GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Sept. 28---UFCW 951 President Marv Russow announced that the union has reached agreement with Meijer on a new four and a half year contract that will affect 27,000 UFCW members who work at Meijer facilities throughout Michigan. "We are pleased to have an agreement that provides workplace fairness for our members and that supports Meijer's position as a premier and competitive business," Russow said. The previous agreement expired on September 8 and was extended by mutual agreement.

"Two things were key to the successful outcome of the negotiations," Russow said. "First, the company and the union approached these talks with a constructive and problem solving attitude. And we had a supportive and involved membership and a well prepared and dedicated negotiating committee. Our members submitted several thousand proposals expressing ideas for their new contract to the bargaining committee. The bargaining committee itself was made up of a cross section of UFCW 951 members who attended a series of pre-bargaining training sessions."

Highlights of the new contract include immediate and future wage increases, some on an accelerated basis, for many UFCW 951-represented Meijer members and the continuation of a defined benefit pension plan for current and future Meijer employees. The overall agreement for the UFCW 951 Meijer membership incorporates three different contracts covering members who work in Retail, Distribution Complexes, and Retail Property Management Services. The Bargaining Committee voted unanimously to recommend that Meijer union members ratify the new contract.

Over the next two weeks, members will have the opportunity to attend informational meetings throughout the state explaining the contract in detail. They will then vote by mail ballot on the terms of the proposed agreement. Ballots will be counted on October 12.

UFCW 951 represents 30,000 members who work across the state of Michigan at Meijer, Harding's, Plumb's, Polly's, Kroger, Kessel, Rite Aid, Knouse Foods, Fry Krisp and the Orchard Grove Extended Care Center.