UFCW 8-Golden State and three major supermarket chains —Save Mart, Raley’s and Safeway — have agreed to extend their current collective bargaining agreement until Dec. 1, 2007, the same as all other UFCW Unions in Northern California.

“Achieving the same expiration date as UFCW Locals 5, 101 and 648 enables our Unions to align the interests of all UFCW members in Northern California to achieve the finest possible contracts,” said Jacques Loveall, president of UFCW 8-Golden State.

The contracts affect some 40,000 workers in 800 locations in Northern California, all part of the UFCW
Solidarity alliance.

The extension past the original expiration date of Oct. 6 also gives UFCW 8 and the employers more time to work through complicated issues that must be resolved before they reach a new agreement.

Loveall also announced that negotiators have agreed that any wage increases in the new agreement will be applied retroactively to Oct. 6. In the meantime, members of UFCW 8 will work under the same terms that have determined their wages, benefits and working conditions since 2004.

Some 30,000 UFCW 8-Golden State members work in stores, plants and offices from the California-Oregon border in the North to Fresno County in the South.