Grocery workers in the Puget Sound area reached a tentative agreement Monday in contract negotiations with four major chains, just two hours before a scheduled strike.
UFCW 21 announced the agreement Monday on its Facebook page. About 30,000 workers in King, Pierce, Kitsap and Snohomish counties are represented by unions UFCW 21, UFCW 367 and Teamsters 38.
“We are very pleased to announce that today at 5 PM the union member bargaining team from UFCW 21 & 367 and Teamsters 38 reached a tentative agreement with the national grocery chains in contract negotiations,” the statement said. “This tentative agreement has been unanimously recommended by the union member bargaining team.
“Details will not to be released until after union members themselves have had the opportunity to review the tentative agreement and vote on it. The times and locations of those vote meetings will be announced in the coming days after arrangements have been made to schedule the votes.”
Workers voted in September to go on strike if a settlement could not be reached. The unions gave 72-hour notice on Friday to the stores to expect a walkout. Stores had posted help wanted posters to hire replacement workers in case of a strike.
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