fighting for essential frontline grocery store workers and serving the communities in which we live, both during and long before COVID.
Our Union Member Bargaining Team reached these Tentative Agreements and recommends a YES VOTE to accept the proposal from the employers.
“This contract is a historic deal. No one in this region has seen wage increases like this ever and it will go a long way to address inequities in Fred Meyer stores.”
“I’m very excited about this agreement. It is the best contract in my career. Come to the vote meetings to see the details and vote!”
Essential grocery store workers from UFCW in Colorado, California and now here in our State of Washington are gaining some of the respect, pay and protections we deserve.
Active members are eligible to vote at whichever location is most convenient, during any time when polling is open. Drop by any time during the voting time, review the Tentative Agreement, get your questions answered, and then vote.
These votes are open to all active members of UFCW 3000 Grocery Store Workers in King, Snohomish, Kitsap, Mason, and Thurston Counties at the big chains (Safeway, Albertsons, Fred Meyer and QFC) and independent stores covered by this Tentative Agreement.
All vote meetings will be open between the hours of 8:00 AM - 12 Noon, and 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM.
Monday 4/25 LYNNWOOD: Lynnwood Convention Center, Rooms 1DEF, 3711 196th St SW, Lynnwood (8am–12pm & 4pm–8pm)
Tuesday 4/26 SEATAC: Hilton Seatac, Emerald Ballroom, 17620 International Blvd, SeaTac (8am–12pm & 4pm–8pm)
Wednesday 4/27 BELLEVUE: Meydenbauer Center, Rooms 404-406, 11100 NE 6th St, Bellevue (8am–12pm & 4pm–8pm)
Thursday 4/28 BREMERTON: Kitsap Conference Center, Puget Sound Ballrooms C&D, 100 Washington Ave, Bremerton (8am–12pm & 4pm–8pm)
Thursday 4/28 OLYMPIA: The Olympia Center Room 208, 222 Columbia St NW, Olympia (8am–12pm & 4pm–8pm)
NOTE: The informational pickets scheduled for Tuesday, 4/26 have been cancelled.
Ames Reinhold, Metropolitan Market
Amy Dayley Angell, QFC
Aaron Streepy, Attorney
Cliff Powers, Safeway
Caprii Nakihei, Safeway
Cosmo Villini, Safeway
Eric Renner, UFCW 3000
Enrique Romero, Fred Meyer
Suzi Geffre, Fred Meyer
Faye Guenther, UFCW 3000 President
Jeff Smith, Fred Meyer
J’Nee DeLancey, Town & Country
Joanna Clapham, Fred Meyer
Joe Mizrahi, UFCW 3000 Secretary Treasurer
Kevin Flynn, Albertsons
Kyong Barry, Albertsons
Maggie Breshears, Fred Meyer
Naomi Oligario, Safeway
Roger Yanez, QFC
Sam Dancy, QFC
Sam Kantak, Teamsters 38 Secretary Treasurer
Shawn Hayenga, Metropolitan Market
Tammi Brady, Teamsters 38 President
Wil Peterson, Fred Meyer
After months of preparation and workers taking action, marathon bargaining sessions led to a tentative agreement with Albertsons/Safeway, at 3 AM on April 14. This followed four long days of negotiations last week. Our Team will return to the bargaining table with Kroger on Tuesday, April 19. Members at our Kroger stores should continue to prepare for our Informational Pickets on 4/26 to take action on Kroger so we all gain the respect, protection, and pay we deserve. We will all stand united until we all win.
This historic agreement with Albertsons/Safeway is a direct result of our actions and commitment to fighting for essential frontline grocery store workers and serving the communities in which we live since long before COVID. Essential grocery store workers from UFCW in Colorado, California and now here in our State of Washington are gaining some of the respect, pay and protections we deserve.
This is a Tentative Agreement and is not final until you vote to accept it. We will be scheduling votes for Albertsons/Safeway members the week of April 24 through April 30. Exact dates, times and locations will follow soon.
