On Friday, June 27, more than 400 workers at Kraft Heinz in Dover, Delaware ratified a new union contract! Congratulations!
Creating Positive Change
The new agreement considerably improves the lives of our members at Kraft Heinz in various ways.
All of our members received significant wage increases immediately, some members up to 7%, as well as guaranteed wage increases annually for the four-year contract.
Benefits, in all facets, improved with this contract. In addition to maintaining their affordable union healthcare, Kraft Heinz workers will see an increase in their 401(k)-employer match, allowing our members to save additional income for retirement at no cost. Members will now have the opportunity to participate in voluntary supplemental benefits offered by UFCW Local 152, providing additional income that a typical health insurance policy does not cover.
Finally, bereavement leave was expanded to include additional family members, and the safety shoe allowance was increased.
This contract introduces a company-wide Paid Parental Leave program and the Adoption Reimbursement Policy. Beginning in 2026, the Paid Parental Leave program will provide our members with paid leave for the birth or adoption of their child. Additionally, the Adoption Reimbursement Policy will provide financial reimbursement when a member adopts a child. We applaud the union negotiating committee for fighting for these groundbreaking employee policies.
Kraft Heinz has also agreed to comply with the Delaware Paid Leave law, or any other state leave law enacted during the term of the contract.
Improving Work/Life Balance
It was important to the union negotiating committee to improve the work/life balance for the four hundred members at Kraft. Through hard bargaining, we are proud to say the new contract introduces many opportunities to do just that through changes to vacation time and changes to overtime scheduling.
Some employees will now receive more vacation time sooner, and, new for this contract, some vacation time can now be taken in single days instead of straight weeks. Additionally, some vacation time can now be used as “emergency” days, covering unscheduled, impromptu life emergencies at no penalty to our members. The employer also agreed to extend the PTO Incentive Program, where workers can earn additional PTO after working a certain number of consecutive days.
Changes were made to some overtime parameters to provide workers with more advanced notice of mandatory overtime, such as overtime after a scheduled shift and weekend overtime.
Union Committee
Congratulations to our members on this monumental win! We’d also like to take a moment to spotlight the union negotiating committee. This included Executive Vice President Lisa Sanders, Executive Assistant to the President Danette Montes-Palmore, Chief Shop Steward Frank Watson, and Shop Stewards Doug Carlino, William “Gene” Bontrager, Jason Moore, Jim Remondi, Julisse Allen, Mahalon Gassaway, Rodney Doughty, and Aneisha Griffin.
UFCW Local 152 proudly represents about 400 workers at Kraft Heinz in Dover, Delaware. Our members work in production, maintenance, and more, helping to create food staples you know and love such as JELL-O, Kool-Aid, Shake ‘N Bake, and many more.
Are you interested in joining UFCW Local 152? Start by learning more about how to start a union at your workplace.
