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WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Contract negotiations between the Safeway and Giant grocery chains and their local employees’ union will come to a head this weekend as the clock runs out and the union prepares a potential strike. With the contracts officially set to expire on Saturday, it’s unclear whether an agreement can be reached ahead of time.
The United Food & Commercial Workers Union, which represents about 23,000 members in the Washington and Baltimore regions through Locals 400 and 27, is not optimistic.
“Unfortunately little progress has been made,” said UFCW Local 400 President C. James Lowthers, in a statement on the Local 400’s Web site. “The parties remain very far apart. ... Strike preparations are now in place.”
Negotiations, which began Feb. 13, are supposed to continue through Sunday, according to the union. Members will vote April 1 to either ratify a proposal if there is one, or authorize a strike. Safeway, which has about 100 stores in the metro area, has been running newspaper ads announcing temporary hiring in order to prepare for a possible strike. The chain has to make sure it has a “bare-bones staff,” according to someone familiar with the negotiations, who added that this was a typical action taken as the expiration date nears.
Over the last four months, Safeway reached agreements with other UFCW chapters representing a total of 36,500 Safeway employees in Canada and California. The California negotiations lasted until the day the contract expired. Ahold, which owns the roughly 120 Giant Food stores in the Washington metro area, was able to strike a deal earlier this month with UFCW chapters in New England representing 43,000 workers from Stop & Shop, another one of its subsidiary companies. But these previous deals may not be a positive indicator.
“Bargaining is always a tedious process. ... We’ve been a little bit surprised here that the companies haven’t been willing to move forward” on issues such as wages and health care, UFCW International spokeswoman Jill Cashen told The Examiner.
Harry Burton, who is representing Giant and Safeway in the negotiations, did not return repeated calls for comment.
wblake@dcexaminer.com
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Comments from Examiner Readers
2:26 PM MST on Tue., Apr. 1, 2008 re: "Union negotiations with Safeway, Giant continue as clock runs out on contract"
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5:35 PM MST on Sun., Mar. 30, 2008
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4:27 PM MST on Fri., Mar. 28, 2008
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3:08 PM MST on Fri., Mar. 28, 2008
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5:29 AM MST on Fri., Mar. 28, 2008
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Examiner Reader said:
If the Safeway women get $50 an hour they are under paid. If the men get $5 an hour they are over paid,
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Examiner Reader said:
"Safeway Employee" is lucky to even have a job!
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Examiner Reader said:
i cannot wait for the fools at giant to strike. ilike nothing better than to cross the picket line. how much do they want to put cans on a shelf or run the cans through a computer? the hell with the unions.
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Union is a joke said:
Safeway Employee...What more do you expect? The union is a joke anyway but they are the one's that at the least get you a wage you wouldn't see if they were not involved. If you need to make more money I suggest a different occupation...otherwise I wouldn't be too disappointed.
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Safeway Employee said:
As an employee on the last contract I must say I am disgusted by the companies. They took away enough with the last contract and they still want to take more. Sure we don't have to pay for our health care right now but I mean it has like a $200 deductible. Maybe if they paid us better we wouldn't have as much health problems. With the current contract employees are getting a quarter raise every 541 hours that they work and an extra dollar an hour on Sundays. Courtisy clerks however only get an extra 25 cents on Sundays and start out making about 15 cents over minimum wage. If the union does not go on a strike, I myself am going to quit. I pay $10 a week for union dues and its time the union does something. Customers may view Safeway as a friendly courtious store but in reality the name Slaveway would better fit it. I have worked for Safeway for nearly 2 years and moved from a cashier to a day stocke and what have I seen? A 50 cent raise. Thanks Safeway I can afford a candy bar now.
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