Members of UFCW Local 371 approved a first collective agreement on November 25 which brings significant gains for workers at Unilever’s Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factories in St. Albans and Waterbury, Vermont. Member ratification of the agreement brings to fruition an organizing and bargaining effort which began in 2023 with UFCW support for workers seeking union representation. In January and March 2024, a majority of workers across the two factories voted to be represented by UFCW 371 by way of a card check neutrality procedure. Recognition was followed by months of tough bargaining.
Negotiations between the IUF and Unilever corporate management built on Unilever’s recognition of the IUF established a framework for ensuring that the Vermont Ben & Jerry’s workers could effectively exercise their right to join a union and their collective bargaining rights.
The three-year agreement:
- Allows workers to enter into the union’s health insurance plan, which includes medical, prescription, dental, and optical coverage and a cost savings of up to $8,000 a year in weekly premiums alone
- Guarantees a 14 percent wage increase over the term of the agreement, with a 16 percent pay raise between now and April 27, 2025 and a move towards a hybrid eight- and 12-hour shift pattern, giving members more flexibility to balance the needs of their families with the needs of the plant
- Includes paid parental leave whereas legally mandated paid family leave is only provided for in thirteen US states plus Washington D.C.
- Provides for protection of workers’ defined contribution 401(k) plan with a 9 percent company match
I’m so proud of my co-workers for sticking together and demanding better. The union difference is clear and joining UFCW Local 371 will make a huge difference for us,” said Jeff Johnson, a member of the St. Albans Ben & Jerry’s union bargaining committee.
