Workers at Minneapolis' Seward Co-op ratify first contract

The union representing more than 250 workers at Seward Community Co-op in Minneapolis said this weekend that workers on Friday ratified their first two-year union contract.

The new contract establishes pay rates based on work and years of service, according to a statement from United Food & Commercial Workers Local 653. It also brings consistent scheduling and discipline procedures, the union said, as well as diversity and inclusion language.

"Before the contract, pay wages were arbitrary," the union said in a news release.

Sean Doyle, the co-op's general manager, said previous paid wages were based on merit and levels of responsibility, whereas wages now are based on seniority.

"We negotiated a contract that we think is fair and reasonable, that will serve the coop into the future," Doyle said.

Workers voted in June 2017 to unionize at the retail food co-op, which runs two grocery stores plus a café and food production facility. The union says the contract is retroactive to Aug. 20.