Earlier this week, we took an admittedly superficial look at the situation surrounding contract negotiations between local grocery worker unions and the big chains like QFC and Safeway, wondering what would life be like on Capitol Hill if one of the simplest manifestations of ideal urban living — being able to walk to get your groceries — was impacted by the important tussle of labor and management. For a deeper look into the situation, we heard from a Capitol Hill neighbor who is right in the middle of that tussle. Scott Klitzke Powers is vice president of Allied Employers, a north Capitol Hill resident and one of the negotiators at the table representing the grocery chains in the ongoing negotiations with the union. Here’s a mail Powers sent to CHS about the talks. We found it an interesting view of what is happening from management’s perspective and thought it was worth sharing and letting people know about yet another interesting Capitol Hill neighbor in our midst.
I am one of the lead negotiators for the grocery industry (i.e., the “Big 4” grocery companies) in the negotiations with UFCW Local 21. Knowing a bit about your background and your politics (which are not all that different than mine), I am not shocked that you and some of the posters had an immediate bias in favor of the union. However, if you knew more facts, I am confident you would be less likely to make that immediate jump. And one of the things I like most about this blog is that people really do want to dig in and understand issues.
Like you, I too come from a union household (dad was IBEW lineman). I lived through two strikes as a child growing up in rural Wisconsin. I remember all too well the time when my brother and I had to go live with an aunt and uncle for awhile because things got very tight when a strike dragged on. So I know what a strike means to people and I know it is not something you enter into lightly. Yes, I am on the management side, but we only represent unionized companies. And I am proud to represent the companies I represent.
Albertsons, QFC, Fred Meyer, and Safeway provide jobs for thousands of people in this region (approx. 18,000 employees directly involved in this negotiation). These are especially important jobs because they are open to anyone who wants to work hard. You don’t need an expensive education (although many grocery store workers are very educated). But it is hard work – harder than many people think. For that hard work, the companies provide very good pay and excellent benefits. Want facts?
Pay
Experienced Grocery Clerk: $18.70/hour
Deli, bakery sales clerks: $14.50/hour
Meat Cutters: $21.25/hour
Courtesy Clerks (bag groceries, push carts, etc.): $8-something
Medical Benefits
Absolutely top-notch* benefits, and employees pay only $3 – $18 per week (depending on single, family, etc.)
*I’ll provide as much detail on benefits as you can handle to back up my claim
Pension Benefits
We provide an old-fashioned, defined benefit union pension that is 100% employer paid
Other Benefits
Paid vacation (up to 4 weeks); paid holidays; paid sick leave; paid funeral leave; paid jury duty leave; extra premiums for working evenings, holidays, and even Sundays
Our Proposal
Increase pay rates (modest increases, but most other industries and other retail are doing freezes or cuts)
Increase employer funding to medical plan by $23.6 million over 3 year term, which allows us to continue excellent medical benefits (employees will only pay $5 – $23 per week depending on coverage level)
Increase employer funding to pension plans by $25.3 million over 3 year term. Most benefits 100% preserved.
Continue but reduce some pay premiums (Sundays and holidays)
[Cue Public Enemy] So, don’t believe the hype, J-bird. And by all means, don’t demonstrate your progressive credentials by running off and giving your money to non-union stores. That makes no sense at all.
Alas, we plan to save you from this dilemma. I don’t think you (we) will face a strike. We are getting back to the bargaining table next week. If both sides work in good faith, we will be able to reach a negotiated settlement and all things will remain peaceful on the hill.
There’s how one of the primary players sees things moving forward. We’ll look for more opportunities to dig into what is happening in the negotiations — especially if it looks like things might have an impact on the Hill. If you’re a Capitol Hill grocery worker, please add your thoughts in the comments or send us mail at [email protected]
Here are two comments from the previous post from people who said they are employees.
First, from a Fred Meyer employee (yes, off Hill):
We are NOT happy about the possibility of not having a paycheck as we head into the holidays–or anytime for that matter. The contract we are being offered has SERIOUS flaws. As one of my co-workers said so well: 94% voted to turn this down. That is HUGE percentage. If that many of us are voting to decline the contract *especially* at this time of year, doesn’t it really go to show that our employers are not being fair? I am really tired of all the hateful comments people are making–I am a single mom, I work full time, and have done so for 20+ years. I DO NOT want to go on strike, but the employers are leaving us little choice.
