UFCW RETAIL CONTRACT
EMPLOYER PROPOSAL TO UNION (last, best and final offer)

 

Layoff and hours protection for employees in meat and grocery

 

H&W improvements

 

No premium share

 

Increased life insurance

 

Increase FT & PT Dental and orthodontic

 

NEW Orthodontic for PT employees

 

Increase PT life time max to $250,000

 

15 minute breaks

 

Guaranteed 8 hours between shifts

 

New FT Universal employee – first pick in each store by seniority

 

New FT waiver opportunities for members 12 weeks per year

 

PT employees able to work in other departments with out loss of seniority (merged seniority lists)

 

43 hours of pay for Christmas week for FT (32 work + 11 holiday)

 

PT New year’s eve, day and Thanksgiving Volunteers (FT & PT) before scheduling
PT by reverse seniority. (No change to Full time language)

 

Employees FT and PT can take individual days of vacation on Sundays

 

FT Universal Employees (and Retail Specialists) in Meat Department after 1 PM only

 

PT grocery to wait on trade and fill counter after 1 PM only

 

Increased Employer contribution to 401A (Defined Contribution plan)

 

401-K (employee participation) after probation for all employees including bagger/carryouts

 

New Small store letter of agreement

 

Top and Overscale Wage Increases

 

PT Bagger Carryout and Regular PT start rates adjusted to exceed Minimum Wage increase.
3/7/08

Employer Proposal

To

Union

LAST, BEST AND FINAL

 

 

The current Contract with the following modifications:

 

1.            ARTICLE 1, UNION SECURITY

               SECTION 1.1 RECOGNITION – ADD:

               “The Employer will be allowed to have up to two (2) employees per store, including Store Managers, outside the bargaining unit who may perform bargaining unit work.”

               SECTION 1.5 JURISDICTION – ADD:

Universal employees and retail specialist employees will be allowed to perform all functions in the store with the exception of those jobs specifically designated as Journeymen and Apprentice meat cutters after 1pm Monday through Friday.

 

Part-time employees may work in the meat department including waiting on the trade and filling all cases – they may not work in the back room except for cleaning.  These part-time employees may not work waiting on trade before 1pm Monday through Friday.

 

Meat employees – Journeymen, Apprentices, Wrappers and Other Than Journeymen hired on or before March 9, 2008 will not lose hours or be removed from their historical schedule of hours because of the utilization of other employees in the meat department.

 

Letter of agreement #3 (Meat Job Security) the date shall be rolled forward to March 9, 2008.

 

 

2.      ARTICLE 2, HOURS WAGES, HOURS AND WORKING CONDITIONS

NEW SECTION I 8 HOURS BETWEEN SHIFTS – The Employer will provide a minimum of eight (8) hours between scheduled shifts for all employees unless otherwise requested by the employee in writing.

SECTION 2.3 C – Change language to black language – so that no employee will be required to work on the sixth day.

SECTION 2.12 EMPLOYEE BREAK TIME – All employees shall receive a paid rest period of fifteen (15) minutes for any three (3) hours worked not to exceed thirty (30) minutes in any workday of less than twelve (12) hours.  Employees entitled to two (2) fifteen (15) minute paid break periods will continue to be allowed to take their breaks consecutively where the practice exists. No rest period shall be provided in any four (4) hour period which is broken by a paid supper period.

SECTION 2.14 OTHER WORKING CONDITIONS NEW PARAGRAPH 3) – No employee will be required by the Employer to make a delivery to a store or a customer.

 

 

 

3.    ARTICLE 3, FULL-TIME/PART-TIME RATIOS – ADD new full-time classification of “Universal Employee”.

 

UNIVERSAL EMPLOYEES: The Employer may, at its option, elect to offer employment in any given store in a Universal Employee position. These positions shall be designated as Grocery including Delicatessen, Bakery or Pharmacy Technician positions. Universal Employee positions shall be filled on the basis of store specific seniority from those regular part-time Grocery, Delicatessen, Bakery, Pharmacy Technicians, and Retail Specialists who respond to notice of such vacancy to be posted store specific for a period of five (5) days. However the Employer may fill up to fifty percent (50%) of such openings in each classification with persons from outside the bargaining unit or inside the bargaining unit irrespective of seniority. Persons employed as Universal Employees may be transferred by the Employer to Universal Employee positions in other stores.

 

The Universal Employee position shall have a basic workweek of forty (40) hours to be worked in any five (5) days Sunday through Saturday. For Universal Employees Sunday will be part of their basic workweek, and no premium pay shall be due for hours worked by such employees on a Sunday. These employees shall be scheduled to have two (2) consecutive days off each week, except in those weeks affected by holidays on New Year’s Day, Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, or Christmas Day. Universal Employees shall be treated in all other matters as Senior Retail Specialists.

