Acme workers union wins contract

By ERIK ORTIZ Staff Writer, 609-272-7253 | Posted: Friday, September 18, 2009
Press of Atlantic City

The contract negotiations affect workers in Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic counties.

A new four-year contract has been successfully negotiated for hundreds of unionized Acme employees at about 100 stores in southern New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, the union's president said Friday.

Brian String, president of the Hammonton-based United Food and Commercial Workers Local 152, said the contract includes across-the-board wage increases, an increase in pension contributions by the employer totaling 36 percent over the four years and a protection of health benefits. Workers will still have no medical copays - a major negotiating point, String said.

Union members will vote Sept. 30 on whether to approve the contract. The current one expired in May.

Earlier this summer, Local 152 decided to suspend talks with Acme temporarily, to give the supermarket chain and UFCW Local 1776, its sister union located outside Philadelphia, a chance to work out separate contract negotiations.

Talks between the two had stalled over proposed changes to health insurance and benefit contributions. But Local 1776 members finally voted in July to ratify a four-year contract.

"Our goal was to get better than the contract in Philadelphia, which we did," String said of Local 152's agreement with Acme.

The contract involves about 1,880 meat cutters, produce workers and other back-end Acme employees, including those at supermarkets in Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland counties.

An Acme spokeswoman could not be reached for comment late Friday.

Meanwhile, Local 152 is still negotiating a contract for its 500 members employed by Super Fresh. Those meetings began in November, and affect full- and part-time workers at store locations in Cape May Court House, Ocean City, Wildwood, Hammonton and Stafford Township, Ocean County.

String said he still expects the union's bargaining committee to be able to work out a new contract with the supermarket's parent company, A&P.