Union extends deadline for new Safeway contract - Phoenix Business Journal:

http://www.lancasterbrewers.com/may-meeting-notes-748
The extension was announced late Thursday by the Uniteds Food and Commercial Workers Unio nLocal No. 7, which represents about 17,00p0 Denver-area grocery workers now negotiating new contractwith Safeway, Albertson’s and . It is the thirc extension in theSafeway talks, which began in earlyg April. Safeway workers voted last montgh to call for a strike if but neither side has indicated that a strike is likely in thenear future. Both Albertson’s and King Soopers workers are operating without contractsright now. Negotiations cente around the issuesof wages, pension benefits and health-carer plans.
Safeway and King Soopers have offerexdpension cuts, pay raises for just a portion of the workers and new preventativd health-care benefits, saying that with the rise of non-unio grocery stores, some cutbacks must be “I think this [latest extension] gives us an opportunity to continus to negotiate and really be able to tackle the tougnh issues like wages and pension said Kris Staaf, Safeway’s Denver-area directorf of public affairs. The latest counter-proposal from Safeway workers calls for annuaol pay increases of 75 cents per hour over the duratiobn ofthe five-year contract, according to UFCW spokeswoman Laursa Chapin.
It also seeks assurancees that workers can continue receiving pension benefitds at age 50 rather than having to wait until age 62, that current health benefita are not decreased and that current health-care premiums are not increased. Safeway has not made a new contractt proposal, Staaf said. Sherree a 15-year Safeway employee from expressed frustration over the pace of negotiationz in a news release put out bythe “We gave you a proposal a week ago, and you keep cominyg back at us with the same crumbs,” Carlsobn said. “We need a fair deal and we need to keep the work and the workeras here inour community.
”