And another from a commenter that said he or she is a QFC employee:
The contract that is being proposed is too insulting for me to even describe here. But I will give you the summary: no benefits for 2 years. nothing. if you make it to two years, you get some benefits. minimal health insurance, but probably no vacation/sick pay/holiday pay/sunday pay. It’s going to take many years to get to journeyman status (where you’re guaranteed raises). and, they are going to be axing journeymen left and right to prepare for that. Courtesy clerks? You might know them as “baggers”, but they do a lot more than that. They get nothing, ever.
Please don’t say it’s a sense of “entitlement” that makes us want coverage. This is the only way I can get health insurance, as I have a “pre-existing condition” and the ban on denying coverage doesn’t start for a few more years. You have no idea about our personal lives. Many of us have families, many of us are putting ourselves through school while still working full time.
I’ll tell you, I can’t afford a strike. But I also can’t afford this disgusting contract. The union knew there would be cuts, which is why they didn’t go into negotiations asking for anything more. But this is absolutely insulting for those of us who show up to work with a smile on our face for year after year, barely making enough to get by.
Picket line breakers, karma will get you in the end.
J, I hope you can do some serious cross-examination and give us a clearer idea of what the truth is here? Because Scott Powers’ summary of the proposal is very different from what the QFC employee above is saying.
I am basing this on other union disputes I have seen and reading between the lines of the last of the three comments, but maybe they are providing much worse benefits to new employees but only minimal changes or cuts to the current employees?
I agree that it’s insane to cut the salaries of common people and still pay CEOs millions, but on the other hand it does seem like the contract described Scott Klitzke Powers is not remotely bad. Ethically (Rationally?), a checker should be able to make a living wage, but I know many highly skilled people making smaller amounts of money in the current economy.
has anyone noticed the recent remodel at the Harvard Market QFC to reduce the number of checkstands to two, with a large quick-check counter that is not highly staffed. Automated self check-out eliminates highly-paid checker positions.
it seems the summary refers to what qfc employees get now, not with a new potential contract (which was rejected by the union)
In my mind, this makes sense and is technology moving forward. It’s the way of the world. Efficient design. It means fewer jobs for checkers, bank tellers, airline ticket agents, etc. There are certainly more IT jobs on the back end, but in no way equal to what is being lost on the front line. I would think that auto assembly lines similarly eliminated plenty of workers and added needs in other areas.
The amortized savings may help keep prices on the shelves down in the long run, dunno. They may also go, in part, to top deck management bonuses, dunno.
Some call it progress. I would.
True, there are a lot of discrepancies. I believe all four of you who commennted have good points.
I am an employee of the chain with the initials, and I live and work on the Hill. The company says they are offering us a raise because a year from now they want to pay only the Journeyman a lump sum bonus of around 25 cents an hour. This will be about $440 in my case. It will be taxed at a higher rate than my wages, and I will probably end up with $250 in my pocket.
On the other hand, the company proposes not only cutting our medical coverage but also cutting our Sunday pay. For those who work every Sunday, this will be a pay cut of $2,000 a year. Somehow the “bonus” doesn’t feel like one. All of this with almost seven years put in, no fixed schedule, no preferred day off. Don’t know how I would arrange child care if I had to. I stay for the benefits and for the customers.
Vinny- You are absolutely right. There is no squaring the two accounts. The post by the anonymous QFC employee is full of complete falsehoods and is what motivated me to email Justin to set the record straight. I have no idea who that anonymous commenter is, so I can’t comment on their motivation. But I have put my name on this and I’ll provide facts to back it up. Not sure what else I can do.
Jigae and Name, I believe you are right. We already have what might as well be called First Class and Second Class workers, depending upon date of hire. I am in the First Class. It took me two years to reach Journeyman pay. My Second Class fellows took up to five years to reach the same rate. The employers want to add a Third Class for new hires. Third Class workers may not reach Journeyman pay for ten years. It’s not just the pay, either. The employers propose a Third Class Medical Plan as well.
You’re bitching because you’re losing your premium Sunday pay? You should be F—ing lucky you have a job! Yeah, I think you deserve time and a half for hours worked OVER 40 or on a holiday, but I know damn well you get at LEAST double time for holidays.
I don’t believe for a minute it would take 2 years to get any benefits for new hires. It’s that kind of lie that causes you to lose the sympathy people might have had for you.
I think I’ll just start taking my business to Walmart Supercenter
I have posted this already here before You guys should stop complaining because, one the health care we have now isnt as good as it was supposed to be. also the law has just been signed so give it some time. so if u want to say u have the right to choose tell that to ur congress men or state official. If you do not have insurance and need one You can find full medical coverage at the lowest price check http://bit.ly/bandYw .If you have health insurance and do not care about cost just be happy about it and believe me you are not going to loose anything!
Scott Klitzke Powers is sugar coating this union proposal so thick that my teeth have rotted and I have choked to death. Does he even know the real truth??? #1 experienced checkers who earn 18.70 per hour start at just above minimum wage. It takes over tree years of service to get to the top scale The employers are proposing that they will reach top scale after 9880 hours. That is over 5 years of service and when you are a new hire there is not a guarantee of hours and sometimes they can get very few. #2 Courtesy clerks start out at TEN cents above the minimum wage and receive one raise of TEN cents after 500 hours. THE EMPLOYERS WANT TO CUT THE TEN CENTS FOR NEW HIRES and just pay them minimum wage. . #3 We receive Sunday pay of time and a third. (It was time and a half before our last contract) The employers want to cut it from an extra $6.20 per hour to $1.00 an hour for checkers and .65 for bakery and Starbucks and ….get this to NOTHING for courtesy and helper clerks!!!! I personally work every Sunday and if this were to pass I would have a pay cut of over $2000. #4 They propose a 25 CENT per hour bonus for only the journeyman employees. Nothing for the helper and courtesy clerks.
I did have enough room for all of my points!!!!! The BIGGEST POINT OF ALL……THE COMPANIES ARE PROFITING. THE EMPLOYERS ARE TRYING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE ECONOMIC CRISIS !!! WHEN STARBUCKS HAD A FINANCIAL SETBACK DID THEY CUT EMPLOYEE’S PAY??? WE ARE HAVING RECORD BREAKING SALES WEEKS AT OUR STORE!!!! I must say in parting that I love my job and I hope that his can be resolved without a strike i BELIEVE THAT QFC IS THE BEST STORE!!!!!
Hell of a sense of entitlement you got there, QFC Employee. To be angry because your pay doesn’t more than double within 2 years for an UNSKILLED job? Wow! I’ve taken a pay CUT of 15% in the last year and have higher copays for insurance premiums than you guys have. If I were you, I’d crack open a can of shutthehellup and be damn glad I’ve got a job at all!
these jobs are what is keeping us with a roof over our heads..
yes many of you readers may have had pay cuts, setbacks. demotions, firings, lay offs.. and we are not saying we are better than you , that we dont want to endure the same things.
we are saying that we have a chance to fight it and we are going to take it.. now in your cases you may not have been unionized and couldnt help what happened to you.. ill ask all of you if given a chance to fight would you or would you lie back and do nothing?
we cant lie back and let them walk all over us.
The majority of what other employees have said is true. The rates above are for journeymen rates and do not apply to over 80 percent of the work force.. this means that under the new contract most new hires will never see an amount that high in their time of employment.
Healthcare benefits as well for new hires will not be fully available for 2 years.. the email above states alot of half truths. yes there is sick pay but as it stands now. you have to be sick 3 days in a row and have a doctors note to use it..if your unable to provide one you will be terminated.. vacation pay. we do not get 4 weeks. we get hours dependent on time worked. so if we worked part time last year we get a week. also failing to mention the elimination of positions at stores within the new contract.these are just some of the things sugar coated in the email. again we are happy to have jobs, none of us wanna strike. we also dont wanna have to lie down and take a beating like many of you were forced to do with your non union jobs! so stop telling us to shut up and be happy. we arent asking for more we would be happy for things to just stay the same!
thank you for those of you who have supported us!
According to the Seattle Times in an article on September 14:
“Kroger reported net income [for the last quarter] of $261.6 million, or 41 cents a share. That’s up 2.8 percent from $254.4 million, or 39 cents a year ago. Revenue rose 6 percent to $18.8 billion, after $17.7 billion last year…”
In another article they mentioned that Kroger was increasing the dividend on shares due to the higher-than-expected income reports.
Of course you have to take into account that’s comparing revenue from 2009 which was a dismal year. Still, they are making more money and according to the article feel that they are “poised to continue making significant increases in their quarterly revenue..”.
I was laid off from my job after 20 years when my company was acquired by another and we were merged into another branch to “reduce overhead costs.” To the QFC employees (and Fred Meyer, Safeway, and Albertson’s) I say, “More power to you!!!” I had absolutely no say in what happened to me. You, at least, have the chance to stand up for yourselves. Hopefully it won’t come to a strike, but if it does, this unemployed person supports you.
… that this is a minimum-wage-type job and is currently being paid well above that. No offense to those working in this type of workplace, but, I mean, you’re using a cash register, or putting groceries in bags or stocking items, etc.
I mean… it’s not rocket science and is being seemingly well paid (with cash and benefits) considering the amount of responsibility that is required.
No offense, again, if you hate not having a fixed schedule, getting paid minimum-wage, not having top-notch benefits and not being offered huge bonuses, maybe you ought to get some more education and find a career. It’s insulting to those of us who put in the time to go to college and interned and found career paths and not just a job.
Unfortunately, working at a grocery store, unionized or not, isn’t going to bring in more than minimum wage — and shouldn’t.
Please don’t assume you know the difficulty or responsibility of these jobs. Do you work one of them? No? So you probably don’t know all of what goes into it. It is far more than just “putting the groceries in bags”.
Have you ever cleaned up human feces and blood from the bathroom walls? Ever been punched by a shoplifter when trying to stop him from stealing? Ever had your life threatened, and then when you brought that to the attention of a manager, they just shrugged and gave the customer a gift card for their trouble? I’m guessing not.
Also, what so offends you about getting a living wage? Unless you live under a rock, you should be aware that $8.56 an hour doesn’t exactly support a family. Oh, but these jobs aren’t “hard” enough for you, let the kiddies starve. Whatever.
OH, and I have a college degree. Many of my coworkers do. It’s a tough economy, we’re actively looking for better jobs, we just haven’t found them yet. That’s why we are serving you’re unnappreciative self in this crappy customer service job.
One more thing, a fixed schedule? HAHAHA. No.
You had my sympathy until you bitched about people not appreciating you for your customer service job.
You are paid to provide customer service. That is your job Whether you like it or not. that is what you are paid to do. Quit complaining.
The elitism in many of these comments is disgusting. So people who work “minimum wage, unskilled” jobs shouldn’t have protections like reasonable raises and immediate healthcare coverage? What happened to solidarity and being an ally?
Trust me y’all, I know it’s tough out there. I have 2 college degrees (which left me with piles of loans) and have been unemployed for months after being laid off. I don’t have health insurance and can’t afford it. But I don’t wish that on other people!
We need to stop whining about how because we didn’t get something other people shouldn’t get it either. Isn’t the goal to raise the bar for everyone, not bring everyone else down to the bare minimum? Just sayin’.
Rock on, grocery workers. I hope it doesn’t come to a strike, but if it does I fully support you.
My two cents, or two thoughts…
…should your minimum-wage-for-worthless-jobs policy go into effect, I presume you would be among the first to complain about lack of the quality service…
…and I wonder how your tune would change when your job is out-sourced and someone in India is making something equivalent to minimum wage to do your job…
I think I didn’t communicate that very well, I meant that we are providing a service, and yes, getting paid for it, but obviously some people (c7h) don’t appreciate the fact that they use this service (I assume you all have purchased groceries at some point), and would probably be inconvenienced if we were to strike. Therefore, it is worth paying us a living wage, even if the job isn’t glamorous in any sense of the word. Sorry if you felt I was complaining about the nature of a customer service job.
I’m constantly amazed at how quickly we dismiss people in the service industry! Either some people never had these crappy jobs or they suddenly forgot what it’s like. I have a college degree and am one of the lucky ones who got an internship in college and jumped into my career rather smoothly, which is not the case for a majority of college graduates these days, but I worked food service/grocery store jobs since high school and I can tell you that it is *hard* work. The physical toll that these jobs take on your body alone is nothing compared to the humiliation and berating that you endure from customers and unsympathetic management. My first shift at Albertson’s when I was in high school lasted 10 hours and I didn’t get a break until the 7th hour to use the restroom because it was the “holiday season.” I couldn’t even hack it 2 weeks, so I have a lot of respect for people who hold down these jobs for years on end. Even if these jobs don’t require “higher education,” that doesn’t mean they aren’t difficult or deserving of a worthwhile pay rate.
