Category: Jewel2025

Today members from Jewel Local 881 Bargaining Committee counted ALL ballots received. We are pleased to report that the new three-year contract has been approved and accepted by a majority of the members of Jewel Foods Stores.

Contract improvements include:

• • Guaranteed annual wage increases for ALL members throughout the brackets over the life of the contract.
  • Considerable wage increases for Top of Scale and Overscale members.
  • Premium Pay Increases for Dairy/Frozen Managers, Head Produce and Head Perishable Clerks, Night Crew Chiefs, Personnel Coordinators, and Scan Coordinators.
  • Controlled costs for health care weekly premiums.
  • Wellness Rates Protected.
  • One contract to cover both Jewel and Osco! Historic achievement that improves our future bargaining power!

In addition to wage increases and benefit protections included in this new contract, one of the most significant victories our Local Union achieved during these negotiations was the inclusion of Osco members under the Jewel contract!

We believe this contract is truly historic! Osco members have asked us for years, “Why can’t we be treated the same as Jewel?” And Local 881 has been advocating for Osco members to be included in the Jewel contract for decades! Osco members were given an incredible opportunity to gain the full protections, provisions, and ben­efits of the new Jewel-Osco contract.

In a separate ballot count, Osco members OVERWHELMINGLY voted to join the new Jewel-Osco contract. Like their Jewel coworkers, Osco members will also receive guaranteed increas­es and will especially benefit from the numer­ous improvements within the Jewel contract.

We want to recognize the hard work of the negotiating committee members. Their time and input have been invaluable. It’s not easy to sit across the table from the company bosses. We believe having rank-and-file workers at the table sends a powerful message of our Union’s strength and unity! Without these brave and dedicated committee members we would not be where we are today! We are grateful for their continued service and dedication to the Union and to their fellow Jewel-Osco coworkers.

Thank you to all the members who took the time to review the proposals and vote. This is what our Union is all about! We believe your activism and involvement only makes the Union stronger.

The new contract is effective immediately and printed copies will be available at your stores soon.

If you have questions, please contact your Union Representative at 847-294-5064.

The Tentative Contract Agreement Offer for Jewel-Osco was mailed on 10/9/2025. Documents should arrive in mailboxes over the next several days.

Your bargaining committee, which includes some of your coworkers, STRONGLY RECOMMENDS this offer because it IMPROVES the current contract.

As a reminder, votes will be counted on October 28th.

Please return your ballots QUICKLY! The post office takes time to deliver, so do not delay mailing your vote!

If you have questions, please contact your Union Representative at 847-294-5064.

Local 881 is pleased to announce that a Tentative Contract Agreement Offer has been reached with Jewel Food Stores. The bargaining committee, which includes many rank-and file Jewel workers, STRONGLY RECOMMEND this offer because it both IMPROVES the current contract… but ALSO PROTECTS all hard-won contractual benefits! Nothing was taken away!

In addition, after decades of trying, the Company finally has agreed to have ONE contract to cover both the Jewel and Osco sides of the stores. When the Jewel members vote in the coming weeks, current Osco members will be given a separate opportunity to vote on being merged into the Jewel contract.

Ratification Materials are Being Prepared

Ratification is where you the Local 881 members decide to ACCEPT or REJECT this agreement. Very soon you will be mailed a copy of ALL the proposed changes to the current contract. ONLY the membership gets to vote and determine the future contract.

We have just begun putting together all the printed voting materials. AS YOU KNOW, contractual votes for over 20,000 people are complicated. These are very important documents which need to be carefully reviewed before sending! This takes time! We anticipate this taking up to 4-6 weeks. We do not rush this process, because it is imperative that mistakes be avoided! We appreciate your patience, and we will notify everyone when the ballots have been mailed. If you have moved recently, please contact your Union Representative immediately to ensure we have your correct address on file.

We are grateful for the hard work of the Negotiating Committee members. They know firsthand what it’s like to work at Jewel, and because of their knowledge and experience they were instrumental to getting to this strong agreement.

We know there will be questions! We continue to be at your service and invite you to contact your Union Representative at 847-294-5064 to discuss any concerns you have.