Baltimore-Washington market leaders Giant/Landover and Safeway, and United Food and Commercial Workers Locals 27 (Baltimore area /Eastern Shore) and 400 (Washington area) are quickly approaching a December 20 deadline to reach agreements for new contracts.
Between the two unions, nearly 30,000 clerks and meatcutters representing 304 stores are seeking new agreements. The December 20 deadline represents the second extension agreed to by all parties after the current 18 month agreement expired on October 31.
While Locals 27 and 400 have been bargaining jointly with Giant and Safeway, the two UFCW unions broke their usual lockstep strategy when on November 13 Local 400 authorized a strike vote against Giant and Safeway if a new pact (or extension) is not agreed to by the December 20 deadline. Local 27, however, chose not to ask their members to strike if a new agreement was not reached by the current deadline.
During those meetings (Local 27’s meeting was at the Cow Palace at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, MD and Local 400’s gathering was held at the Washington Armory in Washington, DC), members originally thought they were going to attend a ratification meeting as the first extended deadline of November 15 approached. Much to the surprise of many members, that ratification meeting was never held because union leadership deemed that the parties were still too far apart to warrant a contract proposal.
Instead, members from both unions who attended heard an informational session about the status of the bargaining.
At the Local 27 meeting, president George Murphy told members that he felt the best strategy was to continue to bargain in good faith without the threat of a strike vote. However, in Washington, Local 400 president Mark Federici, while also pledging to continue to negotiate with Giant and Safeway, asked his members to authorize a strike if an agreement was not reached by the deadline. First came a vote to authorize a strike against Giant, then a separate strike authorization vote against Safeway was agreed to by Local 400 members who attended the meeting.
“Today’s vote does not mean that a strike will occur, but it sends a strong signal to Giant that members will do whatever it takes to get a fair contract,” Federici said after the Giant strike authorization vote was sanctioned at the November 13 meeting. “Today, our members put Giant on notice that it is long past time to come to the table with a proposal that provides them with the security, respect and dignity they have more than earned.”
Federici also noted the primary challenge that all UFCW Locals face when bargaining for new contracts.
“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 multi-employer Taft-Hartley funds, like the one that provides health coverage to our members at Giant and Safeway,” said the president of the country’s largest UFCW local, who added, “between this and the pervasiveness of corporate greed, virtually all bargaining in our industry across the country has resulted in lengthy delays and extensions. I am deeply grateful for our members’ patience and solidarity. They should rest assured 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.”
Specific to the “Obamacare” challenge, the UFCW claims that large retailers, who are part of a Taft-Hartley health plan, are trying to steer their members away from those plans by encouraging them to join state healthcare exchanges, which would presumably cost the chains less. However, it is still unclear what those costs would be to the workers as each individual’s costs could widely vary.
What’s ironic is that the UFCW, which initially embraced “Obamacare,” now finds itself in the unenviable situation of seeing its members being potentially adversely affected by the national healthcare reform plan.
From Giant’s and Safeway’s perspective, both sides are optimistic new agreements can be reach by the December 20 deadline.
“While it is unfortunate Local 400 conducted an authorization vote, the vote does not necessarily mean the union will initiate a work stoppage after the current December 20 expiration,” said Jamie Miller, Giant’s manager of public and community relations. “Giant has a long history of working together with unions to reach collective bargaining agreements that are fair and reasonable for all parties. We are encouraged by the progress we are making with the UFCW local unions at the bargaining table, and we are hopeful that we will reach an agreement with the unions that provides competitive wages and benefits for our associates and reflects our market realities.”
At Safeway, Greg Ten Eyck, the company’s director of public affairs and government relations for its eastern division noted that the negotiations have been “productive.” “The bargaining teams are dealing with very complex issues, and Safeway is committed to attempting to address the concerns of the unions. But the company must also mitigate the cost advantage of non-union retailers, who in recent years have entered the region and taken market share from traditional grocers like Safeway.”
