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Modesto-based Save Mart Supermarkets, which operates two Lucky stores in Napa, has reached a tentative deal with its labor union.
The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 8 announced the deal, which ends and also applies to two other union chapters, on its website Wednesday.
Details of the deal won't be released until workers ratify the agreement, the announcement states, but the UFCW website says the deal will save the grocery chain money, preserve medical benefits and provide employees with more hours.
“This tentative agreement with Save Mart addresses the employer’s legitimate needs for temporary financial relief while preserving the core achievements of decades of Union Solidarity,” the announcement quoted the presidents of all three union chapters as saying. “This agreement maintains the highest wages, the finest benefits and the most generous pension plans in the grocery industry.”
The deal will also give the store "temporary labor cost reductions to assist Save Mart in its current economic challenges," according to the announcement.
This tentative deal covers 173 Save Mart and Lucky stores in California, including the Lucky supermarkets at . and in Napa; talks with Raley's and Safeway workers are ongoing. The Sacramento Bee reported that the union's deal with Save Mart gives those other chains less leverage to hold out for better deals.
Napa, what do you think of this announcement? Are you happy Lucky workers won't go on strike? Tell us in the comments section below.
Disclosure: Cody Kitaura is a former Raley's employee and former member of the United Food and Commercial Workers union.
