45K+ SoCal Grocery Workers Vote to Ratify New Contract
Members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Locals 135, 324, 770, 1167, 1428 and 1442 have voted to ratify a new three-year contract with Kroger banner Ralphs and Albertsons’ banners Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions. The contract was hammered out after months of negotiations and the active involvement of thousands of Southern California grocery workers. The vote comes after a tentative agreement was reached earlier this month.
Following the vote on Friday, July 11, the six UFCW locals issued the following statement:
“The journey to contract ratification saw a record turnout of grocery workers, customers and community members, all fighting for the same thing – better stores, better lives, better communities. They fought to ensure that grocery workers could feed their own families and afford health benefits and a dignified retirement at the end of a long career. They also fought for more staffing to improve the customer experience at their stores.
“Their fight took to the streets where they organized numerous rallies and marches that showed their power. It took to their stores where they stood up and demonstrated their unity by signing petitions and wearing buttons. Grocery workers also joined with customers in the fight for better staffing, talking to over 3,000 customers about their shopping experiences and sharing their feedback with these companies that can afford to do better. These actions built the strength needed to reach this agreement. Only by rising up together were grocery workers able to make a change in their workplaces that will benefit all grocery workers and customers in the future.”
[RELATED: SoCal Grocery Workers Authorize Strike]
Key provisions of the agreement include:
- Considerable wage increases
- A new supplemental pension plan to help retired workers
- Higher health care benefit contributions and faster health care eligibility for new hires
- Staffing language that includes the union in evaluating reasonable staffing levels that address efficient operation of the store, the health and safety of employees, and the quality of customer service
The contract went into effect immediately for more than 45,000 grocery workers at Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions locations across Southern California.
Workers’ separate contracts with Ralphs and Albertsons expired on Sunday, March 2, 2025. Meanwhile, workers at Stater Bros., Gelson’s, Super A and El Super stores in Southern California are in the midst of negotiating similar terms with their employers.
As of Feb. 22, Albertsons Cos. operated 2,270 retail food and drug stores with 1,728 pharmacies, 405 associated fuel centers, 22 dedicated distribution centers and 19 manufacturing facilities. The Boise, Idaho-based company operates stores across 34 states and the District of Columbia under more than 20 well-known banners. Albertsons is No. 9 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2025 list of top food and consumables retailers in North America. Cincinnati-based Kroger employs nearly 420,000 associates who serve more than 11 million customers daily through a digital shopping experience and retail food stores under a variety of banner names. The grocer is No. 4 on The PG 100. PG also named both companies among its Retailers of the Century. Stater Bros. operates nearly 170 supermarkets in Southern California and employs 18,000 associates. The Modesto, Calif.-based company is No. 60 on The PG 100.
Washington, D.C.-based United Food and Commercial Workers International Union represents more than 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada and is one of the largest private-sector unions in North America.
