Thomas Nelson has been working at Safeway in Spokane in April of this year. He comes from a family with a strong union back ground, and so he decided to become a shop steward to help his coworkers and make sure they know about their rights on the job!
Read MoreFollowing yesterday’s court rulings blocking the proposed Kroger and Albertsons mega-merger, we welcome Albertsons’ decision to terminate the merger transaction, meaning there will be no further court appeals seeking to complete the merger. We encourage the leaders of both Kroger and Albertsons to invest resources in their stores by investing in adequate staffing so customers are better served and workers can safely and effectively operate the stores and stock the shelves. These investments will result in higher sales and improved satisfaction by shoppers and employees alike.
Read More“The well-reasoned decisions today by both Courts make plain what union grocery workers have known all along – this mega-merger would be bad for workers who deserve a workplace where they can be paid well for their labor, be safe and be respected. It would be disastrous for shoppers who deserve competition that leads to better choices and lower prices…”
Read MoreWith the rising costs of living, many people are watching every penny and every paycheck, budgeting with dwindling means and having to choose what necessities to prioritize. Unions are in the fight for improving living conditions through better wages and benefits. Two UFCW 3000 grocery store members recently experienced the benefits of their union backing when they discovered issues with their pay.
Read MoreFor over a year the opposition grew. Press conferences, a US Senate hearing, meetings with state and federal regulators, hundreds of TV, newspaper and radio stories, actions by workers at their stores, and much more. Many months of investigation led to a series of lawsuits being filed in early 2024.
Read MoreAfter months of bargaining, our Bargaining Team reached a fully recommended tentative agreement with Safeway on October 21, 2024. This agreement includes increases to our health and pension contributions, notice for mandatory overtime, improved bereavement language, a 40 hour guarantee, clarification for sick leave accruals with one protected sick leave bank, and the largest wage increases we’ve ever had.
Read MoreI have been with the Silverdale Safeway since 2020 working in different departments all over the store. Recently I have stepped up and taken the role of Shop Stewart at my store, because I believe my coworkers should be informed and updated on our next Contract Negotiations in 2025.
Read MoreWe 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 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 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 More
After 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 vote! This notice serves to inform all members that a critical membership meeting will be held on May 20 and 21, 2024.
The bargaining committee will present the tentative agreement received from the Employer. Members will have the opportunity to discuss the terms and implications of the offer before voting on the fully recommended settlement.
Any member covered under the Baker City, La Grande and Enterprise Grocery contract and the Pendleton Hermiston Grocery contract who are in good standing will be able to vote at these locations:
For questions, please contact your Union Representative, bargaining committee members, and stewards for updates. If you are unable to connect with your union rep, steward or bargaining committee member you may call the MRC at 1-866-210-3000 for more information.
All members in the Baker City, La Grande and Enterprise Grocery contract and the Pendleton Hermiston Grocery contract are encouraged to be present for this important vote.
This 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.
We did this together, by standing strong and showing up for each other and our communities.
The many improvements in the ratified contract include:
Strongest journey wage increases in any Spokane Grocery Store negotiation! We increased our Journey wages by $4.00 or more.
Big retro checks for journey going back to contract expirations January 20, 2024.
Won an “All Purpose Clerk” scale with historic pay raises for many departments —for some over 25% wage increase during the course of this 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 with benefit improvements with NO increases to healthcare premiums or deductibles. Healthcare eligibility will now be based on all compensable hours.
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 the most money I thought I'd ever see coming out of Kroger. The pressure we applied across all our stores was amazing! I am feeling amazed!” -Katrina Keffer, Fred Meyer
“I am really excited for my co-workers who worked for years in the Deli, my co-workers will get wage increases that they deserve. This will help make sure we can keep people here in the store.” -Jeff Yergens, Safeway
After months of strike preparation, store actions, and long negotiation sessions, our member bargaining committee reached a fully recommended tentative agreement with Safeway/Albertsons and Kroger on a new contract. This agreement has dramatic gains for Eastern Washington, Oregon, and historic gains for unionized grocery stores in Idaho.
