Grocery workers take strike authorization vote; results Thursday
Grocery workers who are members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 367 in Pierce County vote Wednesday whether to authorize a strike against Safeway, Fred Meyer, QFC and Albertsons.
TACOMA -- The last group of nearly 30,000 grocery workers in the Puget Sound area voted Wednesday whether to authorize a strike against Safeway, Fred Meyer, QFC and Albertsons stores. The results will be announced at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Workers say they want better health care benefits, pay for holidays, pay for sick leave and a stop to salary cuts.
"We've been at this (negotiating for a contract) for about six months," said Daniel Comeau, secretary-treasurer of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 367 union in Tacoma. "And so our members feel it is time to send a message and say, look, enough is enough, and we want to tell employers that their proposals are going to be rejected."
Votes were cast by members of three unions -- the UFCW Local 21 in Seattle, UFCW Local 367 in Pierce County, and Teamsters Local 38.
If a strike vote authorization is approved, there is a 72-hour requirement for a notice to the employers before a strike would begin.