April 1, 2009

We reviewed information provided by the employer that dealt with the job descriptions, job titles, and rates of pay.  We identified items on the report that appear to be incorrect and, as a result, will be requesting that the employer correct the report.

We spent a considerable amount of time dealing with the employer’s position that the production of requested information would require the Union to pay the employer for this production.  Their original position was that the Union would pay $15.00 per hour, for five (5) hours of staff time, and twenty-five cents (25¢) per page for each copy made, approximately $190.00.

It is not unusual for the Union to pay for costs associated with production of information, as long as the parties agreed to do so when bargaining started in April 2008.  Over the course of bargaining with the employer, we have requested information from the employer and at no time did the employer bargain over the cost of production and, in fact, provided the requested information at no cost.  For the employer to now insist on bargaining over these items, at this time, is in our opinion outside of the mandatory bargaining.  The employer lost the right to bargain over this by not originally bargaining for it.

The employer changed its mind and removed the $15.00 per hour, for five (5) hours of staff time, and then stated they wanted us to pay for the copies at twenty-five cents (25¢) per page for this production.  We maintained our position that the production of these records should be borne by the employer as it is their proposals that resulted in the Union requesting the information.  If the employer is unwilling to provide information that deals with their proposals, then they can remove the proposal from the bargaining table and we can move on.

The employer suggested we look at the Kroger benefits web site to obtain the information requested.  We in fact did that and discovered that some information is available, but not all of the requested information is available.  We will maintain our position that they need to provide the information.  If the employer maintains their position of requiring the Union to pay for the production, then we will look at filing a charge against Fred Meyer for failure to bargaining in good faith and refusal to provide legally required information.

We also informed the employer that the change made to the health plan in January 2009, which increased the employee out of pocket cost, was a violation of the status quo doctrine that prevents the employer from changing a benefit without an agreement with the Union. Therefore, unilaterally making this chance resulted in the Union filing an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.

April 1st was also the kick off day for the Union’s campaign for our members in Non-Foods with our newspaper advertisement on how Fred Meyer is treating the Non-Foods employees unfairly and that the employer needs to recognize that Non-Foods Union members are as valuable as our Grocery, Cashiers and Meat members.

Our next bargaining session is scheduled for April 23, 2009.

Stay connected, informed and strong, and stay tuned for the next phase of the campaign.