Safeway Workers Vote in California, Canada

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway employees in Northern California will be voting between now and Christmas on new contracts that include wage increases of $1.80 an hour over the four-year term of the agreement for journeyman clerks and $2.05 an hour for general merchandise and bakery clerks. Meanwhile, Safeway workers from 80 stores in Alberta are in the midst of a strike vote after negotiations there stalled. Ballots in Northern California are going in the mail this week, an official of the United Food and Commercial Workers union told SN, with results scheduled to be announced shortly before Christmas. The agreement, which would succeed one that expired Dec. 1, covers 25,000 workers in four Northern California locals at 300 Safeways; the union previously settled with Raley's Food & Drug, Sacramento, Calif., and Save Market Supermarkets, Modesto, Calif., but took longer to negotiate terms with Safeway. At the end of the contract journeyman clerks will be earning $21.13 an hour, while general merchandise and bakery clerks will be earning $15.78. A union spokesman said the benefits package for Safeway is identical to the contract Raley's and Save Mart workers signed, including a shorter time in the beginners' insurance plan and accelerated coverage for dependent children. In Canada, Safeway is offering $1.50 per-hour wage increases over two years, according to the UFCW. Negotiations are scheduled to continue in January.

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