Contract Negotiations
I'm just wondering if there is anybody out there in the grocery industry (Safeway, Save on, Super Value) whose locals (UFCW) are in the midst of contract negotiations or whose contract may be up in next year or if they have managed to recently settle a contract .
I know Thunder Bay & Kenora Ontario are on strike and that Manitoba will be going to arbitration; I thought I heard that the Northern California Safeway's contract was up, but I have not heard of any settlements or work disruptions.
So if any visitors from Canadian or American locals have any information on the state of their union contracts, it would be great to get the low down and compare company/union demands or examine the concerns members have on upcoming expiration of contracts such as job security, wages, benefits.
Hey Boxcutter!
I thought maybe some info from the Loman's Warehouse and the guys that are waiting to hear about their future (or lack there of) would be good.
The Loman's contract is up September 20th. 2002. 10 years after the OFG group (apparently) sold the warehouse. Questions still stand about who really owns Loman's. (After the sale nothing changed but the name.)
Some northern B.C stores and Alberta stores are serviced from the Calgary warehouse. There has been some controversy/struggle over which warehouse should service the northern stores but the machine apparently lost that one. It seems because the warehouse servicing the nothern B.C. stores is out of province, UFCW lost jurisdiction rights.
The guys at the warehouse were offered a "pathetic contract" about 2 yrs ago from the company. It basically was an offer to
move to the EVG warehouse with massive wage cuts or lose your job. They voted it down.
Since then, with the impending doom ( the plan to simply shut the warehouse down)the machine has put together some legelese and legal ehs? in an effort to stop the company's
from just shutting down in 2002 and leaving the guys who built the company on the street..
The case of *Common Employer* has been presented to the OGF group and the wait is on for its' reply.
The fulltime positions at Loman's are about 150, with lots of 20-25 yr guys. Loman's are apparently hiring $10.00 guys by the truckload 'til E.V.G is up and running full. E.V.G is stacked and ready to go but is not yet operating at full capacity. It is staffed by $10.00 guys with supervisors who,
according to source, "don't quite do anything. The *pickers* know which job is theirs and come in and do it."
A quote from one source "the EVG warehouse reminds me of child labour, it's the same thing."
[ 12-13-2001: Message edited by: siggy ]
Gee, Ivan Limpright sure switched employers in the nick of time, now didn't he?
It seems the UFCW doesn't understand the importance of "no contracting out" clauses in industrial operations.
Hey, I know, maybe Brooke can leaflet the warehouse. Maybe he can leaflet the frigging world. Bah, that's about all the Union is good for is leafleting.
The union thinks that inovative labour activism is buying a colour photocopier. "Hey man; nice leaflet! did you do it yourself?"
The Canadian gorfs think leafleting is the bee's knees because they fought all the way to the Supreme Court to get a decsision that leafleting isn't the same as picketing.
Why did they want to leaflet? They wanted to leaflet because their American pals use leafleting somewhat effectively under US labour laws.
The Supreme Court decision cost a bundle and the worth of the decision is questionable considering the way the UFCW has applied the win.
Leafleting hasn't been properly coordinated and it seems like business agents have considered themselves "too cool" to stand outside a store and leaflet for 10-hours a day. The don't work weekends if they can avoid it at all.
The leafletting is used as a diversion to make desparate strikers think they are doing something effective.
The machine heads think that if you run a few leaflets off on the photocopier and get the Power Source a "locked-in," two-year deal on a cell phone they are serving the electors.
The machine heads have their heads buried so far up each other's asses to smell each other's farts that they have forgotten what it means to lead and who they are supposed to serve and what service is all about.
It isn't about cell-phone deals, union "CEOs", hotel investments, employing relatives and junkets to paradise. It's about leadership and leadership is about leading the Power Source to militancy and a better standard of living.
quote:
Gee, Ivan Limpright sure switched employers in the nick of time, now didn't he?
When one looks back over the last few years it is easy to see many timely employer switches and all 'dose people are now working for the machine, making a healthy living off the Power Source they sold out! They all knew what was going down and did not lift one finger to prevent it.
They turned a blind eye to their union brothers and sisters and just let it happen! Simply disgusting. 
quote:
They all knew what was going down and did not lift one finger to prevent it.
I should also add, that not only did they know and not lift a finger, they participated in the deception. They were the messengers and they did it with a straight face!!! 
