SEATTLE — Approximately 25,000 grocery workers and meatcutters in three union locals here have voted to reject a contact offer from employers and gave leaders the authorization to call a strike.
The contracts cover workers at Safeway, Supervalu-owned Albertsons, and Kroger-owned Fred Meyer and QFC in the Greater Seattle area. The unions involved are United Food and Commercial Workers Locals 21 and 81, and Teamsters Local 38. Their contracts expired March 18 and have been extended several times, with Nov. 15 as the latest deadline. As reported previously in SN, the offer rejected by workers this week was proposed by employers in mid-October when the unions broke off negotiations.