Source: UFCW
Essential Workers Achieve Groundbreaking Contract Through Solidarity
BLOOMINGTON, CALIF. (April 14, 2022) — Today, members of UFCW Local 1167 voted overwhelmingly to join their fellow union members across Southern California in ratifying a new three-year contract with Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions.
Following the contract ratification, the seven UFCW local unions in Southern California released the following statement:
“Today, tens of thousands of essential grocery workers across Southern California have ratified a contract that is a step in the direction of securing a more promising future for themselves and their families.”
The agreement, which includes significant wage increases, store safety upgrades, improved health care benefits, and protected pension provisions, was reached between the unions and the employers on April 4 following a marathon 30-hour bargaining session that capped months of negotiations.
The ratified contract will go into effect immediately for more than 47,000 essential grocery workers at approximately 540 Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons, and Pavilions locations between Bakersfield and the Mexico border.
“I’ve been a member of this union since 1985, and there are elements in this contract I haven’t seen, ever,” President Duffle observed.
“Our members should be proud of this contract, which they deserve,” he said. “They stood together in solidarity so we could achieve it at the bargaining table.”
A separate agreement with Stater Bros. Markets was ratified by affected union members on April 9.
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Seven UFCW Locals in California: 8GS, 135, 324, 770, 1167, 1428, and 1442 make up the largest union grocery contract in the nation, representing more than 60,000 hard-working UFCW members who work wall-to-wall at Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons, Pavilions, Stater Bros., and Gelson’s. The members represented under this contract, which expired on March 6th, work in essential grocery stores spanning from central California to the Mexican border. The goal of the UFCW Locals’ coordinated negotiation effort is to secure a contract that provides fair wages for essential workers, improved safety and security, better staffing for better service, and stable and predictable scheduling. For more information on the larger coordinated effort, please contact Amy Ritter, aritter@ufcw.org. United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1167 has a membership of approximately 19,500 workers and more than 3,500 retirees throughout San Bernardino County and the Inland Empire. Its members work in supermarkets, drug stores, health care facilities, warehouses, food preparation plants and other locations.
