July 24, 2009
Your Bargaining Committee met on Wednesday, July 22. Fred Meyer, once again, maintained its position and offered to the union employees the same old stuff; employer health care, employer 401k (employee’s contribute), and no union security. This is no movement, this is a stalling tactic designed to discourage their own employees.
Fred Meyer is an employer who claims to care about its employees, but this is evidence of the contrary. In spite of this, the union bargaining team was determined to formulate a proposal for settlement. This, however, was to no avail, so the team then met with the employer representatives. The union, in previous meetings, requested information that dealt with health and safety policies and practices. The employer had responded and essentially informed the union bargaining committee that more clarification was required in order for them to respond. We spent the remainder of the meeting reviewing with the employer those concerns and our issues with the request.
The union committee also informed the employer of the federal regulations and then provided the web sites so the employer could search out the information that they are required to provide. We also requested information on how the safety committee functions and how the employees are selected. That was the extent of the bargaining session, and at the end, the employer stated with smile on his face that we could just sign the employer’s proposal (which does not treat the non-foods employees as they treat grocery employees, does not provide union trust health and welfare, union pension, or union protection), and that was the end of the meeting.
This is a demonstration of the total lack of respect and is undignified. The employer sends a notice to the employees on a regular basis about how important they are and then they treat them like this. It appears that the employer forgets that the very pay check they collect is a result of the work of the members of this union. The members play the absolute most important role in Fred Meyer and its success. The members keep the customers coming back, but in the corporate world this is the norm. This is the reason for the employees to stand together and form a union and dig in for a long and tough fight to get what is rightfully theirs a union wage, health and welfare, pension and job protection.
We are scheduled to return to the bargaining table on September 9. We do not hope for the same old thing, but some serious and meaningful discussions that result in a settlement. Stay tuned.
