Grocery workers in the Washington, D.C., area have reversed concessionary bargaining in the industry for the first time in a generation, reports Labor Notes. “Last November 17,000 workers at Giant Food and Safeway stores ratified a contract that substantially increased starting pay, cut in half the time it takes for part-timers to reach top pay, protected health benefits with no cost increases and strengthened pension funding,” writes Local 400’s director of mobilization Alan Hanson. Members of Local 400 “won these gains with an escalating contract campaign, ultimately demonstrating that they were willing to strike during the all-important Thanksgiving week,” Hanson says. His detailed report acknowledges past organizing and contract failures and outlines the strategies Local 400 has developed to build density, use political power and partner with union, community, and faith allies. “Organizing and mobilizing cannot stop when a contract fight ends,” Hanson says.
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