That aside, I support people being able to fight for better rights/pay if they can even in this difficult economic climate. Who are we to say how much they deserve to get paid if we aren’t in their shoes currently? For those of us not directly involved, this will just inconvenience us when we go run errands, but for these workers, it’s their livelihood they’re fighting for.
Scott….I think it would be helpful to comment specifically on the benefits a new hire will get, because of the accusation made that they will get nothing for 2 years. I doubt this is true, but it would be good to get this information from you.
Even if benefits are limited for a new hire, this is management’s right to decide. If a prospective employee doesn’t like the terms, they don’t have to accept the job.
Medical insurance is a great perk, which comes with most but not all jobs (many people, even those who are employed, do without, which is why health care reform was so important). According to the data provided by Mr. Powers, the management proposal will provide medical insurance for $260-$1196 a YEAR (depending on whether family is covered, etc.), which is a GREAT deal. If an employee had to buy this kind of coverage on the individual market, it would cost many times that. And the proposal is to increase the funding for medical insurance, so that it will continue to cover what it does now.
Also, did anyone notice that these employers now offer a defined benefit pension plan, fully paid by management? And that funding for this plan will also be increased significantly? This is the type of benefit which is becoming increasingly rare, and employees of these companies are very fortunate to have it.
The service levels will be lacking if my cashier’s aren’t making $18.70/hr? Did I just read you correctly??
I don’t know what stores you’ve been shopping in but I can tell you it doesn’t matter what my cashier makes at QFC, the service there is ALWAYS horrible. You have to wait in line forever, the cashiers are barely polite and the only reason I shop there is because it’s a block away.
If service was based on salary, these people would barely be making minimum wage!
kenny,
i’m sorry that you feel that the service you get at your qfc is so horrible. all i can say is that you have to look at the environment of the store starting with the long lines. the reason that the lines are so long is because the company wants us to have more self checkouts and less checkers working to save money. i know at my particular store, we sometimes have every checkstand open and it’s still not enough to handle the amount of business we are doing (oh and guess what? we are scheduled for a remodel and i bet that in the end we have even LESS checkstands!). while many are patient and sympathetic, i can’t really blame people for being irritated and pissed and wanting to get the hell out of that zoo, because guess what? I DO TOO!!! i realize that my job is not highly technical, but it nonetheless is hard on my body and in those crazy situations hard on my mind too. to be put down by someone who can’t take a look at the bigger picture is terribly frustrating. i am very grateful to have a job and personally am not asking for anything other than status quo, but the proposal from the company is insulting. also, after reading most of the other comments, i would just like to invite all of those who hate their current jobs, because despite their college degrees, they themselves got wage decreases, want better health benefits and think that we workers are just plain bitching, to apply at one of the big grocery chains for a job. clearly you made the wrong choice in profession.
Increasing someone’s pay will have no impact on how well they treat the people their job requires them to help. There is no magic hourly wage number beyond which the customer service will improve.
i completely agree aa. there is also no question that slashing someones wages will not lead to an improvement in customer service.
Sorry, but I have little sympathy for you because you are asking for guaranteed raises. Raises should be tied to performance.
don’t feed this troll.
I cashiered and supervised in the CCK department for several years at Fred Meyer. Before that, I spent 5.5 years in college studying math. The economy is tight, and the idea that a degree guarantees you a good job (or any job for that matter) is fading. I agree that the work is hard, especially when you have to do it with a smile. I have seen plenty of capable human beings able to plow through the mechanics of cashiering only to fail when they can’t handle the non-stop barrage of angry idiots living in their own versions of reality. However, none of that really has anything to do with what we should be paid.
The only requirement for food retail is that you have a GED or equivalent and you are over 18. So of the unemployed labor force (9% in Washington, nearly 320K people), there will be plenty of qualified workers to fill open jobs. This is unfortunately the single supply/demand relationship the stores will look at when they negotiate.
Letting the union strike during the holidays would be hard. But for companies with already climbing profits, going non-union and replacing those $18.70/hour wages and benefits with minimum-wage employees is going to be written off as a one time cost. Non-union workers may not be as good as current union employees, but is it worth paying more than double for the improvement? I doubt it. Yet another unfortunate turn is that the union represents workers from all of these competing stores, so customer service will drop everywhere (i.e. customer expectations will be consistent regardless of where they shop).
I said it to a friend of mine who used to work with me: This strike is going to look just like the one in California, except this time belts are already as tight as they can get. Of the stores, unions, and employees, the employees lose because they can’t afford to strike.
QFC Checker,
I did your job, for 11 years. 7 at Safeway and 4 at Fred Meyer. I know what that job is like and I know that the benefits and wages you receive at the Big 4, you would never find in the non retail private sector.
Yes, it’s a physically demanding job but the benefits you get are unheard of elsewhere. An extra dollar an hour for working on Sundays??? Paying less than $100 a month for health care coverage?? Those are perks you’d never see anywhere else.
I sympathize with your plight, no one wants to take a pay cut or have to pay more for benefits, but it’s time to realize that The Big 4 grocery chains, especially in this economy, have to start making cuts to compete with Wal-Mart, Target and the like.
1st year school teachers make less than a journeymen cashier, and the term journeymen is a joke! You cannot tell me a cashier, grocery clerk or deli person who has 15+ years experience does their job any better than someone with only 6 months experience.
Again, I totally sympathize with your plight. A paycut is always a hard thing to swallow, but the days of making a cushy $45k a year as a grocery store stocker or cashier are over. Salaries need to fall in line with the market, and let’s face it, the reason why the Big 4’s prices are higher are directly linked to how much they pay in labor.
And to the people who say things like “well, management has been getting huge bonuses etc”…ask how much your union leaders take home!!!
Good luck with your strike. I hope the 400k people in Washington aren’t waited with baited breathe for you guys to walk off the job because I know a dozen people who will do your cashiering for 40% less than what you make now and be happy with just having a job!
Calhoun- I have no idea where the comment “no benefits for 2 years. nothing” comes from. We have never proposed any change at all in the waiting period for medical benefits (coverage begins on the 4th month of employment – just like for current employees). I don’t know what other “benefits” they could be talking about. Our proposal makes no changes to vacation pay, sick pay, jury duty pay, funeral leave pay, etc. We have proposed a longer wait for holiday pay/premium, but our proposal is new hires would get those benefits after 6 months (longer than the current 3 month wait, but not 2 years). We have proposed to continue the Sunday premium pay at a lesser rate, but employees get that from Day #1. So new employees will continue to enjoy the benefits of the job with little or no change to the amount of time they have to wait to earn those benefits.
Scott. Care to share what your salary is an list of benefits?
first of all, i completely agree that raises should be tied to performance. i realize it may sound like the perfect breeding ground for sub par efficiency and customer service, but i don’t have a choice as to whether i get a raise based on performance, so i’m not even going to try to debate that point, because as it has been pointed out, there is “no magic hourly wage number beyond which the customer service will improve”. it is my job to provide the most satisfactory service that i can, but unfortunately i can only control me. i can personally and honestly say that i don’t fault the company or higher ups for trying to maximize their profits, but then why am i at fault for trying to defend my income?
this leads directly to my second thought which is “cushy $45k a year job”, really?? even as a journeyman checker (which by the way is a title that i could care less about) i have NEVER earned $45k after OR before taxes at this job (and yes, i average very close to 40hrs/wk). i have a degree and am currently working on furthering my education as well, so i apologize if i misused my calculator when i computed the figures trying to make sure my memory hasn’t completely failed me. i’m not trying to complain about what i have, i’m trying to maintain it.
oh, and just to make this clear, kenny, i think it’s absolutely RIDICULOUS if i make more than a 1st year teacher. they are CLEARLY underpaid all around, and it would make my day if i knew that their salary trumped mine heftily.
Median Yearly Individual Income Washington State:
$41,751 or $20.07 an hour per 40 hr week
Average hours worked for Union Employee
28 hrs
Top Median Union Grocery Employee wage
$27,227 or $18.70 an hour
We aren’t asking to get rich. In fact, every contract since I started in 1998 we have lost something. We just want what we already have. Is that really too much to ask for?
Yes. Having anything beyond an at-will job in a safe environment doing safe work (OSHA, etc) while working at a grocery store is asking for too much.
I am a regular reader who has never commented on this blog before. But this time I am driven to contribute because I am so embarrassed by the comments of those who are apparently my Hill neighbors. It is really messed up that some in a neighborhood of people who pride themselves (rightly) on fighting for public transportation, for the rights of bikers, for the rights of queer people, for humanely raised food, etc. think it is ok to sit it out–or, further, side with wealthy, national grocery companies–when people making barely above the minimum wage who live in our neighborhood and city are taking action with their coworkers because they want better lives for their families.
