Tentative agreement reached, averting planned Lunds & Byerlys strike

Lunds & Byerlys workers in Minneapolis reached a tentative agreement with the grocer late Monday, averting a strike that had been slated for the July 4th weekend.

The agreement provides “significant raises” by fall 2024 for all workers and “secures worker-driven healthcare,” according to a statement from United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW 663), which represents about 2,500 workers at 22 Lunds & Byerlys stores in the Minneapolis area.

A ratification vote is planned for Saturday. The agreement was unanimously supported by the union’s bargaining committee.

“Our members kept Minnesotans fed during the pandemic, even in the most uncertain of times,” UFCW Local 663 President Rena Wong said in a statement. “They took the strength and courage they used during those times and stood united to win contracts for their coworkers that reward the sacrifices they made and sets them up to build even better lives in the future. The bargaining committee believes that this tentative agreement respects, protects and pays our members fairly.”

Lunds & Byerlys management said in a statement Tuesday that it is happy with the labor agreement.

“Our resolve from the onset of these negotiations has been to champion industry-leading wages and a better healthcare plan for our team members, and we’re pleased the tentative agreement provides these benefits to our team members,” the grocer said.

Workers at the regional grocer have been without a contract since early March.

“We won a lot of the raises and benefits that we’re fighting for,” Sarah Dike, cheese specialist at a Maple Grove, Minnesota, Lunds & Byerlys store said in a statement. “I look forward to talking more with my coworkers at the informational meetings we are holding so that we all understand what we will vote on later this week.”

On Monday, union members voted for the first time ever to strike, planning the walkout for this weekend, a busy time for the grocer before the 4th of July.

UFCW 663 also represents workers at Minnesota’s Cub Foods, where a late-night agreement in April averted a strike between the union and Cub parent United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI). Under that contract, workers received raises of $2.50 to $3.50 per hour.

Lunds & Byerlys operates 28 stores in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, but the tentative contract agreement only covers workers in Minneapolis.

Russel T. Lund opened his first grocery store in the 1930s. Lunds acquired Byerly’s in 1997, creating Lund Food Holdings. In 2015, all former Lunds and Byerly’s stores became “Lunds & Byerlys.”