The Local 1518 Safeway Leaflett is so lame:
quote:
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Today when you are in this store please take a moment to talk to a manager. Tell him/her you expect and deserve premium service for the premium prices you are paying Safeway for your groceries!
Tell the manager to assign more hours to cashiers, customer service and to move clerks back to day shift when you do your shopping and need their help.
SAFEWAY WON'T LISTEN TO US!
THEY HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOU!
ISSUED BY THE UNITED FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS UNION LOCAL 1518
BROOKE SUNDIN, PRESIDENT - IVAN LIMPRIGHT, SECRETARY TREASURER
Can you imagine?! 
These guys bargain away job security and let the all teeth be pulled from the contract, and then they go and stand in front of the stores to beg the general public to speak to management because management won't listen to Brooke.
They won't listen to you!!! It's your f*&%*#& job to make them listen!!
Pathetic. We shell out close to $200 thousand in salary, Buick, pensions, clothes, travel and other benefits so our so-called leaders can beg for us?
Leafletting is begging.
Found this question over at ufcw 1518 and just thought maybe we could help find the answer ..
quote:
Super Valu Negotiates; Why Won't Extra Foods?
Local 1518 and Super Valu #28 in Houston have set dates for negotiations for a new Collective Agreement. The employer and the union's Negotiating Committee have agreed to meet on March 7 and 8, and again on March 26 and 27 if necessary.
All of which has Extra Foods employees on strike in Prince Rupert wondering what's wrong with Extra Foods management, which refuses to go back to the bargaining table
Any thoughts?
[ 01-23-2002: Message edited by: siggy ]
What the Faa....? 
Is Brooke askin' a trick question, or is he just tryin' to 'm-bare-ass Extra Foods?
Gee Local 777 has no problem doin' deals with Extra Foods. Maybe Brooke should turn them over to Local 777.
Have just sign a 3 year contract with A&P ontario
.30 per hour each year, plus a parttime pension plan CAW union
Hey G.C. is CAW breaking into the retail end of the grocery business out there or are you a warehouse worker like Demon and Scott etc?
Are you happy with the settlement?
More about the CAW settlement
quote:
New Agreement At Dominion, A&P
CAW Local 414 members have overwhelmingly ratified a new three-year agreement providing wage, pension and benefit gains at 43 Dominion and A&P stores in Ontario.
The contract covers approximately 4,000 cashiers, clerks, meat cutters, bakers and produce clerks at the stores, which are mainly located in the Toronto area.
Under the new agreement CAW members get wage increases of 30 cents per hour in each of three years and pension gains of $4 more per month times years of credited service for full-time workers. Part-time workers get a pension plan for the first time.
The contract enshrines two weeks severance for each year of service and in a first for a unionized retail grocery store provides a legal services plan for full-time and part-time workers. It also provides a number of benefit gains and achieves early retirement benefits for qualified members who are 55 to 65 years of age.
Tom Collins, assistant to CAW president Buzz Hargrove, said the agreement provides important gains for members despite the economic downturn. 'Under this new contract, for the first time, the membership can share in greater optimism for the future.'
The agreement is the first achieved for these workers with the CAW.
If the 30 cents per hour goes on the bottom as well as the top, it is a big win. If the UFCW was braggin' I'd expect nothing at the bottom with a progression to the 30 cents for top people only.
What no threat of closure, lock-out or strike? No screams from the employer about remaining competitive? No final offer? How come the CAW can pull out a decent agreement without scars in the big bad retail industry?
I particulairly like the 3 yr length agreement. Just enough time for employers to even out (paper shuffle) after the istsy_bitsy added labour cost and just enough time for members to do a fine job for the employer and figure out what they want next. 
Good deal for ev'rybuddy when the employer knows you're serious!
Y'know, it was only a few years ago that three years was the absolute maximum length of any agreement (there were anomolies, but few and far between. I heard on arbitrator say, "A three year agreement? I thought they went the way of the dodo bird."
If you look at history, workers always referred to the Retail Grocery agreements when they were bargaining. They'd say, "if you can get $18 an hour for puttin' a can of beans on a shelf, I should be worth $20 an hour."
The grocery industry set the pace for a lot of other contracts. When the Retail Clerks were able to get decent agreements, everyone got decent agreements. Since the UFCW has taken over, the agreements have turned to shit. However, employers still watch the retail grocery agreements and peg their strategy to whatever the retail grocery employers suck out of the UFCW.
If you think about it, the "partnering" is hurting more than just UFCW members.
