Melinda Merrill

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  Business -The Olympian - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/29/2004    Last Visited: 6/29/2004  

  "It doesn't mean that things are helpless, but it also doesn't guarantee that there will be a settlement," said Melinda Merrill, a spokeswoman for Allied Employers, a Kirkland association negotiating on behalf of the chains.
  
  Merrill said there has been some progress on key issues related to rising health care costs and whether employees should begin paying insurance premiums.Union members have agreed to make weekly premium payments ranging from $3 to $10, and to increased co-payments for doctor visits, Merrill said.

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  Business -The Olympian - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/10/2004    Last Visited: 8/10/2004  

  The contract for Local 367 expires on Sept. 26, said Melinda Merrill, a spokeswoman for Allied Employees, an association of the grocery chains.A local representative could not be reached for comment on Monday.

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  Columbia Basin Herald - [Cached Version]
  Last Visited: 4/26/2004  

  A three-year contract expires May 2, covering about 17,000 grocery workers and meat cutters in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties, said Allied Employers spokeswoman Melinda Merrill.Other contracts covering another 10,000 workers will expire through the summer and fall.
  
  Merrill said that the advertisements do not mean that negotiations, which began April 2, have broken down.
  
  "This is absolutely not an indication of where negotiations are," she told The News Tribune of Tacoma."It's very normal and a usual part" of contract negotiations.She said contract talks could continue past May 2 if necessary.
  
  She said she did not have estimates on how many jobs applications the stores might have received.

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  The Taunton Gazette - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/1/2004    Last Visited: 8/8/2004  

  Tacoma grocery workers will not be covered by the contract if it's ratified, said Melinda Merrill, the spokeswoman for Allied Employers, which negotiated on behalf of QFC, Albertsons, Safeway and Fred Meyer.
  ...
  Tacoma grocery workers will not be covered by the contract if it's ratified, said Melinda Merrill, the spokeswoman for Allied Employers, which negotiated on behalf of QFC, Albertsons, Safeway and Fred Meyer.
  
  "The Tacoma local is not part of this agreement," Merrill said.

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  UFCW 227 News: April 2004 Archives - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 4/1/2004    Last Visited: 11/17/2008  

  "It's a normal part of the process for the employers to prepare for a strike just like the union has been doing for the last several months," said Melinda Merrill with Allied Employers.
  ...
  "The labor costs of the current contract are too high," Merrill said.
  ...
  "You can't negotiate and close the gap anywhere but the bargaining table," said Melinda Merrill, a spokeswoman for the chains.
  
  So far, the talks have been defined by anxiety.

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  UFCW 227 News: August 2004 Archives - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/1/2004    Last Visited: 11/17/2008  

  "We seemed to have come to an agreement on something that works for everyone," said Melinda Merrill, a spokeswoman for Safeway, Albertsons and two Kroger subsidiaries, QFC and Fred Meyer.

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  UFCW 227 News: Grocers keeping eye on other talks - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 5/12/2004    Last Visited: 11/17/2008  

  Houston is "another example that this union and these employers can sit down and come to agreement without any work stoppages," said Melinda Merrill, a spokeswoman for the grocery chains.

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  UFCW 227 News: Grocers' offer `unacceptable' - Strike... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/17/2004    Last Visited: 11/17/2008  

  "What happens at the (negotiating) table is what matters," said Melinda Merrill, the spokeswoman for the employers, who added that the harsh rhetoric from the union appears to be "typical posturing."
  
  Merrill also noted that the employers' latest proposal is not a "final and best offer," adding there is no specific time table for that to happen.
  
  "This new proposal by the employers shows there's been some progress," Merrill said.
  
  The outcome of the negotiations between the grocers and the union would affect more than the workers at the companies' Puget Sound-area stores. The contracts for another 13,000 workers at Safeway, Albertson's, QFC and Fred Meyer stores in other parts of the state also are due to expire in the coming year, Merrill said.

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  UFCW 227 News: Grocers, Workers Struggle to Reach Pact... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/22/2004    Last Visited: 11/17/2008  

  Health costs have risen an alarming 77 percent in the last three years, said Melinda Merrill, spokeswoman for the stores.
  
  "The employers' goal is not to eliminate in any way health coverage," Merrill said.

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  UFCW 227 News: In grocery talks, not all chains see... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 5/15/2004    Last Visited: 11/17/2008  

  We are trying to provide them with quality benefits, while remaining competitive," said Melinda Merrill, a spokeswoman for the grocery chains.

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