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Grocery Workers in Alaska Stand Together for a Better Life

About 125 members of UFCW Local 1496 who work at three Fred Meyer stores in Fairbanks and Eagle River, Alaska, ratified contracts on Feb. 7 and 17 that raise wages and improve benefits.

Members of UFCW Local 1496 who work at the Meat and Seafood Department at the Eagle River Fred Meyer #668 store ratified their first union contract on Feb. 17.

The stores in Fairbanks are Fred Meyer East #485 and Fred Meyer West #224. The Fred Meyer East #485 store includes members in jobs ranging from stocking shelves to cashier training in all food departments, including meat and seafood, bakery, deli, Starbucks, produce and grocery. The Fred Meyer West #224 store includes members in the Meat and Seafood Department, which is the store’s only unionized department. Members in the two stores in Fairbanks ratified their contracts on Feb. 7.

The Eagle River Fred Meyer #668 store includes members in the Meat and Seafood Department, which is the only unionized department in the store. The workers at the Eagle River Fred Meyer #668 store joined UFCW Local 1496 last June, and ratified their contract on Feb. 17, which is their first union agreement.

The 16-month contracts, which were negotiated together for all three Fred Meyer stores, include wage increases, a one-time lump sum ratification bonus to all members, and additional increases to Sunday and night premium pay. The contracts improve sick pay so that any member with a full bank of sick leave will have first day paid instead of waiting until day three. The contracts also include improvements to Fred Meyer’s Meat Cutter Apprentice Program, and secure better access to the disciplinary process at the store level, which will allow Union Representatives more freedom to assist and defend members that are having issues at work.

UFCW Calls on Congress to Pass the PRO Act

On Feb. 28, the UFCW issued a statement in support of the reintroduction of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would provide new protections to workers seeking to organize, and urged Congress to pass the bill.

“The PRO Act would be a transformational bill that protects the rights and livelihoods of essential workers all across the United States,” said UFCW International President  Marc Perrone in a statement. “Every American, union member or not, deserves the transparency and accountability for employers that the PRO Act offers. From preventing the misclassification of essential workers as ‘independent contractors’ to eliminating barriers that workers face when trying to organize and increasing penalties for employers who violate workers’ rights – every provision in the PRO Act supports American workers.”

“The UFCW has always stood with every worker fighting to improve their workplace and build a better life,” Perrone added. “There’s no more important step that our country could take right now to support those efforts than passing the PRO Act. Today, the UFCW joins the entire labor movement in calling on Congress to empower working families by doing exactly that.”