“This is the most money I thought I'd ever see coming out of Kroger. The pressure we applied across all our stores was amazing! I am feeling amazed!” - Katriana Keffer, Fred Meyer
The agreement includes:
Higher wages that will address pay equity across departments
Rights that will ensure a safer store
Pension improvements
Investments in workforce development and training
And more!
This tentative agreement is not final until we vote on it. Full details of the agreement will be available at the contract vote Thursday, May 2 where members of the bargaining committee will be available to help answer questions and walk us through the agreement.
Contract Votes for Spokane Albertsons Meat, Spokane Albertsons Grocery, Spokane Safeway Meat, Spokane Safeway Grocery, Spokane Fred Meyer Meat, Spokane Fred Meyer Grocery, Spokane Fred Meyer CCK: Thursday, May 2, 2024 from 9am-12pm and 3pm-7pm at the Spokane DoubleTree Hotel and Conference Center, 322 N Spokane Falls Ct, Spokane WA 99201 - All other grocery contracts will vote at a later date.
“I feel really, really good about what we are finally getting from these employers! We broke through some big barriers in this agreement. The gains to our retirement plan felt like we were finally being listened to -we can actually retire!” -Frankie Roesser Safeway
“It’s not what everybody wants, it’s not the moon but I am really excited for my coworkers who worked for year in the Deli, my coworkers will get wage increases that they deserve. Hopefully this will help make sure we can keep people here in the store.” -Jeff Yergens, Safeway
After months of bargaining, we have ratified a new 3-year contract with many amazing improvements including…
After 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 vote! This notice serves to inform all members that a critical membership meeting will be held on January 9, 10, 13.
“The well-reasoned decisions today by both Courts make plain what union grocery workers have known all along – this mega-merger would be bad for workers who deserve a workplace where they can be paid well for their labor, be safe and be respected. It would be disastrous for shoppers who deserve competition that leads to better choices and lower prices…”
After 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 vote! This notice serves to inform all members that a critical membership meeting will be held on May 2, 2024, at the Spokane Double Tree Hotel, in the conference center. We will be conducting a vote on the last offer presented by the Employer following our scheduled bargaining dates on April 29 and 30, 2024.
1. CONTRACT RATIFICATION VOTE: The bargaining committee will present the last offer received from the Employer. Members will have the opportunity to discuss the terms and implications of the offer before proceeding to a vote on whether to ratify or reject the proposed contract.
2. STRIKE AUTHORIZATION VOTE (if applicable): Should the final offer not be recommended by the bargaining committee, we will also conduct a strike authorization vote. This vote will determine whether to engage in a strike or other action in response to the Employer’s final offer.
3. VOTE TIMES & LOCATION: Any member in good standing will be able to vote at the Spokane DoubleTree Hotel and Conference Center, 322 N Spokane Falls Ct, Spokane WA 99201 from 9am-12pm or from 3pm-7pm on May 2, 2024. Carpool if you can, as parking is limited. Available parking will be at no cost, details available at registration.
For questions, please contact your Union Representative, bargaining committee members, and stewards for critical updates as things can change quickly and are time sensitive. If you are unable to connect with your union rep, steward or bargaining committee member you may call the MRC at 1-866-210-3000 for more information.
All members in the Spokane Albertsons Meat, Spokane Albertsons Grocery, Spokane Safeway Meat, Spokane Safeway Grocery, Spokane Fred Meyer Meat, Spokane Fred Meyer Grocery, Spokane Fred Meyer CCK, are encouraged to be present for this important vote. Your voice and vote are essential in guiding the direction of our bargaining strategy.
The Cheney Meat and Grocery Votes will be held at a separate time and location to be announced. The Oregon Grocery Vote will be held at a separate time and location to be announced.
