Posts Tagged: new contract

UFCW members from across the country have approved a new four-year contract with Hormel that covers five meatpacking plants and 3,300 workers. The plants are at Austin, Minn.; Beloit, Wis.; Atlanta, Ga.; Freemont, Neb.; and Algona, Iowa.

The new contract gives production workers a raise of $1.55 an hour over four years. The contract also includes improvements in the pension plan, affordable healthcare, and maintained benefit levels with some improvements.

For employees hired after 1990 and with five years of service, 20 cents per hour will be invested in the Hormel 401(k) to help cover insurance cost when they reach retirement age. All wage increases are retroactive to Sept. 14.

UFCW Local 75 Kroger workers ratified a new contract that merges workers from Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, into one strong unit.

UFCW Local 75 members in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, Kroger stores have voted to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement. The new contract merges the formerly separate Cincinnati and Dayton contracts.

Through the hard work of the members of the Cincinnati and Dayton Bargaining Committee, and by sticking together through the negotiations process, members were able to reach an agreement that guarantees annual wage increases; protects quality, affordable health care; strengthens contract language; and preserves full-time jobs.

The new contract:

• Creates more bargaining power and work opportunities for members. By merging the Cincinnati and Dayton contracts into one agreement, members have more opportunity for promotion and transfer, and one set of work rules for all stores in the area. The merged agreement protects and provides full-time jobs over the life of the agreement, in an increasingly part-time industry.

• Secures affordable, quality health care. Members have more options for health care and may take advantage of lower weekly contributions by completing biometric screenings. Spousal coverage is maintained through the spouse’s employer provided, ACA qualified benefits; other spouses continue to have coverage through the union contract. Part-time members retain access to health care benefits.

• Provides wage increases and wage parity. The contract provides guaranteed wage increases each year over term; increase amounts vary depending on classification. There will also be wage parity between Cincinnati and Dayton by the end of the agreement. The bracket progressions have been reduced so members can get raises more quickly, and have been adjusted to reflect an increasing minimum wage.

• Guarantees pension benefits. Members of UFCW Local 75 are part of the UFCW Consolidated Pension Fund, ratified in 2011. Pension benefits are guaranteed for ten years, until 2021.