Southern California's grocery workers overwhelmingly voted to ratify the contract agreement with Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons last weekend. The contract was ratified by an overwhelming margin at the meetings throughout Southern California. All seven United Food and Commercial Workers Unions recommended that grocery workers ratify the contract.
The contract ratified by grocery workers last weekend is a four-year contract that will be valid through March 6, 2011.
This contract is a huge victory for grocery workers. From the beginning we set very clear goals that we wanted to eliminate the unfair two-tier wage structure. We wanted wage increases for grocery workers who haven't had a wage increase in five years. And, we wanted to improve the eligibility and benefits of the health care coverage that grocery workers receive. We met all of these goals and more.
Click here to read highlights from the new contract!
Grocery union fought for unity
By Jerry Hirsch
Los Angeles Times
July 24, 2007
A newly approved contract reverses a two-tier pay system that had divided workers and hurt morale.
The new labor agreement for Southern California grocery workers approved over the weekend contains a cautionary message for employers: Two-tier pay scales are trouble.
Although that approach may slash labor expenses, it also can divide a workforce into groups of haves and have-nots, labor experts say, and it doesn't always turn out to be the cost-saver companies expect.
Union officials said Monday that 87% of Southern California grocery workers who voted approved a new contract that tossed out a controversial two-tier pay scale that was included in the last contract.
"This is partially an admission that two-tier systems don't work," said Ken Jacobs, chairman of the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education.
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What are Grocery Workers Asking for in a Contract?
In a word, Respect.
We've worked hard to get the supermarkets back into the black, and now that they are successful -- with average profits of nearly $3 billion last year alone -- they should share the success with us.
It's only fair.
