New four-year contract delights grocery workers
Stores avoid repeat of Southern California in '05
By Tim Simmers, BUSINESS WRITER


If your local grocery clerk or produce worker seems more upbeat and friendly these days, there's good reason for it.
Thousands of grocery workers in Northern California - including more than 2,000 at 30-plus stores in San Mateo County - are starting the year with one of the best labor contracts they've seen.

Labor leaders say the salary increases and enhanced health benefits are the best in the nation for that field. They say the contract paves the way for less turnover, and better customer service for shoppers.

Workers at Safeway stores and other chains and independents agreed to a new, four-year contract at the end of the year, avoiding what could have been a dicey situation.

That's a shift from three years ago, when grocery workers in Southern California went on a 141-day strike and lockout that devastated both workers and grocery companies.

Some workers lost their homes and cars in the walkout, and grocers lost tens of millions of dollars as well as customers they'll never get back.

"The workers did very well," said Ken Jacobs, chairman of the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education. "A grocery worker has got to feel a lot better than three years ago."

Jacobs thinks grocery stores learned a lesson from the Southern California situation. "They know turnover and service quality matters," he said.

What it means to consumers is more friendly faces in the stores they shop in, and more experienced workers able to give them top service.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which represents the workers, lauded the contract that covered 25,000 workers in 300 Northern California stores, including 18 Safeway stores in San Mateo County and more than 1,500 workers.

But the contract also started a wave of independent grocery store contracts being ratified, including local stores such as Mollie Stone's, Lunardi's, and Trag's market in San Mateo.

The UFCW has successfully negotiated for better health and dental care, including raising the annual ceiling on dental care, eliminating deductibles on prescription drugs, and speeding up coverage for children and dependents of workers.

The contracts also have kept grocery workers from paying for health care out of their paychecks - a major accomplishment considering that few unions today are able to pull that off.

The workers also get a $1.80 per hour wage increase over the contract, including 70 cents the first year. That was the largest one-year wage increase ever negotiated by the union.

An experienced grocery clerk now earns about $20 per hour, while bakery and deli workers earn about $14 per hour.

They also received extra funding for the pension plan.

Customers like to develop a relationship with store employees," said Ron Lind, president of Local 5 of the UFCW. "Now workers are beginning the year with a solid new contract."

How did it happen? Lind said one big reason is that the UFCW a year ago consolidated seven local unions into one: Local 5, based in San Jose, so "all of Northern California was at the (bargaining) table at once."

The other key was that Raley's and Save Mart (which owns many Bay Area Lucky stores) signed a contract in November, leaving an opening for labor peace and a faster end to Safeway negotiations.

"We dealt with regional companies first, and they were easier to deal with than big national chains," said Mike Borstel, president of Local 101 of the UFCW in South San Francisco. Those negotiations involved eight Lucky stores in San Mateo County owned by Save Mart.

Because Safeway has about a 30 percent share of Northern California grocery workers, it faced losing market share with a strike and agreed to the same contract, Borstel added.

"It's a contract that works for Safeway and our store employees," said Teena Massingill, a Safeway spokeswoman.

Safeway is now building new stores - and competing with independents such as Draeger's, Mollie Stone's and Whole Foods - with better layouts and more organic offerings.

At the end of last month, a similar contract was signed with independent Mollie Stone's, and earlier this week, Lunardi's and Trag's market ratified the same contract.

"We're happy it's signed," said Tony Lucia, general manager of Lunardi's, which operates three San Mateo County stores. "This is better for retention of workers and quality service."

By the end of the month, seven more independent stores with 340 workers in San Mateo County also will sign the contract. They include Draeger's, Key markets, Piazza, Foodville and Nob Hill Foods.


Business writer Tim Simmers can be reached at 650-348-4361 or by e-mail at tsimmers@bayareanewsgroup.com .