UFCW Local 400 members working at Lipton Tea-Unilever in Suffolk, Va., voted 67-9 to ratify a strong new two-year collective bargaining agreement on Wednesday, October 20th. The new union contract provides wage increases for all bargaining unit members, increased time off, and no health and welfare cost hikes. “The Company did not want to give anything this time, but we stood our ground and got everything we could,” said Terrell Owens, a Local 400 member and Lipton employee who served on the bargaining committee. “They wanted to freeze wages and not give annual raises, but the committee stood strong and didn’t flinch. We got everybody a raise. They also wanted to give us Juneteenth as a replacement for one of our other holidays, but we said we wanted Juneteenth as a new holiday along with the others and that’s what we got.” The more than 200 workers at the Suffolk Lipton plant, which makes most of the brand’s tea sold in North America, organized with Local 400 and won their first union contract in 2017. This is their second collective bargaining agreement.
NOTE: UFCW 400 workers at Shoppers are still fighting for a contract: they have three local actions scheduled today and tomorrow; see Calendar above or click here for details. Comments are closed.
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