Tops Agreement Ratified By Members

Buffalo, Midstate, Rochester, and Olean/Bradford/Wellsville Agreements

The new Tops contract, affecting 9,000 members, raised wages for full-timers by $2.50 per hour and up to $2 per hour for part-timers over the agreement term, with up to $4 immediate increases for Deli, Prepared Foods, and Bakery Managers. Wage adjustments were made for all other department and assistant department heads.

Co-payments for health insurance were cut in half! Family coverage went from $40 per week to $20 per week (a $1040 direct member savings per year), and Members with Spousal Coverage went from $35 per week to $17.50 per week (a $910 direct member savings per year), Members with Children went from $25 per week to $12.50 per week (a $650 direct member per year savings), Member single coverage went from $20 per week to $10 per week (a direct member savings of $520 per year).

401K contributions stayed the same for legacy members up to 14% of their yearly wages into the UFCW Local One 401K Plan. The 401K contributions for all other members stayed the same. For new part-time members, the waiting period for 401K contributions is now two years.

This contract increases Tops labor costs by almost $90 million, twice as much as a typical agreement with Tops.

“Did we get everything we proposed, no?” Frank DeRiso, President of UFCW District Union Local One, said. “We did achieve market adjustment increases for several department and assistant department heads, a larger than normal wage increase over the term of the agreement, and we made health care more affordable for members by cutting the weekly co-payments in half,” DeRiso added.

Ratification votes were held at 15 locations on Monday, March 13, 2023, and Tuesday, March 14, 2023. The agreements were ratified overwhelmingly ratified.