Strike on hold as Safeway and union enter ‘cooling off’ period

Posted on December 20, 2019 by Sonoma Valley Sun

After months of negotiations and a union recommendation to strike Safeway stores, both sides of the contentious dispute will follow a federal mediator’s recommendation for a “cooling off period” until the new year.

“We remain far apart from both Giant and Safeway on all of our priority issues and we still do not have an agreement,” The local chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union said in a statement.

UFCW Local 5 earlier this month called Safeway’s wage proposal “an insult. Just as outrageous, Safeway’s current wage offer is half that bargained between Locals 5 and 648 and Lucky stores, Safeway’s main rival in Northern California.”

Safeway has not commented on the negotiations.

UFCW meetings with Safeway representatives over nearly four months have resulted in little progress. The union said that Safeway’s latest wage proposal, “increasing the offer by ten cents, to one dollar an hour over a 3-year period for experienced clerks,” is unacceptable.

Additionally, according to the union, Safeway representatives have refused to even discuss other union demands, including: making available additional full-time opportunities; fully compensating employees for lost pay when wage calculation mistakes are made; earlier schedule posting and several other proposals important to its members

The union reacted to the proposed cooling-off period with this statement to its members:

“After several more weeks of hard bargaining, a federal mediator urged both sides to take a cooling off period until the new year. We remain far apart on all of our priority issues and we still do not have an agreement that we can recommend.

“We are not happy that this process has dragged on for over three and a half months, but unfortunately, extensions and talks lasting well over six months have become the standard across the country. These talks are also particularly complicated and we need to do what it takes to get this right for everyone. We will not be rushed into a bad deal.”