November 3, 2003

Contract with Schnucks, Dierbergs, Shop

UFCW Local 655 Press Release

View the Statement by UFCW Local 655 President Robert Kelley (pdf)

Go to the St. Louis Strike Page for past updates.

Press Contact–
Ed Finkelstein, spokesperson
314-535-4900/Cell: 314-708-3082

By a secret ballot vote of 4,174 to 945, members of United Food & Commercial Workers Local 655 today accepted a 47-month contract proposal made by the three major local food chains, Schnucks, Dierbergs and Shop ‘n Save, Local 655 President Robert Kelley announced following the ballot counting this morning at America’s Center in downtown St. Louis. The vote immediately ends a 24- day strike, and subsequent lock-out, the union’s first-ever strike in the food industry.

“We are forever grateful to the public and the rest of the labor movement for their outstanding, if not heroic, support of our members during this very trying time for everyone,” Kelley said. “We realize that this was a hardship, not only for our members, but for the public as well. That our customers stood with us will never be forgotten by anyone in this union.”

The union’s negotiating committee did not make a recommendation as to whether or not to accept or reject the proposal, leaving it entirely up to the union’s membership.

“While our members were not totally satisfied with every aspect of this re-negotiated agreement, in the end our members felt it was acceptable because we achieved many of our major goals in what turned out to be an active give-and-take during negotiations, which is what compromise is all about,” Kelley said.

Kelley praised federal mediator Roger Hendrix for his efforts at bringing both sides back to the bargaining table. While the union had been willing to talk from the first day of the strike, the companies steadfastly held to a “no talk” strategy until the mediator intervened late last week. A great deal of community pressure had been building to get both sides back to the bargaining table.

The new contract covers more than 10,000 Local 655 members working at 97 stores throughout the St. Louis area: 57 Schnucks Markets, 19 Dierbergs Markets and 21 Shop ‘n Save stores.

Local 655 is the largest union in the State of Missouri. It represents over 15,000 members working in the 46 counties throughout the eastern half of Missouri. Local 655’s members are employed in food stores (its largest single division), health care, shoe manufacturing, packinghouses, and a number of miscellaneous plants. The union negotiates more than 100 contracts.

Stores in Southern Illinois are represented by UFCW Local 881 based in Chicago who will negotiate their own contracts later this year when their contracts expire.