THIS JUST IN: Shoppers Workers Ratify Strong New Contract
Thursday, July 12, 2012(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
Members of United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400
working at Shoppers Food & Pharmacy on Thursday ratified a new, two-year
collective bargaining agreement that raises their living standards, protects
their health and retirement security, and is comparable to the contract
recently
ratified by Giant and Safeway workers. “This victory is due to the
activism of our Shoppers’ members,” said UFCW Local 400 President Tom
McNutt.
“Their hard work convinced management to withdraw the draconian concessions
it
tried to make us accept. The result is an agreement that keeps middle class
grocery jobs in Maryland and Virginia and lays the groundwork for the
company’s
future success and profitability.” “This is a first-rate contract,” said
Mary
Robertson, a Local 400 member who works for Shoppers and served on the
Bargaining Advisory Committee. “I sat across the table from management and
saw
first-hand how the company tried to put the squeeze on us. But they failed and
now, with this agreement, we know we’re being treated fairly and that we’re
sharing in the success that our hard work makes possible.” Key contract
provisions covering 2,500 Local 400 members include immediate bonus payments
and across-the-board wage increases next July; full funding of health benefits
with no increase in members’ out-of-pocket costs and improved coverage in
areas
such as HPV vaccinations and endodontic care (root canals); continued
retirement security with all current pension benefits maintained and new steps
to resolve funding issues. Shoppers’ demands defeated by Local 400
include an end to health care Maintenance of Benefits,
treatment of Sunday as part of the regular work week, elimination of daily
overtime, and monthly health care co-payments by retirees.
- photo by Bill
Burke/Page One