Safeway and Albertsons’s employees frustrated by slow raise rollout

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Thousands of grocery workers in Oregon and SW Washington have not been paid the raises they’re owed under their newly ratified union contract.

Roughly 9,500 employees of Safeway and Albertson’s are impacted by the delay in implementation, which the company blames on a technological glitch. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, which represents the workers, has filed a class-action grievance against the company, demanding the wage increases be put into place immediately.

“This is not a he-said, she-said thing. This is an employer failed to put in a wage increase by a certain date. The strength of a union contract gives you the ability to go back and say we have a grievance process, you have to make our members whole,” said Miles Eshaia, a spokesperson for UFCW Local 555.

Safeway-Albertson’s indicated it is working to resolve the issue.

“We value our hard-working employees and are currently working to ensure they receive the raises they so rightfully earned,” said Jill McGinnis, a spokesperson for Safeway-Albertsons’s. “We regret the delay in implementation. However, we remain committed to rectifying this situation so that impacted associates will receive the full amount owed as soon as possible.”

As part of its grievance, the union is demanding the company pay interest on the back pay workers have not received.

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