Thursday, June 30, 2011

Union extends deadline for new Safeway contract - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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The extension was announced late Thursdagy by the United Food and Commercial Workera UnionLocal No. 7, which represents about 17,000 Denver-arez grocery workers now negotiating new contractewith Safeway, Albertson’s and . It is the thirdr extension in theSafeway talks, which begajn in early April. Safeway workers votedx last month to call for a strike if necessary, but neither side has indicaterd that a strike is likely in the near Both Albertson’s and King Soopers workers are operatinbg without contracts right now. Negotiations center around the issueseof wages, pension benefits and health-care plans.
Safeway and King Soopers have offeredrpension cuts, pay raises for just a portion of the workers and new preventative health-care benefits, saying that with the rise of non-unioh grocery stores, some cutbacksz must be made. “I think this [latesg extension] gives us an opportunitgy to continue to negotiate and reallty be able to tackle the tough issues like wagees andpension benefits,” said Kris Staaf, Safeway’xs Denver-area director of public affairs. The latest counter-proposa l from Safeway workers callx for annual pay increases of 75 cents per hour over the duration ofthe five-yeat contract, according to UFCW spokeswoman Laura Chapin.
It also seeks assurances that workers can continue receiving pension benefits at age 50 rathert than having to wait untilage 62, that currentt health benefits are not decreaseed and that current health-care premiums are not Safeway has not made a new contract proposal, Staag said. Sherree Carlson, a 15-yeart Safeway employee from Westminster, expressed frustration over the pace of negotiationse in a news release put out bythe “We gave you a proposal a week ago, and you keep cominfg back at us with the same Carlson said. “We need a fair deal and we need to keep the work and the workerw here inour community.

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