Grocery Workers at Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons, And Pavilions Ratify New Contracts

Members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Locals 135, 324, 770, 1167, 1428, and 1442 voted to ratify a new three-year contract with Ralphs, a subsidiary of Kroger, and Albertsons (Albertsons, Vons, and Pavilions). The contracts were reached after months of negotiations and active participation from thousands of Southern California grocery workers.

The six UFCW Locals released the following statement:

“The journey to contract ratification saw a record turnout of grocery workers, customers, and community members, all fighting for the same thing – better stores, better lives, better communities. They fought to ensure that grocery workers could feed their own families, afford health benefits, and enjoy a dignified retirement at the end of a long career. They also fought for more staffing to improve the customer experience at their stores.

“Their fight took to the streets, where they organized numerous rallies and marches that showed their power. They took to their stores, where they stood up and demonstrated their unity by signing petitions and wearing buttons. Grocery workers also joined forces with customers in the fight for better staffing, speaking with over 3,000 customers about their shopping experiences and sharing their feedback with companies that can afford to do better. These actions built the strength needed to reach this agreement. Only by rising together were grocery workers able to make a change in their workplaces that will benefit all grocery workers and customers in the future.”

Key provisions of the agreement include:

• Substantial wage increases
• A new supplemental pension plan to help workers in their retirement
• Increased healthcare benefit contributions and faster healthcare eligibility for new hires
• Staffing language that includes the union in evaluating reasonable staffing levels that address efficient operation of the store, the health and safety of employees, and the quality of customer service
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This contract will take effect immediately for over 45,000 essential grocery workers at Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons, and Pavilions locations across Southern California.