Union members including about 100 forklift operators in a Joliet warehouse of Central Grocers Inc adopted a three-year contract on 9 January and stepped back from a threatened strike.

Each of the 335 members of International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) local 703 is eligible for a one-time USD500 signing bonus, says Chuck Murdoch, president of the IBT local. The vote was 143 to 32 among those members in attendance for the local 703 balloting.

In early December, the workers rejected a proposed five-year contract, terminated an agreement extending the previous contract beyond 30 April 2009 and authorised a strike. At that time, Central Grocers indicated it needed to gradually phase in productivity standards for the distribution centre's forklift operators in order to compete effectively with major grocery outlets such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc of Bentonville, Arkansas and Meijer Inc of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Further negotiations led to an agreement on wage increases of 5.7% to 7.8%, additional personal days or floating holidays and more vacation pay. The benefits vary depending on a worker's seniority and years of service.

The agreement is retroactive to 1 May with first-year per-hour increases of 55 cents in wages, 80 cents in pension benefits and 10 cents into a personal severance-fund account.

Murdoch says separate negotiations on a 15-member produce warehouse bargaining unit at Central Grocers will begin in mid-January.

Central Grocers invested about USD90 million for land, construction and infrastructure in establishing its new corporate headquarters, freezer/cooler space and ambient warehouse in Joliet. An opening ceremony was held in March (Forkliftaction.com News #404).

For the new location, Central Grocers purchased 219 fuel cell-powered Yale pallet trucks, reach trucks, counterbalance stand-ups and counterbalance forklifts with the intention to retire 170 battery-powered forklifts through YES Equipment & Services of Itasca, Illinois. Initial deliveries involved about 150 tuggers with other equipment slated for delivery in early 2010.

The unionised operation was moved about 40 miles (64 km) from Franklin Park, Illinois. "We represented the workers in Franklin Park for about 30 years," Murdoch notes.

As of mid-December, Central Grocers employed 425 staff including some workers from its May 2008 absorption of Certified Grocers Inc of Hodgkins, Illinois.

Central Grocers supplies about 225 independent businesses operating 450 stores in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin.