Hi, I’m Jeff Traeger, president of UFCW Local 832 and the lead negotiator for talks with Safeway.
I got to tell you, I’ve been at the bargaining table most of this week and it has been a tough week.
Your committee is doing a phenomenal job representing you, but we’ve been slugging back and forth on important issues like wages and the progression, scales and benefits and classifications.
I have to be honest with you. The parties are still very far apart, even after bargaining all week. There’s a huge gap between what Safeway wants to offer you and what UFCW knows you deserve.
We are back at the table three days next week and have another day on the expiry date Saturday, the 19th of March. I’m going to try to give some regular updates next week because obviously, those three days are critical.
Your strike vote helped to get us to this place. Your committee is getting a little bit concerned that it’s not going to be enough to get us all the way to where we know
you deserve to be.
So we’re going to continue struggling with the employer at the bargaining table and hopefully, a breakthrough will happen next week and we’ll have some better news to report to you.
But in the meantime, keep your eye on our website for further updates.
Thank you.
Jeff Traeger
UFCW Loca 832 President