UFCW Locals 400 and 27 Extend Contract with Giant and Safeway

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

UFCW Locals 400 and 27 Extend Contract with Giant and Safeway(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Locals 400 and 27 today agreed to extend their members' collective bargaining agreement with Giant and Safeway through December 20th. The contract originally expired on October 31st. It was extended through November 15th and now will continue for another five and a half weeks, while both parties continue discussions in the hope of reaching an acceptable agreement. "Like virtually all negotiations taking place around the country today, the number one obstacle to reaching agreement is the impact of the Affordable Care Act on multiemployer Taft-Hartley funds, like the one that provides health coverage to our members at Giant and Safeway," said Local 400 President Mark P. Federici. "Between this and the pervasiveness of corporate greed, virtually all bargaining in our industry across the country has resulted in lengthy delays and extensions," Federici said. "For example, bargaining in the Seattle area between Safeway and other grocers and various UFCW Local Unions, affecting 30,000 members, took more than seven months to reach agreement. I don't anticipate it will take us that long, but this is the environment in which our negotiations are taking place.” Federici thanked his members for their “patience and solidarity," assuring them "that we will work tenaciously to secure a new collective bargaining agreement that provides them with the security, respect and dignity they have more than earned." UFCW Local 400 represents 40,000 members working in the retail food, health care, retail department store, food processing, service and other industries in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. photo: still from the catchy “We Know What We Want!” video of the November 7 flashmob by Giant and Safeway workers.

 

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