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Unionized Safeway workers in Grand Junction, who previously could not agree whether to endorse a long-term contract offer from the grocery giant, are going to vote again, a representative said Thursday.
Employees from the bargaining unit that represents meat workers at Safeway stores in Grand Junction are set to vote on a contract offer Feb. 16, said Dave Minshall, communications director of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7.
“My piece of paper says 9 a.m.,” said Minshall on the time of the initial vote meeting at the IBEW Hall on E Road in Clifton.
A second meeting is probably going to be scheduled Feb. 16. The idea would be to accommodate all affected union workers.
The meetings come nearly two months after a vote by the local Safeway meat workers bargaining unit in December ended in a tie, which meant the contract failed to get approved.
Grocery workers are categorized as meat or retail employees, and vote separately. Their retail counterparts at Safeway stores in Grand Junction accepted a the deal in December.
Several other Safeway bargaining units also ratified the contract, although a large number rejected the deal at the time. The same thing happened with workers at King Soopers.
Union grocery store workers, including those in Denver and Broomfield, who did not endorse the agreement in December were set to vote on the contract Thursday.
That includes workers at King Soopers.
That 52-month contract offer includes a signing bonus, wage increases, improved health care insurance and a way to update the pension plan. All of which is not new.
What is new is a separate agreement between Local 7 and the grocery chains that calls for a shift of $12 million into retirees health plan.
That would head off a steep rise in premiums for about 2,000 retirees and their families. The money would come from reserves in an active employees insurance fund, according to Local 7.
The meetings for Safeway and King Soopers workers comes on the heels of a vote by Albertsons employees in Colorado, who recently ratified a 52-month contract.
The contract is similar to the deal being addressed at this time by King Soopers and Safeway workers.
Reach Wyatt Haupt Jr. at whaupt@gjfreepress.com.
Employees from the bargaining unit that represents meat workers at Safeway stores in Grand Junction are set to vote on a contract offer Feb. 16, said Dave Minshall, communications director of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7.
“My piece of paper says 9 a.m.,” said Minshall on the time of the initial vote meeting at the IBEW Hall on E Road in Clifton.
A second meeting is probably going to be scheduled Feb. 16. The idea would be to accommodate all affected union workers.
The meetings come nearly two months after a vote by the local Safeway meat workers bargaining unit in December ended in a tie, which meant the contract failed to get approved.
Grocery workers are categorized as meat or retail employees, and vote separately. Their retail counterparts at Safeway stores in Grand Junction accepted a the deal in December.
Several other Safeway bargaining units also ratified the contract, although a large number rejected the deal at the time. The same thing happened with workers at King Soopers.
Union grocery store workers, including those in Denver and Broomfield, who did not endorse the agreement in December were set to vote on the contract Thursday.
That includes workers at King Soopers.
That 52-month contract offer includes a signing bonus, wage increases, improved health care insurance and a way to update the pension plan. All of which is not new.
What is new is a separate agreement between Local 7 and the grocery chains that calls for a shift of $12 million into retirees health plan.
That would head off a steep rise in premiums for about 2,000 retirees and their families. The money would come from reserves in an active employees insurance fund, according to Local 7.
The meetings for Safeway and King Soopers workers comes on the heels of a vote by Albertsons employees in Colorado, who recently ratified a 52-month contract.
The contract is similar to the deal being addressed at this time by King Soopers and Safeway workers.
Reach Wyatt Haupt Jr. at whaupt@gjfreepress.com.
