The workers representatives of Piggly Wiggly Midwest have signed new deals with their employer. This agreement has seen the end of a protracted dispute between the grocery chain and its unionized employees.

The multiyear contract will cover Piggly Wiggly employees in Wisconsin who are members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1473. Piggly Wiggly and the union have had clashes that have led to unfair labor practice cases being filed against the grocery chain. The deal saw the two parties resolve their disputes and as a result, the cases filed against the retailer with the National Labor Relations Board and federal courts stand resolved.

In March this year, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Piggly Wiggly Midwest had violated labor laws when it unilaterally altered the terms of the contract of union workers. Unfair labor charges filed against the grocer by United Food and Commercial Workers local 1473 accused the grocer of imposing changes to premium pay and vacations without consultation. Counter claims by the grocer were dismissed. The grocer had cut hours of the workers and the union claimed it had no authority to make the changes. Later in June, Piggly Wiggly announced that in September it would close a store located in Sheboygan, Wisconsin which had been at the center of the labor dispute between the chain and the workers. This sparked off more problems and additional cases against Piggly Wiggly.

With the signing of the agreement, the parties now say that they both understand the pressures of the economy and fierce competition from bigger retailers, but have decided to bridge the gap between workers and management and solve future employee concerns through dialogue with management.