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Tentative Agreement Reached with UNFI; Ratification Vote Scheduled

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The UNFI bargaining committee returned to the table July 20, 2026. The main things they discussed with the Employer were wages and the Employer’s proposals to:

  • Increase the number of non-benefited employees 
    • From Day 1 of this process the bargaining committee has been dedicated to protecting our healthcare. This proposal would have underfunded healthcare, making it more difficult to control costs and deliver affordable coverage in the future. 
  • Increase the number of non-union employees in the store – These employees are known as ASDs.
    • This proposal would have reduced the overall number of hours available to part-time Union members who are already struggling to get as many hours as possible to support themselves and their families. 
  • Remove Sunday Premium for future meat department employees
    • This proposal had the potential to take tens of thousands of dollars out of our members’ paychecks. Meat employees with no protections related to Sunday work could have been removed from those shifts and lose almost $400 per week, based only on the current wage scale. Over a one-year period this would amount to a little over $20,000 per year. That is the type of blow that can change a person’s life. 

We were unable to move the Employer on wages; however, the committee was able to move the Employer off ALL the other detrimental proposals. The Employer will NOT increase the number of our members who don’t receive benefits. The Employer will NOT replace our part-timers’ hours with non-union employees and the Employer will NOT take thousands of dollars out of the pockets of our members. 

This agreement was hard fought and comes with a full committee recommendation. 

Thank you to all UNFI members. Without your strength and support of each other in voting no on the first proposal, we would not have been able to prevent this harm from your fellow members. Union representatives will be out in your stores over the next few weeks leading up to the vote to make sure we can answer any questions you may have about any of the provisions within the deal. 

Ratification will be held on Thursday, August 6, 2026 in store breakrooms and at UFCW 1189 offices.

Below are the tentative agreement documents to review: