MONEY

Teamsters reject Wegmans contract offer

Gary McLendon
Staff writer

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 118 has rejected Wegmans "last, best and final" contract offer. The grocery company says the move authorizes union members to go on strike.

Details of the vote were not disclosed. Union officials were not available for comment.

"It is extremely frustrating that the Teamsters' desire to keep Wegmans from leaving its troubled pension fund put our employees in the position it did," CEO Danny Wegman said in a statement on the company website Monday.

"We made an offer to provide a more secure future for our people, and the union responded with misinformation and pressure on its own members – our employees – to reject that offer. We are very concerned."

Wegmans' offer included an immediate $1,000 lump sum payment for full-time employees ($500 for part-time); an 18 percent pay increase over the life of the six-year contract; a move to Wegmans fully-funded Retirement Plan, and a package of retirement assistance options valued at over $10 million.

In a written statement, Wegmans added they offered to also pay the New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund millions of dollars in withdrawal liability to help preserve the benefits already due its employees.

"The union requested a final offer, and we gave it to them. Now that our final offer has been rejected, we're uncertain of their intentions. It is our understanding that a 'no' vote was also a strike authorization vote giving the Teamsters Union authority to call a strike at any time without further input from our people," said Wegmans Vice President of Distribution Mike Cullen.

He said in the event of a strike, the company is prepared to mobilize a comprehensive plan to ensure that stores remain open without interruption.

"We welcome all of the employees in this bargaining unit to come to work every day, even during a labor dispute. But, we are also prepared to do whatever it takes, in the event of a strike, to offer the same incredible service our customers have come to expect from Wegmans and its employees," said Cullen.

The union has not said whether or not it will go on strike.

Wegmans said vote comes in a time of continued economic uncertainty, when so many companies are cutting jobs and slashing pay increases.

"I simply will not sign a contract that doesn't give our employees an adequate pay increase and doesn't give them the secure retirement they and their families deserve," added Wegman. "It's unconscionable that the Teamsters Union would deprive its members of those things in order to serve its interests elsewhere."

Additionally, Cullen said many employees in the bargaining unit, who collectively pay over $600,000 annually in dues to Local 118, "have expressed serious concerns about the environment that surrounded the voting process, the accuracy of the results, and the status of the Local."

According to Wegmans, the Local was placed in trusteeship in April 2012 after the union president was removed for attempted embezzlement and multiple charges were filed against other union officials.

The tone of the negotiations hit a publicly ominous note Sunday, when the union had an airplane flyover at the Buffalo Bills' game at Ralph Wilson Stadium and handbilling customers at many Rochester and Buffalo stores.

GMCLENDN@DemocratandChronicle.com

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