Full details of the agreement will be provided as soon as possible. Some top line information below:
HIGHER WAGES: Exceeds the best wage increases in our union’s history, including hard money at the top of the scale and new money throughout the pay scales.
ADDRESSING PAY EQUITY ACROSS DEPARTMENTS: For years we have been working toward fundamentally changing pay scales so that underpaid departments are paid more equitably. This Tentative Agreement has significant wage increases for all perimeter departments such as Deli, Coffee, Bakery, E-Commerce, Floral, GMHBC, and Fuel, with integration onto a higher paid All Purpose Clerk scale.
“This new scale moves us one step closer to having a single pay scale for everyone in the store. An hour of work is an hour of work, regardless of what department you are in, and we deserve to be compensated equally.”
- Kyong Barry, Albertsons
“This is the biggest wage increase we have ever seen. This pay increase will help thousands of workers who are struggling to put food on the table and pay rent. I am glad Safeway acknowledged the needs of our workers and stepped up with the largest pay increase we have ever seen.”
— Naomi Oligario, Safeway
PROTECTING OUR HEALTH PLAN: For another three years there will be no increased costs for members for our quality, affordable health care. At the same time we were able to negotiate improvements to health, vision, and dental insurance.
KEEPING OUR PENSION SECURE: Our pension continues to be well-funded and secure into the future, including increases in employer contributions to our pension as our wages go up.
IMPROVING SAFETY: We won mandates for our Master Safety Committee Meetings so we have pre-scheduled meeting dates where our employer will discuss our safety concerns directly with worker representatives.
IMPROVING TRAINING: We raised the employer contribution to our joint union-employer training fund to create better pathways to training and better paying jobs. This will invest millions of dollars into our workforce development.
IMPROVING RECRUITMENT & RETENTION: With dramatic pay raises throughout the store, helping address workplace safety, keeping our quality health and pension plans, and an increased investment in training and education, this will help recruit and retain workers in our stores so we can be safely staffed.
TAKING ACTION: ENSURE KROGER WORKERS WIN A FAIR CONTRACT
PREPARE TO ATTEND THE UPCOMING INFORMATIONAL PICKETS ON APRIL 26: SIGN UP TODAY
We know our customers and communities are willing to stand with us in the fight for a fair contract, and informational pickets are an important opportunity to raise our voices, join with our communities, and show Kroger we’re not backing down. There will be morning and afternoon pickets across the region on Tuesday, April 26:
8a-12p:
Fred Meyer #122, 100 NW 85th St, Seattle, WA 98117
Fred Meyer #215, 25250 Pacific Hwy S, Kent, WA 98032
Fred Meyer #681, 2801 Bickford Ave, Snohomish, WA 98290
QFC #863, 1009 Monroe Ave, Enumclaw, WA 98022
QFC #871, 4800 NE 4th St, Renton, WA 98059
QFC #872, 9999 Holman Rd NW, Seattle, WA 98117
2p-6p:
Fred Meyer #111, 33702 21st Ave SW, Federal Way, WA 98023
Fred Meyer #28, 14300 1st Ave S, Burien, WA 98168
QFC #808, 10116 NE 8th St, Bellevue, WA 98004
Ames Reinhold, Metropolitan Market
Amy Dayley Angell, QFC
Aaron Streepy, Attorney
Cliff Powers, Safeway
Caprii Nakihei, Safeway
Cosmo Villini, Safeway
Eric Renner. UFCW 3000
Enrique Romero, Fred Meyer
Suzi Geffre, Fred Meyer
Faye Guenther, UFCW 3000 President
Jeff Smith, Fred Meyer
J’Nee DeLancey, Town & Country
Joanna Clapham, Fred Meyer
Joe Mizrahi, UFCW 3000 Secretary Treasurer
Kevin Flynn, Albertsons
Kyong Barry, Albertsons
Maggie Breshears, Fred Meyer
Naomi Oligario, Safeway
Roger Yanez, QFC
Sam Dancy, QFC
Sam Kantak, Teamsters 38 Secretary Treasurer
Shawn Hayenga, Metropolitan Market
Tammi Brady, Teamsters 38 President
Wil Peterson, Fred Meyer
When Angel decided to train to become a Meat Cutter, she was a newly single mom of two kids and was looking for an opportunity to provide for her family while doing something she genuinely felt good about. Angel says that, while it was a challenge to learn a trade like meat cutting while going through a divorce, the classes made her feel like she was part of a community. Becoming a Meat Cutter helped Angel become a leader in her workplace…
Read MoreFor Immediate Release: September 17, 2021
Contact: Tom Geiger, UFCW 21, 206-604-3421
Seattle, WA -- Region 19 of the National Labor Relations Board has informed UFCW 21 of its finding that Fred Meyer and QFC – both Kroger companies – violated federal labor law when it prohibited workers from wearing union-sponsored Black Lives Matter buttons.
