Pros
The decent health insurance is what seems to keep employees. The union ensures job security.
Cons
The bad side of the union is it makes it very difficult to get rid of bad employees. There's a high turnover rate. Days off and work hours change from week to week. The inconsistency makes it difficult to make plans and now, two weeks notice is needed to request a day off. Typically, hard working, reliable employees will not get weekends or holidays off. We are under new contract negotiations at the moment and the meat and deli departments are about to strike. Jewel is trying to dramatically reduce raises, do away with personal and sick days and encourage us to use vacation time instead. Our contributions to health insurance will go up, our union dues will increase, among other negatives for the already overworked, underappreciated employees. If this contract passes, we will not be able to receive the $15/hr minimum wage increase when that comes into effect, nor will we receive the minimum number of sick/vacation days that may be allowed to us in a few years (though this is a supposed bill that Governor Pritzker will try to pass in the coming years, but this new contract would cause us to waive the allotted minimum sick/vacation days).
