Tag Archives: fred meyer

Local, National

Union warehouse workers vote unanimously to strike against Fred Meyer

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[TUKIWLA, Wash] – (MTN) Teamsters Local 117 warehouse workers at Fred Meyer voted unanimously to authorize a strike on Saturday setting the stage for possible food distribution disruptions at 180 grocery stores across Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Alaska. The vote was unanimous (335-0), despite a notice posted by the Company in the lunchroom pressuring workers to vote no.

Contract negotiations between Teamsters Local 117 and Fred Meyer have been underway with little progress. The contract between the Union and the Company is set to expire on Sunday, July 18. With workers having voted to authorize a strike on Saturday, a work stoppage could be called by the Union as early as 12:01 a.m. Monday morning.

“With all the COVID outbreaks that wreaked havoc on the warehouse, you’d think they’d be a little more concerned about our safety and the safety of the public,” said Matt Collins, a Shop Steward who believes he contracted COVID-19 in the workplace last year. “But, sadly, that’s not the case. Fred Meyer ignored our petition to lower production standards, which led to crowded aisles and people getting sick, and they suspended safety meetings during the worst parts of the pandemic. Now they’re inexplicably rejecting our proposal that would make conditions safer for workers and the community.”

Teamsters Union Representatives met with Fred Meyer numerous times throughout the pandemic to demand they take more aggressive steps to address COVID outbreaks, but the Company was slow to respond. Fred Meyer rejected a proposal outright that would have given workers the ability to refuse to complete a task if they reasonably believed it would put themselves or the public in danger.

The strike votes occurred on the same weekend that Teamster union workers authorized a new contract with Safeway.

Fred Meyer has locations locally including Kirkland, Bellevue, Bothell, and Redmond. Fred Meyer is owned by Kroger, which has a portfolio of grocery brands including QFC.

Health and Lifestyle, Local

Starbucks, Costco, and Walmart join Trader Joe’s with updated in-store mask policy

[KIRKLAND] – (MTN) A growing list of major retailers are making masks optional for individuals who have been fully vaccinated in a flurry of website updates and press releases. Starbucks has announced that starting Monday, vaccinated individuals don’t have to wear masks in their United States locations unless local rules require them. On Friday, Costco, Walmart, and Sam’s Club adopted the same policy. Sam’s Club is a membership-based warehouse store owned by Walmart and is similar to Costco. The retailer closed its western Washington locations several years ago.

Apple, Target, CVS, and Walgreens indicated they were maintaining requirements to wear a mask for now, but are evaluating CDC guidelines and might update their policies. Kroger, which owns QFC and Fred Meyer’s announced they would continue to mandate masks at its locations as did Home Depot.

Locally, Metropolitan Market issued a statement that masks are optional for fully vaccinated customers. PCC, a co-op-based grocery chain with 15 locations has also made masks optional for fully vaccinated customers.

Retailers, restaurants, bars, gyms, and other public businesses in King County are still in Phase 3 under the Safe Washington reopening program and can operate at 50% capacity. The Safe Washington reopening plan announced in March was essentially scraped by Gov. Inslee yesterday, with a new plan moving all counties to Phase 3 on May 18, and Washington state to full reopening on June 30.

The United States has administered over 250 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines nationwide. As of April 17, Washington state has administered more than 6 million doses, and over 43% of residents over 16-years old are fully vaccinated.

In King County, you can visit the Department of Health website to find a vaccination clinic, and many locations now support walk-up appointments. You can also visit the Facebook Group, Find a COVID Shot WA if you need language or technology assistance in making an appointment.