 

Any new employees hired in the Senior Retail Specialist, Retail Specialist, Universal Employee and Department Head classification after March 9, 2008 will have Sunday as part of their work week.

 

Ratios:  The Employer must maintain a minimum ratio of Full time (Senior Retail Specialists, Universal Employees and Retail Specialists) to regular part-time of 25%:75%. The employer is required to maintain a ratio of no less than 20% Senior Retail Specialists and Universal Employees, combined.

 

The Employer and Union have agreed that the first “pick” or promotion for each store location shall be a Union “seniority” pick.

 

4.      ARTICLE 4, SENIORITY

SECTION 4.3 ACQUIRING SENIORITY: (Meat)

Delete paragraph C. - so that part-time other-than journeymen who work less than 24 hours will now have seniority.

 

SECTION 4.5 DEFINITIONS: (Grocery)

a.         Subsection B (and all other applicable Articles and Sections); create a new Full-time “Universal Employee” with company wide seniority.

b.         Merge seniority lists for part-time deli, grocery, pharmacy, and bakery (where applicable) based on original part-time date.

SECTION 4.7, NEW SENIORITY LANGUAGE – Universal employee positions will be hired store specific and posted store specific.  Universal employees will have company wide seniority and their seniority will be part of the Senior Retail Specialists. Universal employees may be transferred at employer discretion.

Retail Specialists will be hired store specific and any retail specialist hired after March 9, 2008 may be transferred at the employer’s discretion.  All Retail Specialists will have company wide seniority.  No Retail Specialist will be laid off before a less senior Universal employee is laid off.

Any part-time employee who is promoted to a Retail Specialist from a part-time wage that is higher than the entry level wage rate for Retail Specialist will be paid the appropriate Retail Specialist wage rate to insure that the employee does not suffer any reduction in hourly rate of pay and will receive credit for the minimum number of hours corresponding to that wage rate.

5.      ARTICLE 5, HOLIDAYS

 

Christmas Eve Full-time employees shall receive three (3) hours straight time holiday pay for Christmas Eve regardless of the day it falls on. If Christmas falls on any day except for Sunday the basic workweek for full-time employees shall be thirty-two (32) hours. When Christmas Eve falls on Sunday the preceding week shall be forty (40) hours and the following work week shall be thirty-two (32) hours. 

 

 

New Years Eve, New Years Day, Thanksgiving Day For staffing purposes these holidays shall be treated as in: Section 5.4, C. (1) a. and Section 5.4, C. (2) Staffed with volunteers first - with the understanding that if there are insufficient volunteers part-time will be scheduled by reverse seniority.  Full time language will remain unchanged.

 

 

6.      ARTICLE 6, DEFINITIONS

 

Journeymen and Apprentice Work Definition: These employees job duties include all production work commencing with the initial reduction of primal, sub-primal and / or supplemental cuts of all fresh or frozen meat department products including fish, (whether by use of saw, grinder, cuber, tenderizer, slicer, knife or other tools of the trade), through and including the boning, scraping and trimming of these products to reduce to retail cuts. Journeymen and Apprentices may also perform any other work in the Meat Department.

 

Wrappers, Other Than Journeymen, Universal Employees and Retail Specialist Employees: These employees are permitted to perform any work in the Meat Department except for those job duties expressly reserved for Journeymen and Apprentices, as outlined above. In addition, Wrappers, Other Than Journeymen, Universal Employees and Retail Specialist Employees may wait upon trade, and use the knife or slicers when necessary to finish a product already supplied by the Journeymen or Apprentices as in the sale to an individual customer. These employees’ duties may also include portion cutting of fish fillets for traying purposes and fabricating and processing of all value added or specialty items. Wrappers and Other Than Journeymen ONLY may, after the initial daily grind, provide supplemental grind. 

 

7.      SECTION 7.4 VACATION SCHEDULING:

    a.  New paragraph G Employees will be allowed to take individual days of paid vacation on        Sundays, at the employees straight time (base) rate of pay.

8.      ARTICLE 10 DISCHARGE

Revise Section B as follows:

The properly accredited officers or representatives of the Union and the Employer are authorized to settle any dispute arising out of a discharge.  Grievances under Section 15.1 regarding discharge without just cause must be filed in writing with the Employer within 15 calendar days after the effective date of termination of the employee’s employment.  Failure to comply with this time requirement will result in the grievance being waived and not submitted to mediation or arbitration under Article 15.

9.      ARTICLE 15, GRIEVANCE AND ARBITRATION

Revise Section D as follows:

Any claimed grievance of any kind to be acted upon or accepted as valid for any reason must be filed in writing with the Employer and the Union within 30 calendar days after the employee has knowledge of the occurrence giving rise to the grievance.  Regardless of the date of filing, the employee will receive the full back pay to which the employee is entitled for a valid grievance and shall be collectable over a period of time covering two (2) years or back to the effective date of the Agreement, whichever is more.

