NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | August 24, 2018 | PAGE 17
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Bargaining under way for 18,000 Oregon grocery workers
Large-scale bargaining over a
new set of union contracts has
been under way since June 19
between United Food and Com-
mercial Workers (UFCW) Local
555 and the big grocery employ-
ers, Fred Meyer and Safeway/Al-
bertsons. The union calls them
“Unity Negotiations” — a single
set of negotiations that will set
the terms of multiple contracts
covering 18,000 workers in Ore-
gon and Southwest Washington.
On one side, the union bar-
gaining team consists of 37
members, plus officers and staff,
led by Mike Marshall, executive
director of collective bargaining.
On the other side is manage-
ment consultant Scott Klitzke
Powers of Portland-based Allied
Employers Inc., together with
representatives of the nation’s
largest and second largest gro-
cery owners: publicly traded
Kroger (which owns Fred
Meyer and QFC) and private
equity firm Cerberus Capital
Management, which owns Al-
bertsons Companies Inc. [Al-
bertsons bought Safeway in
2015 but continues to operate
Safeway — and 15 other gro-
cery subsidiaries — as separate
brands.]
Last year Albertsons paid its
CEO Robert Miller a $2 million
base salary, and Kroger paid its
CEO Rodney McMullen $11.5
million — 547 times the $21,075
its median employee was paid.
Will the two companies do right
by their store-level employees?
Whatever Kroger and Safe-
way/Albertsons agree to will also
set the standard for smaller local
chains like Roth’s Fresh Markets
in the Salem area, McKay's Mar-
kets on the Oregon coast,
Sherm’s Thunderbird in South-
ern Oregon, and Bales and
Lambs Marketplace in Portland’s
To show support for union bargain-
ing Local 555 members are wearing
buttons that say “Stronger Contract,
Stronger Community.”
west side suburbs.
Local 555 sees the unity nego-
tiations as a next step toward the
ultimate goal of a single multi-
employer master agreement.
Currently there are separate con-
tracts between each employer
and groups of workers divided
up by skill or department, with
contracts covering grocery and
meat, plus non-food retail and
central checkout at the Fred
Meyer stores. The separate con-
tracts date back to the five locals
of grocery clerks, retail clerks,
and meat cutters that merged in
1985 to become Local 555.
Since April, Local 555 has en-
couraged its members to wear a
series of orange buttons while at
work. “Stronger Contract for a
Stronger Community” says one
of the buttons. “Fair hours now”
says another.
Local 555 spokesperson Kel-
ley McAllister said Local 555 is-
n’t publicly discussing its spe-
cific proposals. But broadly
speaking, the union is pushing
for significant wage increases,
more full-time positions, more
consistent scheduling, and for
workers to have a guarantee of a
certain minimum number of
hours.
“We’re looking to improve
wages and benefits to improve
our members lives so they can
better live in communities that
are facing constantly rising
costs,” said Marshall, the union’s
chief negotiator.
Grocery store owners, mean-
while, are pushing for take-
aways, including scheduling
workers for fewer hours per day
and more days per week, elimi-
nating premium pay for work-
ing nights and Sundays, reduc-
ing sick time accruals, and
imposing a “use-it-or-lose-it”
rule on accrued vacation.
The two sides met for the third
time Aug. 6 and 7. Further nego-
tiations are planned for Septem-
ber and October.
NATIONAL
New Elizabeth Warren bill
would give workers seats on
corporate boards
In our glorious fight for civil
rights, we must guard
against being fooled by
false slogans, such as
‘right-to-work.’ It provides
no ‘rights’ and no ‘work.’ Its
purpose is to destroy labor
unions and the freedom of
collective bargaining ...
We demand this fraud be
stopped. The labor move-
ment was the principal
force that transformed
misery and despair into
hope and progress.
M ARTIN L UTHER K ING , J R .
Our labor unions are not
narrow, self-seeking groups.
They have raised wages,
shortened hours, and pro-
vided supplemental benefits.
Through collective bargaining
and grievance procedures,
they have brought justice and
democracy to the shop floor.
J OHN F. K ENNEDY
The only effective answer to
organized greed is organized
labor.
T HOMAS R. D ONAHUE
Nothing will work Unless You
Do!
M AYA A NGELOU
A new bill proposed by U.S.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-
Mass.) would require that work-
ers have representation on the
boards of America’s biggest cor-
porations. S. 3348, the Account-
able Capitalism Act, announced
Aug. 15, would require compa-
nies with more than $1 billion in
annual revenue to secure a char-
ter from an Office of United
States Corporations. Under that
charter, workers would elect 40
percent of the board of directors.
And in making decisions, the
corporate boards would be re-
quired to consider the interests
of all stakeholders — including
workers and local communities
— not just stockholders. And At
least 75 percent of directors and
shareholders would need to ap-
prove before a corporation
could make any political expen-
ditures.
“American corporations exist
only because the American peo-
ple grant them charters,” Warren
explained in an op-ed in the
Wall Street Journal. “Those
charters confer valuable privi-
leges - such as limited legal lia-
bility for their owners - that en-
able businesses to turn a profit.
What do Americans get in re-
turn? What are the obligations
of corporate citizenship in the
U.S.? … We should insist on a
new deal.”