Workers Reach Tentative Agreement with Giant & Safeway

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Giant and Safeway workers in the DC and Baltimore metropolitan areas, represented by UFCW Locals 400 and 27, have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with their employers. They will vote on whether or not to ratify the contract on Tuesday, April 3rd. “I am pleased that after long and difficult negotiations, we have been able to reach an agreement that increases our members’ wages and strengthens their health and retirement security,” said Local 400 President Tom McNutt. “It was our members’ activism in reaching out to customers and the community, and their unbreakable solidarity throughout this challenging period that made this agreement possible. Our members will be the first to review the proposed contract’s details,” McNutt said. “That will take place at the ratification meeting, where they will have the opportunity to ask questions, discuss its terms, debate whether or not it should be approved, and then vote on it. This is a democratic process and they will determine their own future.” The workers’ current contract expires on March 31st, and it will be extended until the ratification vote takes place. UFCW Local 400 represents 40,000 members working in the retail food, health care, retail department store, food processing, service and other industries in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.
- photo: community and political supporters at Thursday morning’s “Love Thy Neighbor” action organized by Faith Strategies at the Shirley Park Shopping Center Giant in Arlington, VA; photo by Chris Garlock