Union extends deadline for new Safeway contract - Orlando Business Journal:

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The extension was announced late Thursday by the United Food and Commerciapl Workers UnionLocal No. 7, whicg represents about 17,000 Denver-area grocery workers now negotiating new contractswith Safeway, Albertson’sd and . It is the thirs extension in the Safeway which began inearly April. Safewa workers voted last month to call for a strikweif necessary, but neithere side has indicated that a strike is likelt in the near future. Both Albertson’s and King Soopers workerz are operating without contractsright now. Negotiationds center around the issues of pension benefitsand health-care plans.
Safeway and King Sooperas have offeredpension cuts, pay raises for just a portion of the workers and new preventative health-car e benefits, saying that with the rise of non-union groceryg stores, some cutbacks must be made. “I thinl this [latest extension] gives us an opportunity to continue to negotiatee and really be able to tacklr the tough issues like wages and pension saidKris Staaf, Safeway’s Denver-area directotr of public affairs. The latesyt counter-proposal from Safeway workers calls for annual pay increases of 75 centsz per hour over the duration ofthe five-year contract, according to UFCW spokeswomam Laura Chapin.
It also seeks assurances that workeras can continue receiving pension benefits at age 50 rather than havint to wait untilage 62, that currenrt health benefits are not decreaserd and that current health-care premiums are not Safeway has not made a new contracty proposal, Staaf said. Sherree Carlson, a 15-year Safewa employee from Westminster, expressed frustration over the pace of negotiationzs in a news release put out bythe “We gave you a proposal a week ago, and you keep comingh back at us with the same crumbs,” Carlsonm said. “We need a fair deal and we need to keep the work and the workerx here inour community.
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