Those shopping for an Easter Sunday feast at 33 Cub locations Friday and Saturday will encounter striking workers in pursuit of higher wages as compensation for their front-line efforts during the pandemic.
"We want to be paid for what we've been through the last five years," said Jill Craig during a news conference Wednesday outside the Maple Grove grocery store on N. Wedgewood Lane where she works.
The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 663 announced Tuesday night that nearly 95% voted in favor of a first-time strike by 3,000 unionized employees at 33 Cub stores owned by United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI).
The most recent contract between Cub and the union expired March 4. After putting an offer forward March 21, the company's negotiators were surprised that the union wouldn't bargain before April 11, the next scheduled meeting. Laura Daly, Cub's general counsel, said she believes the union intends to disrupt grocery shopping before the holiday.
"We remained ready, willing and able to return to the negotiating table at any time, day or night, any day since March 21, and the union has not been willing to re-engage," Daly said. "So at this point, I never want to say never, but we believe the union intends to move forward with the strike plan."
Cub is prepared to implement contingency plans to ensure the continued availability of products and services during a strike.
Employees said Wednesday they want fair compensation for their work during the pandemic. That included mandatory masking, separation from medically vulnerable relatives and fear during the unrest following the police killing of George Floyd.
Union officials said they want a $4 an hour pay increase spread across two years on average, vs. the $2.75 Cub offered. The union also wants to avoid what it called a regressive raise structure, where part-time employees working 15 hours a week would receive raises only after 140 weeks of service.
Cub countered that the company is making historic wage increases. For example, a part-time employee currently makes $12.25 an hour after five years. In year two of the company's proposed contract, that employee would make $18.25 an hour, Daly said.
Store officials also point out a full-time maintenance employee with five years of experience would make $50,294 in the second year of the contract.
The grocer's proposed change to a part-time raise structure addressed concerns of inequity from some who felt it unfair that employees who worked very little saw the same pace of wage increases as those who put in more hours, Daly said.
The union charged Cub with unfair labor practices, including interrogation, coercive statements, such as threats, and coercive actions, such as surveillance, according to the National Labor Relations Board website.
Daly said she hasn't learned the specifics of the March 31 allegations. She said she is confident the charges will be dropped. But if this is determined to be an unfair labor practice strike, Cub couldn't hire permanent replacement workers as it could in an economic strike for higher wages or shorter hours.
The leading Twin Cities grocer received a boost during the pandemic when buying groceries and cooking at home became even more of a necessity for most people. In a two-year span encompassing the height of the pandemic, Providence, R.I.-based UNFI's retail segment saw sales increase 15%, largely thanks to Cub.
UNFI, a wholesale specialist, acquired Eden Prairie-based Supervalu, including its Cub stores, in 2018. It initially wanted to sell the retail division and its Cub locations but later decided to retain it.
Cub is undergoing another sea change. Mike Stigers, chief executive of Cub since 2019, is departing to become the president of New Jersey-based Wakefern, the nation's largest retailer-owned cooperative. His last day is May 31, and Cub has yet to name his replacement.
Cub has a total of 79 stores, both corporate and franchise, in Minnesota and one in Freeport, Ill.
As word started to spread of the possible strike, some Cub shoppers at the Uptown store said Wednesday they were ready to support the union.
"I'll probably not shop here if there's a picket line," said Wendy Farrar of Minneapolis.
Another shopper, James Leighton of Minneapolis, said he supported the strike because he is "all behind unions."
The other grocery options in the area make avoiding Cub less of a hassle, another shopper added.
"There's Lunds [& Byerlys] up the street, Kowalski's, the [Wedge Community] Co-op," said Chris Lamping of Minneapolis. "It's not that hard."
Star Tribune staff writer Josie Albertson-Grove contributed to this report.
The stores where employees will strike:
Apple Valley: 15350 Cedar Ave., Apple Valley
Blaine North: 12595 N.E. Central Ave., Blaine
Blaine South: 585 N.E. Northtown Drive, Blaine
Blaine West: 10881 N.E. University Ave., Blaine
Bloomington Lyndale: 8421 S. Lyndale Ave., Bloomington
Brooklyn Park North: 9655 N. Colorado Lane, Brooklyn Park
Brooklyn Park South: 7555 W. Broadway Ave., Brooklyn Park
Burnsville Heart of the City: 300 E. Travelers Trail, Burnsville
Burnsville South: 1750 W. County Road 42, Burnsville
Champlin: 8600 N. 114th Ave., Champlin
Chanhassen: 7900 Market Blvd., Chanhassen
Coon Rapids South: 2050 N.W. Northdale Blvd., Coon Rapids
Crystal: 5301 N. 36th Ave., Crystal
Eagan East: 1020 Diffley Road, Eagan
Eagan North: 1276 Town Centre Drive, Eagan
Eagan West: 1940 Cliff Lake Road, Eagan
Fridley: 250 N.E. 57th Ave., Fridley
Lakeville North: 7435 W. 179th St., Lakeville
Lakeville South: 20250 Heritage Drive, Lakeville
Lakeville West: 17756 Kenwood Trail, Lakeville
Maple Grove: 8150 N. Wedgewood Lane, Maple Grove
Minnehaha: 4601 Snelling Ave., Minneapolis
Monticello: 216 W. Seventh St., Monticello
New Brighton: 2600 Rice Creek Road, New Brighton
Northside: 701 W. Broadway Ave., Minneapolis
Plymouth: 3550 N. Vicksburg Lane, Plymouth
Plymouth Rockford Road: 4445 N. Nathan Lane, Plymouth
Rosemount: 3784 W. 150th St., Rosemount
Savage: 14075 State Hwy 13, Savage
Shorewood: 23800 MN-7, Shorewood
St. Anthony: 3930 N.E. Silver Lake Road, St Anthony
St. Louis Park West End: 5370 W. 16th St., St Louis Park
Uptown: 1104 Lagoon Ave., Minneapolis
