This is the rundown on why the Fred Meyer strike is occurring, which retail outlets are impacted and the way lengthy it’ll remaining.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Union workers at each Fred Meyer within the Portland metro discipline went on strike Wednesday, and the slightly surprising announcement will have left Portland customers with questions on what is going down.
Even supposing the strike has been within the works for weeks, United Meals and Business Employees (UFCW) Native 555 simplest introduced the precise strike dates and instances on Tuesday, not up to 24 hours sooner than it all started. Native 555 is the biggest non-public sector union in Oregon, and represents about 35,000 staff within the Pacific Northwest.
Listed below are the solutions to one of the most sensible questions in regards to the strike:
When and the place?
The strike began at 6 a.m. Wednesday and is scheduled to run for rather less than one week, finishing at 8 a.m. subsequent Tuesday, Sept. 3, except the union and Fred Meyer succeed in a deal to finish it quicker.
The strike affects all Fred Meyer places around the Portland metro discipline, which is 28 retail outlets in overall, consistent with UFCW 555 communications coordinator Miles Eshaia. Shops as a ways out as Gresham and Scappoose are impacted, despite the fact that no longer as a ways south as Salem.
About 4,500 grocery and meat staff are on strike, which contains stockers and cashiers, making up a majority of the personnel. The union’s club voted in mid-August to authorize a strike.
Are Fred Meyer retail outlets nonetheless open?
Fred Meyer introduced Tuesday that the entire impacted retail outlets would stay open all through the strike, and an indication at the door of the Hollywood West location in Northeast Portland mentioned that the corporate used to be accomplishing on-the-spot interviews to rent transient staff.
A KGW reporter on the Hollywood West location Wednesday morning seen that the shop did open, despite the fact that it sounds as if later than same old.
Unionized workers started picketing outdoor a couple of retail outlets early Wednesday morning, aspiring to make it transparent to consumers that coming into the retail outlets way crossing a wooden line, and urging them to buy in other places in the course of the strike.
Why is the Fred Meyer strike going down?
A number of contemporary distinguished moves in Portland, together with one at Fred Meyer in December 2021, have came about in the middle of contract bargaining, with staff and lecturers pushing corporations and faculty districts to supply higher phrases on problems like pay, advantages and dealing prerequisites.
The instances are extensively equivalent on this case — bargaining is underway and UFCW 555 says it is pushing for constant dwelling wages throughout Fred Meyer places — however motion is billed as a “ULP strike” (Unfair Exertions Practices), essentially aimed toward protesting what the union alleges are the corporate’s violations of U.S. exertions legislation and the present contract.
UFCW 555 is accusing the corporate of attractive in unhealthy religion bargaining through failing to give you the union’s negotiating workforce with key knowledge for the present spherical of talks, in addition to telling workers that it has presented further pension investment with out but making this sort of proposal on the bargaining desk.
Does this need to do with the Kroger and Albertsons merger?
No. Fred Meyer father or mother corporate Kroger is making an attempt to procure Albertsons, and the strike occurs to overlap with the primary week of a federal listening to to judge the merger proposal, however UFCW 555’s grievances are explicit to Fred Meyer and no longer associated with the merger.
In truth, UFCW Native 555 used to be till just lately the one grocery employee union to beef up the merger proposal. The union withdrew that beef up previous this month, however nonetheless, the strike is unrelated.
Kroger and Albertsons, the latter of which owns the Safeway grocery retailer chain, have argued that the merger is vital to compete with different primary grocery business gamers like Walmart. However the plan has confronted harsh skepticism from native officers and federal regulators amid issues that it could lower festival, doubtlessly pushing costs up for customers.
Is the deliberate strike at New Seasons on Sunday associated with this?
No. New Seasons workers are making plans a one-day “caution” strike at 10 unionized Portland-area retail outlets on Sunday, Sept. 1, however their dispute is unrelated to the dispute with Fred Meyer. The overlapping timing of the moves is a twist of fate.
New Seasons is owned through a distinct father or mother corporate and has no relation to Fred Meyer or Kroger. The New Seasons workers are not represented through UFCW 555 both — their union is an unbiased group.