UFCW 5, 7, 324, 400, 770 and 3000
“This bigger proposed divestiture simply increases the challenge C&S, a New Hampshire-based wholesaler, would have trying to operate a hodgepodge chain of retail stores. They have no experience operating retail stores in these states, would still lack the IT, customer loyalty and manufacturing capabilities needed, and would most likely end up monetizing the real estate under many of these stores,” said a coalition of UFCW locals (Locals 5, 7, 324, 400, 770, 1564 and 3000). These local UFCWs have been central in the coalition opposing the proposed merger from the get-go and represent over 100,000 Kroger and Albertsons workers across the nation from Washington DC and surrounding states, and California, Colorado, New Mexico, Washington state and Wyoming.
Please go to www.nogrocerymerger.com for more information in the coalition efforts to oppose the proposed Kroger and Albertsons merger.
Contact: Tom Geiger, 206-604-3421
After three days of bargaining with the Employers, Albertsons/Safeway and Kroger, we made good progress towards an agreement. Our union member Bargaining Committee made major progress on key issues like wage escalators that help ensure we keep our wages above minimum wage and workers get raises when the minimum wage goes up. We will continue to fight to get the Employers to propose more money for Journeypersons so that we get the big raises we deserve, especially in the first year of the contract.
New bargaining dates are set with the Employers for April 29 and 30, which we hope will be productive. After these sessions we will take the Employers’ last offer to a vote of the membership on May 2 at the Spokane Doubletree hotel. This will either be a strike authorization vote if the Employers’ offer falls short, or it will be a ratification vote if the employer meets our demands and our Bargaining Committee recommends a yes vote.
Continue to get strike ready! Become a picket captain, sign strike pledge cards, attend Contract Action Team meetings and become a steward!
This vote is for the Spokane & Cheney stores only due to expired contracts. NE Oregon to be announced. Please reach out to your Rep with any questions about the vote.
OLYMPIA, WA – This morning, Governor Inslee signed into law Senate Bill 6007, a bill intended to protect grocery store workers and communities from the negative impacts of corporate megamergers in the grocery industry. Drafted in response to the news that grocery giants Kroger (owner of Fred Meyer and QFC) and Albertsons/Safeway are threatening to merge into one huge company, ESSB 6007 saw enormous support from local Washington grocery store workers and community allies, who advocated throughout the legislative session for its passage.
“As I explained to legislators, we’ve already learned the hard way through past grocery chain mergers about the upheaval it causes for workers and shoppers when these chains merge and close or sell off neighborhood grocery stores,” said Yasmin Ashur, a UFCW 3000 member and checker at the Port Orchard Albertsons who testified in support of the bill and was on hand to see the governor sign it today. “We saw it in Port Orchard with the Albertsons/Safeway merger not that long ago. I am so proud to say I stood up with my fellow workers and helped pass legislation that will help protect our jobs.”
This new legislation puts in place basic guidelines for large grocery stores when they change hands, like in an acquisition or merger, to ensure that essential food workers’ lives and our communities’ access to food and household necessities are not thrown into chaos. It requires public notice of new ownership, a period of job protection or re-hire for eligible current employees, protection of current working conditions and collective bargaining agreements, and mandatory engagement with local government if a merger would cause the closure of a store in an existing food desert.
“The difference between unemployment caused by a pandemic and job loss caused by corporate buyouts is that the potential harm of a merger is foreseeable,” said Britt Leggett, a UFCW 3000 member and deli clerk at the Fred Meyer in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle who also testified in support of the bill and attended the bill signing today. “That’s what this legislation seeks to remediate: to help workers keep their jobs and seniority when their stores changes owners. The law also ensures that constituents will be served by grocery workers who they know well, who have the skills to do their jobs, and follow the health rules to keep food safe.”
