Santa Cruz Markets will be keeping their doors open for Thanksgiving, following last week’s threats of a potential strike from employees.
Matt O’Malley, the bargaining director of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 770, who represented the union in negotiations with Santa Cruz Markets, said the union reached a tentative agreement with their employer on a new three-year collective bargaining agreement after meeting on Thursday, November 20.
The union — representing clerks and meat department workers from both locations in Santa Barbara and Goleta — said gains include wage increases, improvements in sick and bereavement leave, protection of health and welfare benefits, and more.
Last week, workers said they planned to strike due to the employer’s alleged unfair labor practices, such as attempting to bribe union members to leave the union. Since the stores came under new management last year, six employees have quit due to poor working conditions, according to union member Erik Mendez. Mendez is in his seventh year working for the markets and currently works in the iconic Goleta location’s meat department.
“I love what I do,” he told the Independent last week. “But I have three kids, and I’m stressed. What am I gonna do?”
Workers were prepared to walk out ahead of the busy Thanksgiving weekend as a “last resort,” if they did not reach a fair agreement.
“This victory was only possible because of our hard work and solidarity with our co-workers,” the union’s bargaining team said in a statement on Tuesday. “Every action we took, from signing petitions to engaging with our customers, wearing our T-shirts, and speaking out publicly about our issues, helped get us to this point. Our victory sends a powerful message to workers everywhere — when we band together in solidarity, we win.”
The union said that further details of the tentative agreement will be shared exclusively with union members in upcoming meetings. It said vote results and further information on the contract will be shared with the public after membership has had a chance to review and vote on their contract.
The markets’ owner, Santa Barbara Markets Corp., could not be reached for comment.
