Local 99’s bargaining committee met via Zoom today with negotiators from Fry’s, Smith’s and Safeway.
Effective today, the union and the companies have executed agreements to extend the current contract beyond its expiration date of Oct. 24.
The employers’ negotiators responded to the proposal we submitted on Sept. 30. The employers then submitted their own proposals.
The union’s bargaining committee reviewed these proposals and offered some comments on them, but significant portions were rejected by us. A few “technical” points were agreed to, but no agreements on substantive subjects were reached.
Local 99’s team will meet with the companies to resume negotiations next Friday, Oct. 23. At this time, we intend to begin our discussions on economic issues: wages, health and welfare, pension, etc.
As we’ve said before, this process using video conferencing software is slower and more impersonal than previous negotiations have been in the past. However, the pace of negotiations is expected to pick up as we go forward.
We are also scheduling a meeting of the Negotiations Advisory Committee next week.
We’ll keep you posted on further developments. Remember to text NEGOTIATE99 to 83071 to receive update notifications.
In the meantime, stay safe and stay strong!