Specifically, Region 19 found merit in UFCW 21’s charges that Kroger violated the law by: 1) failing to bargain with the Union over a change in workplace conditions – in this case the practice of allowing the wearing of buttons at work; and 2) prohibiting workers from taking action together – in this case, by wearing Black Lives Matter messages – to protest racism in the workplace and in society, generally.
Region 19 will now seek a settlement agreement with Kroger, which would likely require a change to company policy. If a settlement cannot be reached, Region 19 would typically issue a formal complaint and a trial would be held before an Administrative Law Judge, whose ruling would be subject to an appeal to the NLRB in Washington D.C.
“This is very uplifting. When workers were trying to speak out through these buttons and collectively say Black Lives Matter and Kroger said to take the buttons off, that was an insult. This decision is welcome news in our work to bring attention to social and racial injustice in the workplace and in our neighborhoods”, said Sam Dancy a Front End Supervisor at the Westwood Village QFC in West Seattle, WA.
Motoko Kusanagi, a Front End Checker at the University Village QFC in Seattle reacted, “We wore the pins because it seemed like the right thing to do. My coworkers showed me their pins happily, letting me know they stood in solidarity with me and my family. One of the core values of the store is inclusion, so we did not think “Black Lives Matter” was a radical statement for this business. The amount of pushback we received for such a small showing of support still sits wrong with me to this day. I’m glad we could fight back.”
UFCW 21 President Faye Guenther concluded, “In the wake of this welcome action by the NLRB, we are calling on Kroger to respect workers’ rights and take meaningful steps to address racial inequities in Kroger workplaces. Among other things, Kroger needs to do a better job of hiring and promoting African Americans at every level of the company and making it clear that it will not tolerate racism from customers or employees.”
After Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd on May 25, 2020, many UFCW 21 members working in grocery and retail stores chose to express their opposition to racism by wearing face masks (otherwise worn for protection from COVID) or other items bearing the Black Lives Matter slogan.
Although Kroger issued public statements expressing sympathy with the Black Lives Matter movement, managers at Kroger-owned stores in Western Washington started ordering UFCW 21 members to remove Black Lives Matter masks in June 2020.
UFCW 21 responded to the company’s Black Lives Matter ban by collaborating with Fred Meyer and QFC workers to distribute union-sponsored Black Lives Matter buttons with the UFCW 21 logo. When managers banned the Union buttons, UFCW 21 filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board. Kroger’s ban and the Union response received widespread local and national attention.
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UFCW 21 represents over 46,000 workers at grocery stores, retail, health care and other industry jobs.
You are invited to participate in a research survey of grocery store workers across Washington. This survey is not sponsored by any of these grocery stores, chains, or parent companies. The purpose of this survey is to provide clear and accurate information about the economic condition of grocery workers. As we approach a new contract bargaining cycle, the information this survey provides will be crucial to ensuring that members' priorities will be represented at the bargaining table. This survey will ask about the work you do, your family, your housing, and your ability to pay for basic costs.
