GTI/RISE Bargaining Update- July

Your coworkers on the bargaining committee met with the company representatives in-person on July 13, 14, and 17 and made a lot of progress. We are still talking about contract language and will move on to economics. Negotiating a first contract can take a long time because everything is on the table, but we want to make sure to get it right. We made great progress this session- we got tentative agreements on discipline only being for just cause, rules during disciplinary meetings, retail’s right to accept tips, and some very important language protecting safety for all workers. We also have strong language on workplace harassment, protections for transgender and nonbinary employees, Union stewards and bulletin boards, uniforms, and sales. This will all be voted on by you, the members, at the end of the process, but is considered a tentative agreement while we work through the remaining proposals. 

We had productive discussion on scheduling, seniority and layoff rights, and the grievance procedure, so we expect to have another productive session on August 14 and 24 and get those items finished. Once those are done, we can move on to economics, which is the most important part of the contract because it relates to wages and paid benefits. Ask your bargaining committee member, Claire, or Kelly if you have any questions about the process or concerns about issues at your workplace. This contract is for you and knowledge is power!

Read a full list of tentative agreements here- paragraphs highlighted in yellow are new this session!

Your bargaining committee for this session was Lucy Millard, Billy Andersen, Nate Glime, Chad Auge, Tyler Goodrie, Audra Meighan-Hanson, Deandre Bastien, Timothy Casey, Chris Espinosa, Grayson Bauer, Logan Hays, Jessica Tyler, and Michael Eckl