Portland and SW Washington strike discussion

Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. No non-grocery posts.
babs
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 762
Joined: December 20th, 2016, 3:08 pm
Has thanked: 19 times
Been thanked: 64 times
Status: Offline

Re: Portland and SW Washington strike discussion

Post by babs »

storewanderer wrote: December 25th, 2021, 7:33 pm The journeymen clerks get $1 raise per year for the next 3 years. I don't think they had gotten any raises in at least 2 years... at least this put some closure on the situation I guess.



UFCW 555 us a garbage union. If that payscale you posted is accurate, the workers got screwed. That's not a living wage. I don't know why journeyman would stay for those wages. I remember the days when journeymen at Fred Meyer made a solid paycheck. Those days ended many years ago.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Portland and SW Washington strike discussion

Post by storewanderer »

babs wrote: December 25th, 2021, 10:39 pm
storewanderer wrote: December 25th, 2021, 7:33 pm The journeymen clerks get $1 raise per year for the next 3 years. I don't think they had gotten any raises in at least 2 years... at least this put some closure on the situation I guess.



UFCW 555 us a garbage union. If that payscale you posted is accurate, the workers got screwed. That's not a living wage. I don't know why journeyman would stay for those wages. I remember the days when journeymen at Fred Meyer made a solid paycheck. Those days ended many years ago.
Looks pretty bad considering what minimum wage is in Oregon. As you are saying these jobs used to pay enough to be considered a solid paycheck.... multiple times minimum wage. This may be close to a solid paycheck in Klamath Falls but probably nowhere else Fred Meyer operates in Oregon.

Almost feels like the retailer had the union by the neck and the union called a strike right before Christmas to make it look to the union membership like they were trying to "fight" but then just rolled over and accepted this.
veteran+
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 2234
Joined: January 3rd, 2015, 7:53 am
Has thanked: 1204 times
Been thanked: 72 times
Status: Offline

Re: Portland and SW Washington strike discussion

Post by veteran+ »

The 2 tier system was another concession the Unions made to retailers AND the favor was never paid back "during better times".

This contract is a joke in all ways. Again bending over to the retailer.

I am sure the Executive Suite and the shareholders are pleased.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Portland and SW Washington strike discussion

Post by storewanderer »

veteran+ wrote: December 26th, 2021, 7:03 am The 2 tier system was another concession the Unions made to retailers AND the favor was never paid back "during better times".

This contract is a joke in all ways. Again bending over to the retailer.

I am sure the Executive Suite and the shareholders are pleased.
I still think in the end it hurts the retailer to to do this sort of thing. Efficiency is lost as turnover increases and employees are unhappy with the situation. Wage increases that at least trend with some objective (as in, a metric not computed by either the Union or by the retailer) inflation metric seem like a reasonable thing to draw in.

As much as I dislike conspiracy theories I feel like the employees got played here by the union and by the retailer with the timing of the "strike" then the contract they rolled over and agreed to. Almost feels coordinated by the union and the retailer.
Post Reply