Bridgeton, Mo. — UFCW Local 655 members at Dierbergs Central Kitchen avoided a costly strike Monday, Oct. 5, when they agreed to the terms of a new contract for the approximately 100 workers at their Bridgeton location.
Dierbergs Central Kitchen is responsible for preparing fresh foods that come ready-to-buy for customers at Dierbergs Markets across the St. Louis area.
UFCW Local 655 and Dierbergs Central Kitchen have negotiated for months to come to terms on a new contract. UFCW officials, at the request of hard-working families, achieved a meaningful and well-deserved pay increase and maintained quality benefits in negotiations with Dierbergs.
The vote came as UFCW partners were preparing for a picket line set to begin at 7 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, when Dierbergs management initially refused to meet the needs of their employees. Preventing a strike and gaining new resources for UFCW Local 655 partners is considered a major victory by local president Dave Cook.
“We’re thrilled that we were able to negotiate a contract with Dierbergs that was reasonable but also addressed the needs of hard-working people,” Cook said. “These are folks that prepare fresh food for you and I to eat for dinner, and they deserve to be paid in a way that reflects that hard and important work.”
United Food and Commercial Workers is the largest private-sector labor union in the country with more than 1.3 million members in the U.S. and Canada. In St. Louis, the majority of UFCW Local 655 members work in union grocery stores like Dierbergs, Schnucks and Shop N’ Save.
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