Feb. 5, 2010:NWLP
2/2/10
9:47 AM
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UFCW Local 555 inks
Portland grocery pacts
After 18 months of contentious bar-
gaining, grocery workers, meat cutters
and checkout clerks in the Portland
metropolitan area ratified new collec-
tive bargaining agreements Jan. 23 with
their employers — Kroger, Albertsons,
and Safeway.
The roughly 6,000 workers are
members of United Food and Commer-
cial Workers Local 555. Grocers bar-
gain jointly as Food Employers Inc. on
separate contracts representing grocery
workers, and meat cutters at all stores,
as well as central checkout clerks
(CCK) at Fred Meyer, which is owned
by Kroger.
Union officials did not release the
exact vote count, but said the grocery
contract passed on Jan. 23 by a 90 per-
cent margin, the meat cutters contract
passed by an 84 percent margin, and
CCK passed by an 85 percent margin.
Several smaller independent stores
such as Kroger-owned QFC will come
in under the terms of the new pact.
The contract is retroactive to July 26,
2008. The new expiration date is July
28, 2012.
Journey-level employees will re-
ceive a lump-sum payment of 25 cents
for every hour worked over the past 12
months, with apprentices receiving 15
cents an hour over the same time pe-
riod. Effective Feb. 1, 2010, journey-
level employees will get a pay raise of
25 cents an hour, followed the next year
by a lump-sum payment of 25 cents for
every hour worked. Journey-level em-
ployees will get another quarter an hour
on their check starting Feb. 1, 2012.
Apprentices will receive wage step
increases of up to 75 cents per hour over
the term of the contract.
Employers agreed to pick up the first
7.3 percent increase each year in health
insurance premiums. Any increases
over that amount will be paid by work-
ers.
Employees may volunteer to work
Christmas Day, but can’t be scheduled
to work.
“The entire labor community helped
us get this contract,” Steve Konopa, Lo-
cal 555 grievance director, told dele-
gates at the Jan. 25 Northwest Oregon
Labor Council meeting. “We can’t
thank you enough.”
In a separate vote held Jan. 29, gro-
cery workers and meat cutters at Safe-
way stores in Bend, Redmond and
Madras ratified new contracts. There
are approximately 200 union members
involved.
“It’s slightly different from Port-
land’s, but it follows basically the same
pattern,” said Local 555 Secretary-
Treasurer Jeff Anderson.
Portland and Central Oregon bar-
gaining teams negotiated together for
several months prior to the ratification
voting.
Talks will continue for grocery, meat
and CCK employees at Fred Meyer and
Albertsons stores in Bend, Redmond
and Madras. Because bargaining is on-
going, union officials did not release
ratification vote numbers at Safeway.
Meantime, a separate five-year con-
tract covering “non-food” retail work-
ers at Portland area Fred Meyer stores
expires in June. And non-food employ-
ees at The Dalles Fred Meyer still are
seeking a first contract. They voted
overwhelmingly to be represented by
Local 555 in November 2007.
Grocery workers at The Dalles Fred
Unions promote home fire safety at hockey game
Apprentices from Plumbers and Fitters Local 290 celebrate a 1-0 “Broom Ball” hockey game victory over members of
Fire Fighters Local 43 Jan. 9 at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum. The annual event is held between periods of a Portland
Winter Hawks game and is used to promote residential fire sprinkler safety, said Jed Scheuermann, assistant training
coordinator for Local 290. The union offers a training program for residential fire sprinkler system installation that is
endorsed by the Portland Fire Bureau and the Oregon Building Codes Division. In Broom Ball, contestants don tennis
shoes and plastic brooms and try to slap a foam ball into the net. The firefighters have held the Broom Ball Cup for the
past three years after sloshing to 0-0 ties in 2008 and 2009. This year, with just seconds remaining, apprentice David
Allen-Schublin scored the winning goal. Local 290 team members from left to right are: Jaimie Ortiz (hardhat), Marcus
Morris, Brian Decklar, Chris Flowers (white hardhat), David Allen-Schublin, Gerald Rasmussen, Jesse Pappas,
Tomahawk, and Zach Wright.
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NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
FEBRUARY 5, 2010