Grocery-Pact Concessions

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The Southern California grocery union and three major chains made key concessions to reach a tentative contract agreement after more than six months of contentious negotiations, officials revealed Thursday, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.

The United Food and Commercial Workers agreed to chip in $250million of a $500million employee reserve to help pay for health care, said Greg Conger, president of Local324, the second-largest branch of the UFCW in Southern California. The union has almost 70,000 members across the region.


Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons agreed to eliminate a two-tier system that gives richer benefits to veterans than new workers. That system led to higher turnover, reduced wages and long waiting periods for health care.


Under the new four-year deal, all workers can reach the top pay scale. The markets wanted that process to take nine years, but the union “reduced that dramatically,” Conger said.


The chains also agreed to give workers a raise that amounts to more than $1 per hour over the life of the contract, Conger said. The pay scale in place for second-tier workers ranges from $7.55 an hour to $15.10 an hour. First-tier workers’ pay tops out at $17.90, and it only took two years to get there.


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