Fast Food Organizers, represented by United Media Guild and employed by the National Fast Food Workers Union (an SEIU affiliate) ratified their first contract today. The three year agreement includes a signing bonus, raises and a very generous benefits package, as well as all the usual staples of a good contract – grievance and arbitration language, progressive discipline, anti-discrimination language, even a stipend for those who use a second language in performance of their duties.
The agreement came after a year of bargaining and the fifty or so organizers working in seven different regions around the U.S. elected stewards and sent them to the bargaining table. The last several months things slowed and saw bargaining occurring in the offices of a federal mediator in Washington, DC.
“Through it all, I was impressed at how united our bargaining team members were and how well they kept their their fellow workers engaged and informed,” said Guild representative, Shannon Duffy. “This group of activists is changing the way Americans think about things like fairness and a living wage. The United Media Guild is proud to be associated with such a committed group of activists and such a noble cause.”