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Business and Economic News
Aaliyah Demry

Grocery workers ratify new contract with Lunds & Byerlys

Union says contract offers historic wage increases

A man puts bread on a shelf.
A man wears a face cover as he stocks bread at Lunds & Byerlys in Wayzata, Minn. Workers at that store and others in the western Twin Cities metro ratified a new contract with the grocer that includes wage increases.
Evan Frost | MPR News 2020

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Grocery store workers have ratified their next two-year contract with Lunds & Byerlys. UFCW Local 663 members said the contract includes historic wage increases and pay equity. 

Workers voted Saturday at 10 store locations across the western Twin Cities metro. The union and Lunds and Byerlys reached a contract agreement last week after the union threatened to strike over unfair labor practices. 

Employees were asking for better pay wages, pay equity and worker-driven health care.

The agreement, which covers 2,500 workers at 22 Lunds and Byerlys locations, means employees will receive average raises of $3 to $4 an hour by spring of 2024.

Part-time courtesy and custodial workers traditionally had no wage scale. The union said these positions will receive significant wage increases in the new contract. 

In a statement employees said they were pleased with the new contract, calling it historic.

UFCW Local 663 is the same union to represent workers at Cub Foods and other grocers who negotiated for better pay earlier this year. 

“Cub paved the way for us. They set the standard for wages Lunds & Byerly’s has now set the new standard for the grocery industry,” said Rosemary Luoma, who works at the St. Louis Park Lunds and Byerlys.

An earlier statement from Lunds and Byerlys said it has a history of “proactively proposing wages and benefits that have continued to set industry standards.”

“Our current proposal includes wages that continue to be among the best in our industry and a company-sponsored health care plan to provide our team members with lower out-of-pocket expenses and better healthcare benefits,” the statement said.