Background
Quisberg and Miner’s are two local, community-minded employers with a long track record of community support and offering fair employment opportunities to local residents. They are the preferred grocery destination as they direct profits back into the community; as opposed to large, non-Union chain stores such as Walmart, where profits leave our community.
Their long track record of fair wages, benefits and good faith negotiations is now jeopardized by out-of-town Union representatives grandstanding at the expense of their Union membership. These Union Representatives promise unrealistic wages and benefits that would force local grocers to either raise prices to maintain their slim margins to stay in business, or go out of business, taking hundreds of jobs and the reasonable prices that competition brings away from the Brainerd Lakes Area, as well as their long-standing and uninterrupted community support.
Statement from Super One, Cub Foods and SuperValu in Response to Recent Union Vote
As family-owners of Super One, Cub Foods and SuperValu, we know that our valued employees – many of whom are neighbors and friends – are the faces, hearts and hands of our stores. And that our communities rely on all of us, working together, to help make the Brainerd Lakes Area such a wonderful place to call home.
It is because of them – and for them – that we continue to negotiate in good faith with their Union, UFCW Local 663, based out of Minneapolis, on a new collective bargaining agreement. For more than 35 years, we have worked together successfully in the best interests of our employees on 15+ collective bargaining agreements, each of which employees approved in a timely manner and without any labor dispute. We may not have always agreed on every issue along the way, but we were ultimately able to come together and move forward in a positive way, continuing to serve the communities we love.
This is why we are so hurt and surprised by the damaging tactics being used by the Union’s new leadership. The Union has attempted to demonize us, both to our employees and the general public. We have even had complaints about employees feeling threatened by the Union if they dared to support the Company. We respect the right of the Union and our employees to engage in strikes and other protected activities, but these tactics do not honor the trusted relationships we’ve built with our employees and communities for decades. While it is certainly the Union’s right to pursue a relationship of conflict and discord, we find it extremely unfortunate given the parties’ history of working harmoniously together, and it is certainly nothing we have instigated.
- Significant wage increases for all employees which are competitive to the Baxter/Brainerd Lakes Area
- No increase in health and welfare costs to employees
- Eligibility for paid time off, bereavement leave, and jury duty pay
- Holiday pay for baggers, carryout, custodial, and general cleanup employees
In addition, we have also agreed to help the Union address the poor financial health of its legacy pension plan, at the Union’s request, by re-directing Employer contributions from the Union health plan to the Union pension plan. All told, this final offer provides for more than a 15% increase in wages and benefits for our employees over the proposed two years of the contract.