700 Teamsters at United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) in California used coordinated bargaining to win $13 in wage increases over five years and pay parity with 7,000 grocery Teamsters in Southern California.

In 2025, Southern California Grocery Teamsters at Ralphs, Albertsons, Stater Brothers, and more won record raises of more than $10 per hour over the life of their contracts.

UNFI Teamsters traditionally negotiated together with 7,000 Teamsters covered by Southern California Grocery contracts. But they were split off in the last cycle. 

When it was their turn to negotiate, UNFI Teamsters in four locals worked together to win pay parity with Southern California grocery Teamsters. 

The 700 UNFI Teamsters from Locals 630, 848, and 495 in Southern California and Stockton Local 439 achieved that goal and more. 

Their new contract includes record pay increases of $13 an hour over five years and puts UNFI wages $3 ahead of SoCal grocery wages by the time that contract is up for negotiations in 2030.

The new contract also includes mandatory bidding based on seniority for warehouse positions, a requirement to post all job vacancies for seniority bidding, a reduction of discipline remaining on record from 12 months to 9 months, and improvements on timing for lunches for drivers and stricter requirements for bargaining over any proposed work-rule changes.

Raising the Bar

The victory at UNFI raises the bar for the next Southern California grocery negotiations in 2030, where the companies will be under pressure to meet and exceed the UNFI economics. 

The UNFI contract also improved contract language on warehouse bidding, vacancy postings, and work-rule changes that differed in side agreements from facility to facility to create a single high standard. 

“We all worked together to create clear, single rules so we can coordinate on contract enforcement,” said Frank Villa, a UNFI steward and bargaining committee member at the Local 630 Santa Fe Springs facility. “We’ve got a good contract and now it’s all about strong enforcement.”

Deadline Delivers

Another tactic that the bargaining committed employed was insisting on a firm strike deadline with no extension after contract expiration.

The successful contract fight at UNFI built off of the work of the International Union Teamsters Warehouse Division, which has been using coordinated bargaining, strikes and picket line extensions to build our union’s bargaining leverage and win better contracts for working Teamsters.