The survey should only take 15 to 20 minutes to complete. Your answers in this survey will remain confidential.
MEDIA ADVISORY for Thursday, April 8, 2021 at 11 AM
For immediate release: April 7, 2021
CONTACT: Tom Geiger, UFCW 21, 604-3421
Seattle, WA – On Thursday, April 8th, essential frontline grocery workers, community members, and supporters in California and Washington will host a symbolic “donation collection” in front of stores set to close, to help raise funds for the top supermarket chain in the country to pay its workers temporary hazard pay and call on Kroger Co. to keep stores open.
In a theater performance style, workers and community members will ask shoppers to donate pennies in a collective piggy bank to pitch in and help pay essential workers to shame Kroger over its greedy behavior.
Kroger owns the California Ralphs and Food 4 Less stores and Washington QFC stores slated to shut down. The corporation falsely claims that these supermarkets are closing as a result of hazard pay when in reality it was a clear effort to intimidate workers, the community, and elected officials in an attempt to discourage any additional hazard pay ordinances from passing.
Thursday’s actions will symbolize the extreme disparity between the company’s windfall COVID profits and its decision to cut workers’ pay since May 2020, despite persistent elevated sales and risk to employees.
WHO: Workers, customers, and community members in Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Seattle
WHAT: Simultaneous demonstrations in LA, Long Beach & Seattle. Workers and community members impacted by the store closures will call out Kroger’s bullying and the greed that is driving their retaliatory actions closing stores that workers and communities depend on.
VISUALS: Blow-up piggy bank, jumbo pennies, and donation stand in front of the store
BACKGROUND: Local hazard pay ordinances have been passed in cities across California and in Washington, honoring workers for the sacrifice they make coming to work in a pandemic while others can work from home. In response to these temporary ordinances, Kroger Co. is the only grocery company announcing they will close stores instead of complying with the laws. Numerous requests for injunctions by the grocery industry challenging the hazard pay laws have been denied.
According to a Brookings Institution analysis, many of the United States’ top retail companies have earned record-breaking profits during the pandemic, but this increase in profit has not made its way back to workers. Grocers nationwide instead used their excess pandemic profits to buy back shares all the while threatening to close down stores and misleading the public that hazard pay would have to be passed onto consumers.
Yesterday the Bargaining Teams for UFCW 21 and Teamsters 38 met with Kroger to bargain over our working conditions and hazard pay throughout the pandemic.
We were able to agree to an extension of our original COVID LOU that included benefits like quarantine pay through the end of April. The extension includes new improvements of notification to our union of COVID cases with 24 hours and to members within 8 hours when possible, increases to mask and face shield availability, and increased training for workers assigned to work as a vaccine “observer”. Kroger committed to meeting again in late April.
We are happy to win improvements to our current agreement but are still committed to fighting for:
Reinstatement of $2 per hour Hazard Pay.
Stronger enforcement of safety measures, including enforcement of masks and store capacity limits.
Moving Clicklist and Fred Meyer Pharmacy Techs to the higher Grocery A scale.
Adding hours to the store to address increased need for sanitation and to enforce social distancing.
Extending the premium pay of an extra $1 per hour for Pharmacy workers beyond April 8.
OUR KROGER GROCERY STORE BARGAINING TEAM
Maggie Breshears, Greenwood Fred Meyer
Sam Dancy, Westwood Village QFC
Amy Dayley Angell, Ballard QFC
Irene Garcia, Auburn Fred Meyer
Christina Harris, Lake City Fred Meyer
Wil Peterson, Everett Fred Meyer
Jeff Smith, Snohomish Fred Meyer
Joanna Clapham, Benson Plaza Fred Meyer
Faye Guenther, President UFCW 21
Joe Mizrahi, Secretary Treasurer UFCW 21
Samantha Kantak, President Teamsters 38
Steven Chandler, Secretary Treasurer Teamsters 38
Tammi Bradey, Recording Secretary Teamsters 38
Jim McGuinness, Attorney
We 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.
