PCC Grocery Market Workers Resoundingly Reject PCC's Latest Union Contract Offer
PCC going ahead with plans to build expensive, upscale new store in Madison Park, one of Seattle's wealthiest neighborhoods, but refuses to budge on increase in hourly workers pay
On November 9, PCC workers overwhelmingly voted NO on PCC’s latest offer, with over 92% rejecting the contract. After months of negotiations, PCC Management put forward their latest offer, but while many tentative agreements had been reached throughout negotiations, there is still a great divide on key issues, including across-the-board wage increases, Board of Trustees language, and costs of health insurance.
PCC workers said in a statement that they believe PCC should lead the grocery industry by having the best wages, safest stores and strongest benefits. “As workers we are committed to making PCC the best grocery company to work at, to shop at, and to have in our communities through bargaining the best union contract possible.”
”We have held numerous tabling events, informational pickets, customer leaflets, button ups, and delivered majority of signatures on the “PCC workers declaration of demands” petition to the employer. Our bargaining committee and coworkers continue to push PCC to be better. We are committed to keeping the pressure on PCC and preparing for a strike if necessary!”
Over the last several months, the bargaining committee arrived at tentative agreements that would:
Increase the nighttime premium
Improve the worker caucus committee
Add language to allow more access to hours for those that want them
Expand access to protected leave of absence
Improve bereavement leave
Improve vacation scheduling
Add premium pay after 8 consecutive days work in Grocery (similar to the Meat contract)
Secure Orca Cards (transit pass) in the contract and cap the worker expense at $20
Prevent demotions except in cases of just cause
Dedicate money to a workforce training fund
Expand rest between shifts from 10 hours to 12 hours
Remaining unresolved items include retirement, healthcare, and safety language.
The workers are members of the UFCW Local 3000, which represents most grocery, retail, and health care workers in Washington. Although UFCW has used supportive language in its printed materials and on its website, it has acted as a wet blanket on the workers throughout the 2023 negotiations, urging them to accept various deals, discouraging or delaying meetings, discouraging workers from making various proposals, and working hand in glove with PCC corporation.
Despite some progress in many areas of bargaining, the workers and PCC remain far apart on wages. The worker’s wage proposal would make PCC workers the highest paid grocery store workers in the region, while also protecting their wage scale from being surpassed by the minimum wage.
In 2022, the Seattle City Council repealed the $4.00 per hour “essential worker” pay requirement for all grocery workers in the City of Seattle, causing workers’ pay to drop down to an unliveable wage for the vast majority of workers in the stores. While other markets made some nod to their workers after the repeal by voluntarily raising the pay scale across the board somewhat, making the repeal of the mandate liveable, PCC refused to do so. PCC also paid a mere fraction of its typical dividend to its members and had the temerity to send out a newsletter to its members blaming the unusually tiny annual dividend on its workers.
As part of a backdrop to these negotiations, PCC is forging ahead with the building of a brand new store in Madison Valley, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city, frequented by various international and local celebrities, hedge-fund managers, and wealthy politicians. The new store is not just a remodel of an existing building, it is demolishing the existing City People’s Garden Store, a beloved institution in the neighborhood for 34 years. The Madison Valley PCC and a new six-story, 82-unit apartment building above a 140-vehicle parking lot will replace the City People’s building. The new store will require a massive cash outlay, extensive financing, and a massive budget just to get the store up and running. Yet PCC claims it is unable to afford a modest wage raise for hourly workers.
PCC has until the end of 2023 to provide a living wage and other demands to its workers, at which time PCC workers can go on strike, and they have signalled their intention to do so.