GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — As a number of strikes make national news, other unions around the country, including one here in West Michigan, will enter negotiations soon on a new contract.
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 951 will negotiate for better wages for more than 28,000 Meijer employees across the state of Michigan. UFCW announced Tuesday that negotiations with Meijer will begin on Oct. 11.
President John Cakmakci says the union wants its new contract to include several things, like additional time off and affordable medical plans. But most significantly, the workers want wage increases that represent the tough work that employees at Meijer and other grocery stores endured during the pandemic.
"We were essential workers, and quite candidly, we feel like we've been forgotten," says Cakmakci. "Not by the company, per se, but by the general public. You know, if it wasn't for our stack or slinging the stacks and third shift, if it wasn't for our produce clerks cutting the lettuce, or our truck drivers delivering those goods, you know, the public wouldn't have been fed."
Cakmakci says high profile strikes around the country have also helped boost union support.
“The public support for unions and striking workers is at a near all-time high,” says Cakmakci. “After years of making sacrifices, putting their lives on the line each day as essential workers, and watching CEOs and shareholders reap the rewards, workers are rightfully demanding their fair share.”
Cakmakci says the UFCW has a good relationship with Meijer and anticipates that negotiations will go smoothly. The current contact between Meijer and the UFCW ends in February, so any potential strike action wouldn't happen until then at the earliest.
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