10.  ARTICLE 19 HEALTH CARE PLAN

 

Increase Employer’s contribution to Health and Welfare Fund.to make the following changes and improvements to the Health Care Plan:

1.      Increase the Part-time life-time maximum from $100,000 to $250,000.

2.      No deductible for preventative  measures, including exams and screenings

3.      Disease Management including diabetes and heart disease.

4.      Fitness (health club) discounts

5.      Smoking cessation programs

6.      Prenatal care program

7.      Increase the annual dental benefits from $800 to $1,000 for part-time and from $1,000 to $1,250 for full-time.

8.      Increase the annual orthodontic benefit for full-time from $750 to $1,000.

9.      NEW part-time orthodontic benefit for part-time of $1,000.

10. Increase life insurance benefits from $1,000 to $5,000 for part-time and from $12,000 to $20,000 for full-time.

 

11. ARTICLE 20 RETIREMENT PLAN

 

Increase the Employer contribution to the Defined Contribution Plan.

 

Allow all Employees to participate in the 401 K after completing probation (including Part-time bagger/Carry-out/Maintenance).

 

 

12.  ARTICLE 21, VACATION RELIEF AND SUMMER WAIVER PERIOD, EMERGENCY WAIVER

 

In addition to current contract language ADD:  the employer can waiver any current part-time employee to Full-time (meat or grocery) up to 12 weeks per year at 40 (or more) hours per week at the appropriate wage rate.

 

13.  ARTICLE 26, TERM OF AGREEMENT – 3 years

 

14.  LETTER OF AGREEMENT

a.   Renew letters of Agreement #1 - #4 roll dates forward on letter #3.

b.   Delete letter #5

c.   NEW Letter on an individual basis the Employers will meet with the Union to discuss a pilot program for Full-time Flexible Schedules: Full-time employees may elect to work “flexible schedules” where overtime is paid after 40 hours of work.  The request may be initiated by either the employee or the Employer and must be made in writing, and must be by mutual agreement.

d.   NEW Letter:  With the implementation of the new jurisdictional language in the contract, as of March 9, 2008, the Employer, will make every endeavor to post schedules that are clear, concise and whenever possible show the employee’s hours to be worked on a base schedule.

Employees, due to new jurisdictional language in the contract, as of March 9, 2008, shall not be adversely affected in regards to requests for personal time off.  Employees who were previously guaranteed 24 hours minimum per week because of a) Article 16, or b) Section 2.9 “top” 24%,  prior to March 9, 2008, will continue to be guaranteed a minimum of 24 hours, regardless of their position in the newly merged seniority list.

 

The employer will assume responsibility to train employees to perform the various tasks which may be assigned to them in the store.

 

 

15.  LETTER OF AGREEMENT – SMALL STORES

In negotiations for the 2008-11 Industry Retail Grocery and Meat Contract, the Employer and the Union reached agreement on the following terms governing the operation of an Employer’s store employing 80 or fewer Local 789 bargaining unit employees. 

1.      Ratio - Such a store is exempt from the ratio in Article 3 and does not count in total Employer ratio.  The employees employed in any such store are not counted in the “total bargaining unit work force” for the ratio calculations in Article 3B.  Any reductions or changes in ratio shall be obtained through attrition.

2.      Required Employees – In any such store, the Employer will employ a Head Meat Cutter and no fewer than three Department Head positions in the bakery (if applicable), grocery, and delicatessen.

3.      Sunday – Such a store is excluded from mandatory full-time staffing requirements in the Contract for Sunday hours.

4.      Complete Agreement – Except as set forth in this Letter of Agreement, the Contract governs the terms and conditions of employment in such stores, including those provisions governing scheduling, layoffs, and transfers.

5.      Notice to Union – The Employer will notify the Union when it decides to utilize this Letter of Agreement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Senior Retail Specialists/FT Maintenance/Meat Cutters

 

 

 

 

 

Wrappers pre 5/2/86

 

Effective

 

Effective

 

Effective

 

 

 

 

 

 

3/9/08

 

3/08/09

 

3/07/10

 

 

Top and Over Scale Wage  increase

$0.40

 

$0.35

 

$0.35

 

 

Health and Welfare increase

 

$0.20

 

$0.20

 

$0.20

 

 

Defined Contirbution increase

$0.05

 

$0.10

 

$0.10

 

 

TOTAL Economic Package

$0.65

 

$0.65

 

$0.65

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Retail Specialists/ Other than Journeymen

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wrappers hired after 5/1/86

Effective

 

Effective

 

Effective

 

 

 

 

 

 

3/9/08