Rank-and-file grocery workers getting organized
By Workers Strike Back. Published September 30, 2023
Workers and union members across the country are organizing and fighting for better wages and cost of living adjustments, full staffing levels, healthcare, pensions, and job security. Some of them, like auto workers and television and film writers and actors, have even taken strike action. Right now in the Seattle region, grocery workers at PCC Community Markets, members of UFCW 3000, are fighting back for what they deserve!
Last year, Seattle City Council Democrats shamefully ended $4/hour pandemic hazard pay for all grocery workers in Seattle. That meant a huge income cut for thousands of workers. Now, PCC grocery workers are getting organized to win $25/hour starting pay, $35/hour after three years, and no cuts to benefits. They are also demanding one uniform wage scale across all PCC stores in the region, rejecting the divisive strategy by PCC bosses of pitting Seattle workers against other workers to nickel-and-dime them all. Workers are also demanding full staffing. Last but not least, they demand that PCC remove the no-strike clause.
Rank-and-File Union Organizing Is Crucial!
PCC workers are mobilizing their coworkers for these demands through their rank-and-file caucus PCC Workers United. If they can win, it will be a victory for all working people in our region. Sign the community petition in solidarity with PCC Workers United!
The fight being led by PCC Workers United and their fellow rank-and-file workers has lessons for all workers!
To beat management at the bargaining table, PCC workers are getting organized on the shop floor and gathering community support.
With the help of Workers Strike Back and socialist councilmember Kshama Sawant’s office, PCC Workers United has organized pickets, rank-and-file meetings, and community tables over the last seven months. Over a thousand community supporters have signed down in support of PCC workers’ demands.
Most importantly, PCC Workers United is activating fellow rank-and-file workers in this fight to get the message out to management that they won’t settle for anything less than living wages and good, union jobs.
PCC Workers United members, supported by WSB activists, have already collected 550 signatures from PCC workers demanding $25/hour starting pay and $35/hour after three years!
Addressing the audience at Seattle’s launch of On Strike on September 14th, Maddy Olson, a rank-and-file PCC worker and leader in PCC Workers United said:
“We’re really grateful for the support of both [Sawant’s] office and Workers Strike Back in this fight. They’ve helped rally the labor movement and the community to our side, stood firmly with us against attacks from our union’s business unionist leadership and have contributed to discussions on strategy and tactics to take our fight forward.”
A Serious Fight Lies Ahead for PCC Workers
It won’t be easy to force PCC executives to concede to these demands. In contract negotiations, the bosses have made one outrageous proposal after the next that would keep most PCC workers at minimum wage or barely above it. The bosses claim that they can’t afford to meet workers’ demands, but they have opened new stores, their executives work out of a luxury waterfront office, and their CEO takes home over $500,000 a year.
It’s clear to PCC Workers United that the union will need to mount a serious fightback. That’s why members of PCC Workers United — including shop stewards and members of the UFCW 3000 bargaining team — have disagreed with the approach of the union’s chief negotiator and other members of union leadership. Rank-and-file PCC Workers United have expressed disappointment that these union staff have tried to undercut the rank-and-file core demands by making proposals to management well under $25/hour starting pay, and also proposals that would continue different wage scales for workers inside and outside Seattle — who are doing the same exact work.
PCC Workers United members have said these union staff seem more focused on reaching an agreement with management than fighting for the just demands that union members have put forward. PCC management is intent on pushing through an insulting wage package that adds up to a pay cut when taking into account the sharply rising cost-of-living in the Seattle area.
Workers Strike Back stands with PCC workers as they continue organizing their fellow rank and file and fight for a fair contract. This campaign is likely to escalate in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for WSB announcements of solidarity events!
If PCC workers win their demands, it raises the bar for all grocery and service sector workers to fight for more. Just like the Hollywood writers who went on a courageous strike and won, if PCC workers can fight and win, it will benefit all workers. Workers Strike Back needs serious resources to support this struggle till the end and other struggles on the horizon. Can you start a monthly donation to Workers Strike Back today to help arm us for the class battles in the months and years to come?
