MAPLE GROVE, Minn. — The union representing roughly 3,000 grocery store employees says a tentative deal was reached with Cub Foods just ahead of Friday’s scheduled work stoppage.

According to a press release from an official with UFCW Local 633, the tentative agreement will give employees at the 33 corporately-owned Cub Foods stores a bump in pay by spring of next year.

“What we have done, is we have re-written the history, and the future, for 3,000 souls and countless ahead of us,” Pam Wilson, a head Customer Service Manager at Cub – Eagan East said in a news release. “We are a more powerful union now, and we are only going to continue to build our power together.”

The pay raise will be between $2.50 and $3.50 per hour, according to the release. Union officials say the new agreement is beneficial for part-time workers and retail specialists.

Cub Foods released this statement following the tentative agreement: 

Cub is pleased to announce it has reached a tentative agreement for a two-year contract with UFCW Local 663 that will provide Minneapolis and west Metro area Cub team members with historic wage increases and continued comprehensive health and welfare and retirement benefits as requested by the union. The tentative agreement will need to be ratified by Local 663 members during a vote to be held next week, but as part of the agreement Cub team members will return to a normal work schedule tomorrow morning. We care greatly for our Cub team members and are pleased that our stores will be open and ready to serve our customers and communities throughout the holiday weekend.

A work stoppage was scheduled to take place from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. both Friday and Saturday had an agreement not been reached. Not all of the details in the new agreement have been released, but some of the main issues the workers were asking for were better wages and better protections for workers.

“This is a union of people who sacrificed beyond imagination, to keep Minnesotans fed during the pandemic. It is no surprise, then, that these grocery workers were able to organize the most powerful contract campaign the Twin Cities grocery industry has seen in decades,” said UFCW Local 663 President Rena Wong in a statement. “The bargaining committee believes that this tentative agreement respects, protects, and pays our members fairly. We look forward to sharing the agreement with the thousands of UFCW Local 663 members, and continuing to welcome new members who are working to organize their own workplaces.”

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