RICHMOND, Calif. — Public protests paid off for Safeway bread plant workers here, who won a new contract 14 months after their old one expired. The workers won wage gains of $4.95 an hour over four years, and the fight puts workers in a better position to push back against company attacks.
The members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Local 125 approved the contract Oct. 26.
The Safeway bread plant is owned by Albertsons, a giant supermarket chain across 35 states.
The union won the new contract after escalating its fight. An Oct. 5 protest, where workers held signs saying “Enough is enough” and “Shame on Albertsons, shame on Safeway” outside a company-organized “Fall Festival,” helped turn the tide.
“Every day after our protest we used those signs on our cars in the parking lot. The union made some T-shirts too, which we wore into work,” a worker told the Militant at the bakery Nov. 8. He requested his name not be used to avoid company retaliation.
“We said that if the company didn’t fix the contract we will call off,” he added. Pulling out of the parking lot after working 12 hours on Saturday, he said there was a lot of unity among the 40 workers there. And he thanked the Militant for being part of the fight.
“The company tried to scare us by threatening to shut the plant down,” said Joann Velasquez, Local 125 vice president and recording secretary. After the protests, “we were able to come to an agreement. You have to show you are serious to get them to respond.”