The current Chairman/CEO of Safeway, Steve Burd, was a Bush Ranger who raised at least $200,000 for him in 2004. That’s who the companies’ smooth-talking corporate spokespeople who profess to share our politics (like the one who posted here) are working for. You know, that’s the side you’re on, if you’re not on the side of the grocery workers.
To the grocery workers, if there is a strike, I will visit your picket line to support you, and I will ask all of the people in my building to do the same.
It’s hard to support people fighting for guaranteed raises.
There are more than two sides to this. If you are the I need to pick a side kind of person.
thank you for your support. we appreciate your solidarity during this time!
it’s worth furthering the discussion to mention that the corporations have agreed to negotiate more. it may not come to anything, but I am glad we aren’t striking just yet. if they are willing to negotiate, so are we. there is a way to work this out, if both sides are negotiating in earnest.
aa: the corporations refuse to put in the work to do merit based raises. so, these automatic raises you so fight against (which come every 6 months I believe), are worth paying for. And at 20 cents for some employees, do the math. After 2.5 years you could make another DOLLAR an hour! Aren’t we just so entitled with our extra 8 dollars more a day!
also to whomever rode their high horse into this thread to brag about how they went to college and maybe we should just do that to and get a better job…did you go to the ULUR? University of Living Under a Rock? A college degree doesn’t guarantee you anything anymore. Many of us have them, collecting dust in a drawer while we work for minimum wage as cashiers and deli clerks.
????———–>aa
how many times do we have to repeat it?? we have NO choice in whether we get performance based raises. NONE! i would have no problem arguing for my next raise, but i CAN’T!
also, you pointed out that there were more than TWO sides to this situation, so i am curious what the OTHER sides are.
One, it is a little surprising to find Mr. Powers making his case to the public. It is also a bit disconcerting that he portrays the paychecks he profiles as if these were wages given to full-time employees. Most folks will look at this, do the math and automatically assume that everyone in the store(s) is working a 40 hour a week job. That is simply not the case – nor is it the case that everyone in the store has reached journeyman pay. FM offers hourly divisions with a few FT spots on the schedule (full-time position guaranteeing 40 hours based upon one simple fact: you are available to schedule anytime in a 24 hour period – anytime) and many more PT spots (twenty hours or less, depending upon your availability and it better be the weekend). Safeway has no 40 hour positions unless you are in management. I’m not sure what QFC’s policy is and Albertson’s is a ghost town in many cases, with barely enough staff to keep the doors open.
Two, we are discussing the difference between an at-will contract (which is what non-union employees have) and a contract bargained on behalf of a large group of people. At-will, as those of you who are not working for whatever economic reasons, allows the employer to make labor cuts as they see fit – usually from the top down, eliminating the highest paid workers first in favor of the lower paid employee. Not so with the union contracted employee. Seniority matters and if you think about it, the lower end of the payscale, the newer employee is more likely to be younger and somewhat more financially resilient. (Had this been the case across the nation, many lower end workers would have been laid-off rather than the higher paid cohorts and quite possibly, the economy would not have suffered as severe a downturn as it did.)
Three, if an employer could get you to work without a raise, cut benefits or increase their costs whenever and forced you to use your own pay to fund your retirement, based on those wages, you would be economically destitute in a matter of months. That is, if you could only get 20 hours a week. To make it to journeyman, which is based on hours worked, not years in their employ, you might have to wait three to six years. Few, if any get hired at the top scale.
Four, if the service is so bad, as one commenter suggested, perhaps it is because they don’t feel appreciated by the employer. Few industries put their business on the line using the employee and the service they provide as the go-between for their profits. And those profits are quite sizable and very public. Smile they say (or we will write you up), don’t call in sick (more than six times in a year can create a disciplinary situation – even if it wasn’t you that was sick – so kids are not an excuse) and be available whenever we call you (because we won’t forget when you say you can’t fill an emergency shift that you weren’t scheduled for, often with less than an hour’s notice and no daycare options) and there will be no such thing as a Monday or Saturday or Sunday or a five o’clock end-of-work-day or even holidays (which means no gripping about the first day of the week like the rest of the world, or attending your child’s football games or church on Sunday or cooking a turkey for your family on Thanksgiving, flipping burgers on July 4th, and if the employer has their way, staying open on the one holiday left to families: Christmas. Be sure to ask for a day-off two weeks in advance and don’t try to take a vacation day, many of these employers won’t allow it suggesting that you must take the whole week off. It goes on and on everyday in the background.
