Tentative deal would increase wages while preserving insurance benefits.
By Chris O'Malley chris.omalley@indystar.com
April 15, 2004
The union representing 4,000 Kroger workers in the Indianapolis area said Wednesday it has reached a tentative contract agreement with the company that preserves health and pension benefits and boosts wages.
If approved Friday by members of United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 700, the pact would spare the area from strikes that disrupted grocery operations in California, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia over the past several months.
The proposal would end more than five months of labor negotiations in the Indianapolis area, where more than 63 percent of residents shop at Kroger. Union leaders recommend that the agreement be ratified.
Hoosier workers had authorized a strike after rejecting Kroger's initial contract offer last fall by a 3-to-1 margin. But a federal mediator in November persuaded both sides to indefinitely extend the expired contract.
"Everything in the negotiations revolved around the rising costs of health insurance," said Rian Wathen, director of collective bargaining for Local 700 in Indianapolis.
Lisa Holsclaw, president of Kroger's Central Indiana marketing region, issued a statement saying the contract would reward employees "for their contributions and hard work through an exceptional wage and benefits package."
Meanwhile, Kroger will be positioned to "compete against tough, lower-cost competition," Holsclaw said.
Cincinnati-based Kroger has said it needed concessions to fight strong competition from nonunion grocers -- chiefly Wal-Mart.
The proposed contract would cover clerks and meat cutters at 58 stores in the Indianapolis area, which includes Brownsburg, Franklin, Greenwood, Lebanon, Martinsville, Plainfield and Shelbyville.
Local 700 members in Richmond and New Castle also will vote on a proposal to merge their contract into the broader Indianapolis pact.
The union will have a series of meetings to inform workers about the four-year contract proposal before they vote Friday.
About two dozen workers were on hand Wednesday night just before the initial informational meeting at United Auto Workers Local 933, 2320 S. Tibbs Ave.
Avon Kroger worker Jeff White, who said he wanted to hear how the agreement would protect his retirement, took the small crowd at the union hall to be a good sign. In November, when workers voted to authorize a strike, "this lot would be packed."
Kroger meat cutter Eric Gillingham came to the meeting to hear about insurance benefits. "I'm looking long-term. I want to start a family pretty soon."
Under the tentative contract, Kroger workers would continue not to pay health premiums, although those in a premium health insurance plan would make "slight" co-pays, the union said.
Kroger spokesman Jeff Golc said the company would not discuss any contract details before the union vote. The union provided a few specifics, saying the contract would require:
• Kroger to contribute additional money to the health insurance plan. "We believe that's going to ensure the long-term stability of the fund," Wathen said.
• An immediate wage increase of 25 cents to 40 cents an hour. Over the term of the contract, that could amount to increases ranging from $1.25 an hour to $4.95 an hour.
• Improvements in health benefits for workers hired after November 1998, such as higher short-term disability pay and added prescription drug benefits.
Wathen predicted members would approve the contract after getting details on the terms.
In December, 3,300 striking workers in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia approved a similar contract.
In California, 70,000 striking clerks represented by the UFCW agreed to a new contract in February. Those workers had been on strike against Albertson's, Safeway-owned Von's and Kroger subsidiary Ralph's.
Posted by UFCW 227 at April 16, 2004 08:59 AM