After more than a year of bargaining and a 95% strike authorization vote, Safeway and the Local 5 bargaining committee remain far apart on a new contract settlement that would cover the Union’s 14,000 members who work for the company throughout the Bay Area and beyond.

In a final effort to force management to adequately address our bargaining priorities before calling a strike, Local 5 has given the company formal notice cancelling our contract extension effective February 17. This move will allow us to conduct store rallies and other actions and ultimately, if necessary, to begin strike action.

In spite of the spiraling cost of living in the Bay Area, Safeway’s current proposal includes a wage offer that is less than what was recently approved by UFCW members in the lower cost Sacramento Valley.

Management continues to demand the implementation of a Multi-Purpose Clerk classification scheme that would lower the top wage rate for current apprentice clerks and create a 13,000-hour progression step system that would force most employees to work up to eight years before reaching the top rate of pay.

The company continues to demand a part-time meat cutter classification and the ability for meat clerks to perform meat cutter work while refusing to address union proposals to reduce progression steps, eliminate the “backfilling” of hours in all classifications and create a wage structure that allows employees to live in the cities and counties where they work. One job should be enough!

It’s time to back our bargaining priorities with action and to bring our message to Safeway customers. The following is an initial list stores, times and dates of protest rallies:

Date:	Location:	Time:
Tuesday February 18th	1100 El Camino Real, Belmont	4pm to 6pm
Friday February 21st	950 W. Hamilton Ave. Campbell	4pm to 6pm
Tuesday February 25th	5100 Broadway Ave. Oakland	4pm to 6pm
Friday February 28th	707 Contra Costa Blvd., Pleasant Hill	4pm to 6pm

Stay strong, attend an action, and let Safeway management know that you are ready to fight to win the contract that you deserve! Visit www.ufcw5.org for updates.