Collaborative effort between Giant Eagle and United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1776 Keystone State results in new agreement covering more than 5,000 essential workers and includes improved opportunities for current and future Team Members
PITTSBURGH, PA – On July 21 and 22, Giant Eagle Team Members represented by UFCW Local 1776 overwhelmingly ratified a new four-year agreement that improves wages and benefits for Team Members who serve Pittsburgh area customers. The new agreement covers approximately 5,300 current Team Members working in 35 corporate-owned Giant Eagle supermarket locations in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
“Our members turned out to vote 90% in favor of this new agreement. I want to thank our bargaining committee for all their hard work negotiating a great agreement for our members,” said Local 1776 president Wendell Young IV, “This agreement increases wages across the board, strengthens retirement programs, and maintains the excellent health and welfare benefit our members have at zero dollar member contribution.”
Young continued, “I am very proud of the work our members did on this bargaining committee. We were able to keep the discussion going with the company and through collaboration and open dialogue and found solutions to important issues. Our members care deeply about the work they do, serving their communities and they appreciate the respect the company’s representatives showed them during this process.” In addition to the increased wages and maintenance of health benefits, the new agreement also includes non-discrimination protections for gender, gender expression, and gender identity, an important protection for LGBTQ+ members.
“We very much appreciate the continued collaborative and innovative spirit that the UFCW Local 1776 leadership team and our Team Members on the bargaining committee brought to these negotiations,” said Giant Eagle Executive Vice President Bill Artman, “The ratification of this agreement by the Team Members it positively impacts is both very exciting and gratifying.” Artman continued, “This agreement demonstrates our appreciation of the exemplary work of our Team Members, particularly over the last 18 months, and it ensures that we continue to provide our communities with the highest quality of products and service.”
UFCW Local 1776 serves workers in the grocery, retail, food manufacturing, health care and medical cannabis industries throughout Pennsylvania, the Ohio Valley and Hudson Valley, and is proud to be a voice for the 35,000 workers they represent.
Giant Eagle is a Pittsburgh-based food, fuel, and pharmacy retailer with more than 470 locations across Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, and Maryland.