From left, Chris Gray, Anna Putman, Inez Fishbaugh, Teri Briggs, and Jenni Calo picket outside of the Hollywood Fred Meyer store where they all work in Portland, Ore., Aug. 28, 2024. Employees at 28 Fred Meyer locations across Portland went on strike at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning in protest of unfair labor practices.
Anna Lueck / OPB
Unionized grocery workers at Fred Meyer and QFC stores in the Portland area have agreed to a new contract after months of negotiations, the union said Monday. Bargaining drew the attention of many shoppers this summer when union members conducted a nearly week-long strike over Labor Day.
Representatives of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 555 said the grocery workers overwhelmingly voted to ratify a new three-year contract. It increases wages and strengthens benefits including health and dental, according to the union.
“I’m especially thankful for the improvements in dental benefits and retirement,” Dale Russel Cronin, Fred Meyer worker and Local 555 board member, said in a statement. “It feels good to know we are a fighting union and when we work together, we win.”
Workers gather on the picket line outside of the Hollywood Fred Meyer store in Portland, Ore., Aug. 28, 2024. Employees at 28 Fred Meyer locations across Portland went on strike at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning in protest of unfair labor practices.
Anna Lueck / OPB
Throughout the months-long negotiations, the union and Fred Meyer’s parent company, Kroger, disagreed on financial details like wage scales and pensions. In late August, failure to agree led union leaders to call for an unfair labor practices strike, a common tool used by organized labor. Around 4,500 workers at 28 Portland-area stores went on strike for six days starting Aug. 28.
Officials at Fred Meyer applauded the agreement, highlighting that it “invests millions more in hourly wages,” according to an announcement Tuesday.
“The agreement also invests millions of dollars in retirement benefits and in healthcare for associates working in the Portland area, southwest Washington and Bend, Oregon,” the official statement said. “Our associates are the heartbeat of our business and this contract recognizes their hard work by delivering significant wage increases, maintaining affordable health care, and providing a pension for retirement.”
The local contract negotiations occurred as Kroger was in federal district court in Portland defending a proposed $24 billion merger. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and multiple states including Oregon sued to halt the merger between Kroger and rival Albertsons. A decision in that case could come any day.
The UFCW Local 555 had been the only chapter of the union that supported the merger. However, union leaders said tactics used during the negotiating process led the group to reverse its stance, and in August they pulled support of the proposed plan.