There was no consideration of performance at all. The raises you get are laid out in the collective bargaining agreement contract for every non-management person in the company and completely transparent. I suspect a grocery store union would be extremely similar. Mine was Teamsters so not small also mine was from 2004-2012. There were other jobs in the company with higher rises and higher pay like driving and delivering packages or driving a semi truck. These kinds of higher paying positions are going to be limited in number at a grocery store.

It can absolutely be worth it for you depending on your situation. Everyone should always do what is best for them and their family. Note those guaranteed raises are like .04 cents an hour usually graduating on a scale over 8 years or whatever the length of the collective bargaining agreement is up to something like $1 an hour. Maybe like .04, .06, .09, .13, .24, .37, .65, .97. So over 8 years your pay increases by $2.55 dollars an hour in total plus some cost of living bump at some point in there. The cola adjustment is not typically matched to inflation but it is typically your most significant raise.

Keep in mind you don’t get this for free you lose some percentage of your pay to the union in dues for this service, it was 7% in my case. I cant recall if it was a percentage fee or just a flat fee but i made like $180 a paycheck and $14 went to the teamsters.

This ^ for all of you out there who default to unions are the best because the political party I like says so. Some pros and cons from my own experience as a due paying member for 8 years at a shipping company.

Some Pros: Guaranteed raises albeit very small each year with a larger cost of living adjustment every 5 years or so. Better medical and dental benefits than what you would otherwise have. Your seniority means something, everything actually.

Some cons: That lazy sob gets paid just as much or maybe more than you if they are more senior. Many people will take the “I’m paid by the hour” approach and the culture where you work will suffer. They will even get mad at you for working too fast. This will impact your mood regularly and you’ll have confrontations about this with some regularity. These people are very difficult to fire.

You’d think they’d have some money from all the pron filmed in that building.