Local 108 members in Secaucus, New Jersey, ratified a new three-year contract with their employer, Mutual Trading Warehouse. The facility provides Japanese food and restaurant supplies for Japanese restaurants. The new contract provides annual hourly wage increases as well as a $500 “appreciation bonus” for members, and also contains a provision which will place wage increases on top of any state or federal minimum wage increases. The contract also provides for the establishment of a member health and safety committee, a $1 per hour pay increase for certification on fork lifts and other equipment, and covers 100 percent of cost increases in medical coverage.

RWDSU members in Salem, Ohio, have ratified a new four-year contract that brings numerous improvements and protects the health insurance plan. The progression has been greatly decreased from five years to only 18 months, meaning members can reach the full pay rate three and a half years earlier. There are annual wage raises in the contract, and a shift differential that will bring an extra $.25 an hour for the second shift and an extra $1.50 per hour for the third. Newly added benefits include a longevity raise for senior employees, and an extra week of paid vacation for all members. Maintenance workers will earn more money after completing training classes, and there are increases in the company 401K match and an extra $150 shoe allowance for warehouse workers.

In response to repeated delays in providing adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) to workers at Kraft Heinz Company (Kraft Heinz), and lack of real negotiations around essential pay and quarantine procedures, Local 705 of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) issued the following statement on behalf of the workers they represent at Kraft Heinz in Holland, Michigan…

Today, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which represents thousands of poultry processing workers across the southern United States, condemned the industry for its slow response to COVID-19…