Santa Cruz Market Employees Reach Agreement, Preventing Strike
Alissa Orozco
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – A tentative agreement has been reached between Santa Cruz Markets and its employees, preventing an unfair labor strike just ahead of the busy Thanksgiving holiday.
United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 770 announced the agreement Tuesday morning and says this will deliver better work conditions and benefits by providing higher wages, improvements in sick and bereavement leave, protection of health and welfare benefits, and more.
Market employees at both the Santa Barbara and Goleta locations threatened to strike last week, claiming unfair labor practices including “coercion, surveillance, unilateral changes, and bad faith that have prevented essential grocery workers from getting the fair contract they deserve.”
Both parties met at the bargaining table that resulted in success for employees.
“This new contract delivers $3 an hour top rate increases over three years, improved sick and bereavement leave, increased scheduling notice, protection of hourly guarantee in the event of force majeure, and protection of health and welfare benefits. And by sticking together in solidarity, we defeated the company’s attempt to roll back the time-and-a-half Sunday premium.”
Local 770 emphasizes the agreement does not finalize anything, a vote still needs to be held to accept it.
“This victory was only possible because of our hard work and solidarity with our co-workers. Every action we took, from signing petitions, to engaging with our customers, wearing our t-shirts, to speaking out publicly about our issues, helped get us to this point. Our victory sends a powerful message to workers everywhere – when we band together in solidarity, we win.”
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