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Safeway belatedly responds to rejection of its latest c... - 12/19/2009 7:12:20 AM   
michaelisin4u

 

Posts: 5601
Joined: 5/31/2008
Status: online 		Safeway belatedly responds to rejection of its latest contract offer

By Michael Roberts in Business, Follow That Story, NewsFri., Dec. 18 2009 3:11PM

​Yesterday, King Soopers formally, and finally, acknowledged that its grocery workers had accepted the company's last, best and final contract offer. But silenced prevailed at Safeway, whose employees turned down pretty much the same deal -- until today.

The firm's release focuses most of its attention on those bargaining units that voted to accept the contract, not the majority who rejected it -- and it doesn't reveal what will happen next. Nonetheless, Laura Chapin, spokeswoman for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, hopes renewed talks can begin soon.

"The other members of Local 7 respect the votes of King Soopers workers," she says. "Now that Safeway's offer has been rejected by their workers four times, they need to extend that same respect and sit down and talk to them."

Any suggestion on Safeway's part that the union hasn't officially asked for such chats is disingenuous, Chapin feels. As she puts it, "The workers just rejected your offer: That would seem to be an invitation to talk. This isn't a White House state dinner. You're not crashing anything. So if they want to talk, that would certainly be welcomed by the workers."

Here's the Safeway release:

More Than a Dozen Safeway Bargaining Units in Colorado Ratify New Labor Contract
Denver, Colo. -- Safeway was formally advised on December 17 by UFCW Local 7 that the following 15 bargaining units ratified the Company's last, best and final offer:

Broomfield Clerks
Castle Rock Clerks
Estes Park Clerks
Evergreen Clerks
Fort Collins Meat
Fort Collins Clerks
Fort Morgan Clerks
Fountain Clerks
Grand Junction Clerks
Greeley Meat
Greeley Clerks
Gunnison Clerks
Leadville Meat
Loveland Meat
Vail Clerks

"We are pleased that some of our bargaining units ratified the Company's last best and final offer and we will implement the terms of the offer for these units," said Kris Staaf, Director of Public Affairs, Safeway Inc.

For the bargaining units that ratified the offer, Safeway employees and the company are assured of a fair contract and labor peace for the next 52 months.

"It's also disappointing that for some reason many of the bargaining units rejected our last, best and final offer," said Staaf. "Safeway's offer contained core economic terms virtually identical to the one ratified by many of the employees of our largest unionized competitor."

The last best and final offer included an attractive ratification bonus for all employees who have been employed for a year or more by the date of the ratification, a 52-month contract term, wage increases, shortened dependent wait time for health benefits coverage and access to a new first class health and care management program. The offer also contains pension improvements over the company's previous offers including partially restored pension accruals.

Bargaining units of nearly 1700 unionized Safeway employees ratified the company's last best and final offer.

http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2009/12/safeway_belatedly_responds_to.php
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RE: Safeway belatedly responds to rejection of its late... - 12/19/2009 7:18:28 AM   
michaelisin4u

 

Posts: 5601
Joined: 5/31/2008
Status: online 		Safeway, union continue to wrangle over new contract

Comments 0 | Recommend 0
December 18, 2009 5:50 PM
WAYNE HEILMAN
THE GAZETTE

Several days after Safeway’s unionized workers rejected a contract offer from the company, the two sides sparred Friday over what should happen next.

About 5,300 Safeway workers are “kind of in limbo right now” because the contract they voted down wasn’t rejected by a large enough margin of employees to authorize a strike, said company spokeswoman Kris Staaf in Denver. The next move, she said, “is up to the union.”

Staaf said the company remains “committed to fulfill its legal obligation to bargain” with the union. But Safeway signaled it won’t give its workers a better deal than one agreed to earlier this week by employees at rival grocery King Soopers.

“It would be irresponsible for Safeway to agree to a contract settlement that places our company at a competitive disadvantage relative to our largest unionized competitor in Colorado,” Staaf said.

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 7, meanwhile, says it has offered to resume negotiations with Safeway, although no new talks have been scheduled.

“Just as the Local 7 membership respects the votes of King Soopers workers when it comes to their contract, Safeway should respect the votes of their workers — and listen to them – when it comes to the Safeway contract,” said union spokeswoman Laura Chapin. At issue is an8-month-old squabble over a new contract for 7,000 unionized workers at Safeway and 9,000 at King Soopers, which are Colorado’s two largest grocery chains and which employ 1,780 in the Colorado Springs area.

In mail balloting that ended Monday, individual bargaining units that include clerks or meat department employees in particular cities had to either ratify or reject the deal.

Most King Soopers bargaining units ratified the offer, although five units with 260 workers rejected their company’s offer. Most Safeway units rejected their company’s offer, while 15 bargaining units with 1,700 workers accepted it.

That leaves nearly 5,600 of the 16,000 workers at the two chains without a new contract and instead covered under the provisions of a previous deal that expired months ago.

Workers in bargaining units that ratified the contracts will receive the first of four annual raises totaling $1.30 an hour for the highest-paid workers on Sunday; they also will receive signing bonuses of $150 to $1,000 in the form of gift cards.

Offers from both companies also included $40 million in additional payments to an underfunded pension plan; reduced waiting periods for medical coverage; and new preventive health care benefits.

http://www.gazette.com/articles/safeway-91089-union-continue.html

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