Blog

More than 80 members of UFCW Local 5 who work at Imperfect Foods in San Francisco recently ratified a first contract that strengthens wages and benefits.

The one-year contract includes wage increases averaging 5 percent, an additional paid holiday, guaranteed hours, employer-sponsored health care and an end to mandatory overtime. The contract also includes the establishment of a health and safety committee and for the first time, establishes a just-cause discipline standard backed by a grievance and arbitration process.

The workers joined our union family in April of 2021, responding to increased workloads, unsafe working conditions, rising employee health plan costs, and a lack of job security. In spite of the usual delay tactics employed by the company, a strong worker organizing and bargaining committee kept their co-workers informed and together to achieve the final outcome.

“While I am one of the newer workers at the San Francisco location, I believe that the new contract is a really good deal in that it finally recognizes the contributions made by my longer-term co-workers,” said Fay Woods.

Woods sees the establishment of health and safety standards as one of the most important results of the settlement.

“As the only woman on the jobsite, I plan to participate on the new safety committee, as well as being involved in every available opportunity for union involvement,” she said.

More than 140 ICWUC and Teamsters members who work at two INEOS pigments plants in Ashtabula, Ohio, recently called on the company to stop violating U.S. labor law and bargain a first contract. INEOS is a global chemical company, and INEOS Pigments is one of the largest producers of titanium dioxide in North America. 

The workers, who are members of ICWUC / UFCW Local 1033C and Teamsters Local 377, unionized in August of 2021 after the company eliminated workers’ pensions, increased the cost of family health care by over $100 per week, and began utilizing under-trained subcontractors to perform work at the facility.

“INEOS would not be the profitable chemical giant it is without these workers, yet the company has taken away benefits like pensions and health care that allow them to support their families,” said ICWUC / UFCW Local 1033C International Representative Ron Moore. “Our members will not allow INEOS to continue to violate labor law and treat them like they’re disposable. We will continue to raise our voices, and demand they stop the stalling tactics and bargain in good faith to address our concerns.”

“We won our first election at INEOS in November of 2016,” said ICWUC / UFCW President Lance Heasley. “INEOS has used every tactic available to them to prevent the workers from having a voice in their workplace. The ICWUC/UFCW will continue to work with the Teamsters to secure a good union contract for the workers at INEOS.”