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Uploaded: Tuesday, November 13, 2012, 9:53 AM
Updated: Thursday, November 15, 2012, 7:18 AM
Raley's strike ends, pickets removed as management, striking unions settle
'An important accomplishment for our members, retirees,' union leaders say
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by Jeb Bing
Pleasanton Weekly Staff
The strike against Raley's and Nob Hill stores ended yesterday when a tentative agreement was reached between Raley's management and two unions of the United Food and Commercial Workers in Northern and Central California.
Leaders of UFCW 8-Golden State and UFCW Local 5 said they would submit the settlement to the unions' members for review and recommend ratification. The proposed agreement also will be submitted to union workers at Raley's Bel Air chain, which had not yet been affected directly by the strike.
Jacques Loveall, president of UFCW 8-Golden State, and Ron Lind, president of UFCW Local 5, said picket lines would immediately be withdrawn from all Raley's and Nob Hill stores. More than 7,000 UFCW members went on strike against the grocery chains early on Sunday, Nov. 4.
Loveall and Lind said the strike settlement guarantees when workers return to their jobs there will be no reprisals. Workers who were on strike also will maintain their positions, seniority and health care eligibility and all replacements workers will be immediately discharged.
Details of the settlement, which culminates 15 months of bargaining, will be released to the members before they are given to news media, they said.
Ordinarily, the terms of a tentative agreement are not released prior to the members having an opportunity to vote. However, the unions did confirm Raley's agreed to retain and fund the union's health benefit plan, the same plan agreed to by Save Mart and Safeway.
"This is an important accomplishment for our members and retirees," the union leaders said in a joint statement. "Because of the resolve and solidarity exhibited by our members and allies in the labor Movement, along with the extraordinary support of our customers, we were able to address Raley's competitive concerns while protecting our membership in a very challenging time. We now look forward to returning to work and serving our loyal customers."
UFCW 8-Golden State and UFCW Locals 5 and 648 negotiated a contract with the Save Mart and Lucky chains last summer. Another agreement was reached between the three unions and Safeway/Vons on Nov. 8.
Loveall and Lind thanked the labor organizations in the Raley's Solidarity Alliance of Unions for their support during the negotiations with Raley's management.
In addition to UFCW 8-Golden State and UFCW Local 5, the Alliance's members included UFCW Local 711 in Nevada; Northern California Teamsters; Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union Local 85; and IUOE Stationary Engineers Local 39.
Loveall and Lind also recognized the UFCW International Union, national, regional and local labor organizations for their support during the lengthy negotiations and subsequent strike. They also expressed their gratitude to Federal Mediator Greg Lim.
"There is a time to fight and there is a time to unite," they said. "Now is the time for all of us to come together and get back to work serving the customers who supported our cause."Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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Posted by Mike Lee, a resident of the Bridle Creek neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2012 at 10:33 am The union did a disservice by striking their employer! If they wanted to picket, go stand in front of wal-mart. They are the ones killing your jobs! Ask how many of the union members have ever shopped at a wal-mart and you may be surprised at their stupidity. If you want to save your middle-class jobs then unite against the forces that truly threaten your standard of living. It's not just you in the grocery business being negatively impacted but every small town in america and beyond. They profess "low prices-always" but cheaper is not necessarily better. Cheaper usually involves China...Buy American folks!!!
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Posted by neighbor, a resident of the Bridle Creek neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2012 at 12:44 pm Union picketing is no disservice to anyone. It is completely American to have collective bargaining. Mr. Lee is wrong about that. Unions built this Country and companies should be thankful for their members hard work instead of trying to squeeze more profits by taking benefits.
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Posted by joanna, a resident of the Downtown neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2012 at 2:56 pm But Mr. Lee is correct about Wal-Mart and its nearly all Made in China goods. I agree--buy American! I bought my first Ford this year and am really enjoying it! Glad the strike is over and that it didn't go on too long.
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Posted by Jill, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2012 at 6:15 pm Yes, can we now get back to subsidizing Walmart by paying for the food stamps its employees are eligible for?
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Posted by Hmmm, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2012 at 7:38 pm I think half the nation are eligible for food stamps these days . . . Or will be soon the way things are going!
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Posted by Jill, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2012 at 8:53 pm Yes, Walmart and others like it continue to expand, always at the expense of the public who gets stuck paying the bill for their underpaid, nonunion workers.
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Posted by Jaime, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Nov 14, 2012 at 9:21 am Now that Raley's has given into the union's demands, the net result is going to be that you will be paying still higher grocery prices. I love Raley's, but the grocery union's actions will likely mean I do more grocery shopping at Walmart.
