Northern California Locals Approve Contract with Grocery Employers
Las Vegas Local 711 Ratifies Contract with Supermarkets 

February 14, 2005

San Francisco Bay Area UFCW Local Union employees ratified a contract agreement with supermarkets Albertsons, Safeway and Ralphs (Kroger) that provides wage increases and preserves affordable health care and pension security. 

Approved by almost two-thirds of food clerks and meat-department workers, the contract also maintains no employee-paid health care premiums, no two-tier wage structure and no two-tier health care benefits.

“Our members and their families will continue to have quality affordable health care without sharing premium costs, and the program will continue to be administered jointly by the union and the employers,” said Ron Lind, president of UFCW Local 428 in the Bay Area.

The contract covers more than 20,000 workers represented by UFCW Locals 101, 373r, 428, 588, 648, 839, 870 and 1179 in northern California.  The grocery workers reached the tentative agreement with employers last month after negotiating since fall.

Las Vegas Local 711 Ratify Contract with Supermarkets

UFCW Local 711 grocery workers in Las Vegas, Nev., voted overwhelmingly to approve the contract with employers Albertsons, Smith’s (Kroger), Vons (Safeway) and Food4Less.  The contract maintains affordable health care and secures retirement benefits, while also avoiding two-tier wages for new employees.

The contract affects approximately 6,500 employees who have been negotiating with the major supermarkets since August.