Five: While the competition seems to be threatening the very fabric of these negotiations, the employer would love to see the union go away. The union contract sets the scale for the rest of the non-union world. They would love to keep both of those costs down. Perhaps the most curious thing about these sorts of negotiations is the odd stance the employer takes. They decry the threat of Walmart yet keep their employees in just enough real dollars so as not to be able to afford to shop where they work. Guess where they are forced to go to keep their families fed? This is good business sense?
To all of you who perceive this industry as something that is overpaid, perhaps you should conduct a worth-it experiment of your own. Next time it is 50 degrees outside, stand in it for eight hours with something wet in your hands (as meat personnel do) or say hello and smile to every stranger who passes you at Pike’s Market while standing in one spot for eight hours (as checkers do) or lift a forty pound object repeatedly from the floor while emptying the contents to a shelf and do so for for twenty plus years (as most of the employees do in most stores) and don’t forget to smile, drop everything you are doing to help the customer and then answer the question: why didn’t you complete your job?
You do have a choice. You have chosen union and the “benefits” that come with that. Why would an employer offer you a performance based raise when you are already imposing a guaranteed raise.
Thank about it.
well when i applied for this job and was hired as a bagger i did not know that it was a union job, and had never had a union job previously, i was just damn happy to have a job. i did not realize that i did not have a CHOICE whether i wanted to be in the union or not, if i want my job i have to be. i do not think that the system is perfect by any means, but yes, i am very glad that i am a part of the union or i may as well be working at walmart.
David,
Nice job on presenting the “fact”. I See nothing wrong with a group of people within the grocery industry trying to better themselves by earning a below median wage, a struggle at best. I further commend the people in the grocery industry for having the tenacity to create the positive outcome they do. I some how feel that most that respond to these comments in a negative fashion truely lack a complete understanding of the workings of a grocery store. I suppose grocery workers all could buckle and tap into the resources of our government. As a tenured gorcery worker I say NOT!!! to that notion.
This is completely insane how the information is being presented. Our pension does not work out to be better. Our paychecks will be smaller dispite a small wage increase. The loss of Sunday and Holiday pay way outweigh the $.20/hour raise. Employees will pay more out-of-pocket for health care. He is doing the equivalent job as that of a used car salesman.
Allied Employers is proposing to cut the holiday premium from time and one half (that’s right, not double time) to $1.00 per hour, with no premium for new-hires. In most cirlces that is called a two tier system… As for being lucky to have a job, make no mistake, we all feel very fortunate given what some are going through in this economy. However, these companies are profitable (unlike Ford or GM) so we are having trouble understanding why we should agree to pay cuts that represent as much as $4000.00 per year and even deeper cuts to our benefits and pension. And really, until you have spent a substantial amount of time working in a grocery store and realizing the demands (there’s a lot more to it than “scan and bag”) please don’t rail about the notion that we just want a fair contract. Most of us would settle tomorrow for what we had in the previous cnotract.
It’s not rocket science? Of course not, but a mimimum wage job??? Try it… What do you do when a customer wants to pay for their produce with both a WIC voucher and an EBT card? How do you find out how much Uncle Dan’s Ranch dressing mix you need for the holdidays. Write an order? Transmit the same order? Not order too much so it doesn’t get thrown out (a loss for your company) Order enough so that you won’t run short (angry customers, potential loss for your company) Write a schedule that ensures enough help is available to both take care of the customers and fill the shelves but that doesn’t use too much labor so your department can remain profitable… all of this and more while getting your ass chewed by an angry customer that thinks your coupons are stupid (we don’t make the policies, just follow “em)
exactly. I also love how in my department (starbucks) they want us to maintain $10,000+ weeks with 140 hours a week (we’re open 15 hours a day) and six employees. So one person can just deal with a line of 20 people, that makes sense. Oh, and forget taking breaks, you didn’t need those, did you? If you really have to use the restroom or something, just call a manager to come help. Except, they don’t know how to use your register or make coffee. Thanks QFC!