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Posted by Another Neighbor in Pleasanton, a member of the Foothill High School community, on Nov 14, 2012 at 10:52 am Mr. Lee is correct, it is Wal-Mart that should have the picketers. Folks, Wal-Mart negotiates with the cities that they go into by promising they will bring jobs! Yes, they do but the jobs are part-time and the wash-out rate is 75%. Which means people gets jobs just long enough so they can go on the public dole (unemployment). That we pay for!!!
ALSO do you know what Wal-Mart gets in return for the "promised jobs"? They get tax breaks or even paying NO taxes for years. These lost taxes means no money to the city coffers for police, fire or taking care of the streets.
We give all that up by letting Wal-Mart in. Because people want cheap, cheap, cheap, we lose more more more manufacturing jobs to overseas and we aid the demise of our cities by laying of police and fire fighters because we cannot afford them.
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Posted by John, a resident of the Bonde Ranch neighborhood, on Nov 14, 2012 at 11:02 am Can't wait until the Walmart Neighborhood Market comes to Pleasanton next year! Go ahead a pay higher prices to support these unions.
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Posted by Don, a member of the Fairlands Elementary School community, on Nov 14, 2012 at 11:31 am I am in full support of a Walmart Neighborhood store. It was Raley's closing on Santa Rita that allows them to open at this location.
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Posted by Klisvak, a resident of the Castlewood Heights neighborhood, on Nov 14, 2012 at 11:58 am All of you PW contributors, who love the Union shops such as Raley's or Safeway just shop there and PAY more. In fact, why don't you when checking out slip an extra five bucks to the Union cashiers and thank them for their contributions to this country. Unions are destroying the United States.
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Posted by john, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Nov 14, 2012 at 12:31 pm Klisvak,
I sometimes do tip people who have served me or helped carry my groceries. Don't you?
By the way, private sector unions are very different from public sector unions.
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Posted by Hmmm, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Nov 14, 2012 at 12:32 pm So some of you want the poor, who shop at Walmart, to shop at Raleys instead and pay higher prices to pay for the health care of employees after the age of 65, who are already coved by Medicare? That was what this strike was about.
Raley's already offers one of the best benefits package in their sector and healthcare benefits after the age of 65 was the big area of contention. They have already fired half their management and closed many stores and are trying to remain relevant so they stay open and their empoyees have jobs with great benefits.
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Posted by Lynne, a resident of Dublin, on Nov 14, 2012 at 12:35 pm Is there a club in Pleasanton or something where all these paranoid haters are trained and unleashed onto the public? Or are they all the same person?
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Posted by Analyst Dude, a resident of the Downtown neighborhood, on Nov 14, 2012 at 2:55 pm I for one, will be glad to have all the regular Raley's employees, Union & non-union, back in the store and back at work. The working employees (excluding the Head Clerks who walk around with a smirk on their face, a shirt that never gets wrinkled & a phony name on their badge) try to do their best with what they have to work with, and are to be praised for doing so.
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Posted by MrsJJHH, a member of the Vintage Hills Elementary School community, on Nov 14, 2012 at 3:20 pm ...And while we're on the subject of the Walmart leviathan, am I the only person who thinks it entirely possible that they will never actually open their proposed store on the former Nob Hill site? I suspect that they invested in the site merely to stop any other grocery store moving into the location. If so, I feel very sorry for the small traders there who were so excited to think that they'd soon have an anchor store to bring them back some business.
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Posted by contract, a resident of another community, on Nov 14, 2012 at 4:12 pm It takes two sides to agree to an employment contract, the employer and the worker. If the worker has a union to help with the contract, nothing wrong with that. In the end both sides agree and it is prejudiced speculation to say one side 'gives in to the demands' of the other. If you boycott Raley's just to "spank" the unions, you are also harming the employer who agreed to the contract. The country is not being destroyed.
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Posted by Dimlynne, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Nov 14, 2012 at 5:21 pm Is there a club of outsiders to Pleasanton or something where all these paranoid hater union thugs are trained and unleashed onto the public? Or are they all the same union shills?
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Posted by common sense, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Nov 14, 2012 at 5:46 pm Walmart trashing must be a knee jerk reaction. Name a store, any store that doesn't sell a product made in China. As you know, the Kirkland brand clothes they sell at Costco are made in China. Having shopped all the stores, Walmart doesnt have the lowest prices for everything. It's called shop wisely, not by where the product originates.
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