President John T. Niccollai
AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT JOHN T. NICCOLLAI - 10-30-2020
CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
President Niccollai reported this evening that a tentative settlement has been reached with Stop & Shop, ShopRite and Foodtown for a new agreement, which will guarantee no co-pay medical benefits to both full-time and part-time members for the entire term. This accomplishment is monumental and comes at substantial cost to our Employers.
Other noteworthy highlights include:
• Continuation of our Defined Benefit Pension Plan.
• Wage compression language providing rates above the minimum wage based upon years of service.
• A hazard pay bonus tied to the Global UFCW Settlement Plan.
• Wage increases of up to $225.00 per week for full-time (C) rate Clerks over the term of the agreement.
• A $2.00 per hour increase for part-time members in addition to the minimum wage increases over the term of the agreement.
• An increase from 12 to 24 prescriptions per year for part-time members.
• An increase in the Premium for certain Lead Seafood Clerks.
• Extension of pre-packaged meat job protection for butchers.
• Restrictions on others performing bargaining unit work.
• Wage increases of between $110.00 and $120.00 per week for employees not on progression over the term of the agreement.
• An increase of travel pay from $.45 to $.55 per mile.
• Updating of antiquated contract time periods.
Without question, this contract is remarkable and we extend our heartfelt thanks to all our Contract Committee Members for a job well done.
Our Union Delegates will be in the stores with ballots and ballot boxes over the next few days for the ratification vote. We urge all our members to vote favorably on this outstanding contract proposal, and we will post the results once officially tabulated. From a time prospective, we anticipate the Stop & Shop and ShopRite votes to take place first and the Foodtown vote shortly thereafter. As we know, Kings has declared bankruptcy and we are working toward a smooth transition for 27 stores within the next several months. We will then approach ACME concerning the contract on behalf of those members.