Tens of thousands of grocery store workers in California have approved a new contract with major grocery chains, avoiding a possible strike.
Union members in the central and southern areas of the state ratified an interim agreement that was achieved last week. It provides higher wages to about 47,000 employees, stronger health benefits, increased guaranteed hours for part-time workers, improved store security and a guaranteed pension, the International Food Workers Union said and Commerce in a statement.
Most workers will receive wage increases of $ 4.25 per hour for three years, the union said, with higher increases for some employees.
The contract also includes provisions to establish health and safety committees at all Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions stores so that employees have their say on safety issues, the union said in a statement.
Frontline workerseven in grocery stores, they were hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“After more than two years of risking their lives to serve California communities as essential workers, getting a fair contract with better pay increases, health care improvements and protected pensions for these working members, I couldn’t to have arrived at a more important moment. “
“We’ve made history!” Erika Bentzen, a food employee of a Ralphs in Thousand Oaks who was part of the bargaining team, said in a statement from the union. “This was the first time the members were part of the negotiations and I think it made a difference to have us there. This is the best contract in the country.”
The contract takes effect immediately and covers about 540 stores. The previous three-year contract expired on March 6 and workers had voted to authorize a strike if no agreement was reached.
In 2019, employees of Ralphs, Vons, Pavilions and Albertsons voted to authorize a strike, but eventually the contracts were secured without a way out.
A 2003-04 strike and blockade put about 70,000 Southern California grocery workers on pickets for more than four months.
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