Brainerd Area Grocery Workers Plan to Go on Strike Later This Month

Approximately 660 grocery workers from five Brainerd Lakes Area grocery stores plan on going on strike later this month.

Workers at Pequot Lakes SuperValu, Cub Foods in Brainerd and Baxter, and Super One Foods in Baxter and Crosby plan to take part in a four-day strike from Dec. 22 through the 25. The workers are represented by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 663 and claim they have had their rights repeatedly violated.

Union members voted overwhelmingly last week to authorize the union bargaining committee to call for an unfair labor practices strike. A statement from the union reads in part, “The decision to call a strike is not an easy one to make. It is always a last resort. However we have to stand up for our rights as essential workers. We continue to bargain in good faith for a contract that reflects our hard work and a workplace that honors the rights we have.”

UFCW Local 663 union members have been working without a collective bargaining agreement since Dec. 3. According to a press release, members are fighting for better wages and benefits to “build a better life at work and better serve the communities that rely on them.”

Members hope to come to a tentative agreement with the companies soon.