Hundreds of grocery store workers with UFCW 3000 across the state sent messages to lawmakers encouraging the passage of SB 6007, and some traveled to Olympia to meet lawmakers in person.
“It’s a big sacrifice for everyday working people to take time out of their busy lives to try and engage with the local political process,” said Joe Mizrahi, Secretary Treasurer of UFCW 3000. “But being in a union means we can share the load, work together, and make real change that impacts entire industries.”
Our efforts to stop the proposed mega-merger of Kroger and Albertsons reached a major milestone on Monday February 26 when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and nine State Attorneys General filed a lawsuit to challenge the merger. UFCW 3000 has been a national leader in opposing the proposed merger since the day it was announced in October of 2022. Since that time, we have been actively working with a core group of other UFCW locals as well as a wide range of over 150 diverse partner organizations across the nation and developed a “No Grocery Merger” coalition.
The effort to oppose the merger is not over yet. Kroger and Albertsons have both said they will challenge the lawsuits in court, so we expect it could be many months until an outcome is known. We will keep up the fight. And for right now we will also celebrate this major win in the struggle to protect workers, shoppers, and communities from the greed and over-reach of Kroger and Albertsons.
Another example of our effort to protect workers was our recent win on February 22 when we were successful in getting the Washington State Legislature to pass SB 6007 – a new law to provide protections for grocery store workers from the harm that can result when chains merge and the consequences include layoffs and store closures.
For the thousands of members who have acted together – we are making a difference. The actions have included signing petitions, handing out leaflets to customers, raising our voices in local and national news stories, signing in support of our new WA law to protect workers, and so much more. And it shows that when workers and community come together and act as one, we can push back against some of the largest corporations in America.
Instead of spending all this time and money on a proposed merger that if allowed to proceed would lead to higher prices, closed stores, lost jobs, a reduced ability for union workers to negotiate strong contracts, and giving away billions to wealthy investors, these companies should be doing the necessary work to provide better wages and working conditions, and making stores safer.
More Detailed Information:
On Monday February 26, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) challenged the proposed mega-merger of Kroger and Albertsons siting concerns about how the merger would harm consumers and workers. Nine State Attorneys General (Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Wyoming) joined the legal action as well. These are above and beyond the two other Attorneys General lawsuits from Washington and Colorado. Your support of the “No Grocery Merger” coalition is an important part of what led to this success. The 150 organizations across the nation who joined together last year to fight this merger was a show of both the power of solidarity and a diverse array of interests.
We remain committed to continue our diligent efforts to defend workers, customers and communities from the devastating harm that would be caused if such a merger were to proceed. And we also look forward to beginning to fix the broken food systems in this nation.
FTC Complaint: Kroger's/Albertsons: Administrative Part 3 Complaint (Public) (ftc.gov)
Our press release including link to coalition partners and highlights of some of the activities over past 16 months to fight the proposed merger.
Following yesterday’s court rulings blocking the proposed Kroger and Albertsons mega-merger, we welcome Albertsons’ decision to terminate the merger transaction, meaning there will be no further court appeals seeking to complete the merger. We encourage the leaders of both Kroger and Albertsons to invest resources in their stores by investing in adequate staffing so customers are better served and workers can safely and effectively operate the stores and stock the shelves. These investments will result in higher sales and improved satisfaction by shoppers and employees alike.
“The well-reasoned decisions today by both Courts make plain what union grocery workers have known all along – this mega-merger would be bad for workers who deserve a workplace where they can be paid well for their labor, be safe and be respected. It would be disastrous for shoppers who deserve competition that leads to better choices and lower prices…”
For over a year the opposition grew. Press conferences, a US Senate hearing, meetings with state and federal regulators, hundreds of TV, newspaper and radio stories, actions by workers at their stores, and much more. Many months of investigation led to a series of lawsuits being filed in early 2024.
Hector Pradis is a shop steward at the Redondo Safeway, and knows how important it for union members to advocate for each other.
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.
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.
