{"id":62955,"date":"2025-09-24T15:20:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T19:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/?post_type=victories&#038;p=62955"},"modified":"2025-10-08T15:22:03","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T19:22:03","slug":"vertical-endeavors-workers-stand-together-for-a-strong-first-contract","status":"publish","type":"victories","link":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/actions\/victories\/vertical-endeavors-workers-stand-together-for-a-strong-first-contract\/","title":{"rendered":"Vertical Endeavors Workers Stand Together for a Strong, First Contract"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Workers at Vertical Endeavors in Minnesota ratified their first contract on Sept. 11, officially joining UFCW Locals 663 and 1189. The contract covers 96 workers between climbing gyms in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington and Duluth. The workers became the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/forlocals.ufcw.org\/2023\/12\/04\/vertical-endeavors-workers-in-minnesota-join-locals-663-and-1189\/\">first climbing gym unit to join our union<\/a>\u00a0in 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The three-year agreement includes an average of 16.67 percent wage increases over the life of the contract, paid time off (PTO) for part-timers, and a minimum of 36 scheduled hours per week for full-timers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPTO for part-timers is huge,\u201d said <strong>Isaac Harris<\/strong>, who works at Vertical Endeavors in St. Paul. \u201cI am a part-time worker. It used to be difficult to afford to take time off. Because of organizing, and especially because of the gym members that supported us, I can take the time off that I need and still get paid.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe formed our union because we didn\u2019t want to wait any longer for more pay or for more respect at work,\u201d said <strong>Esthi Erickson,<\/strong> who works at Vertical Endeavors in Minneapolis. \u201cWe won the improvements we cared about by fighting for them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese workers chose to prioritize improvements for everyone, regardless of status, location, or job class, and their solidarity and determination paid off,\u201d said <strong>UFCW Local 1189 President Adam J. Evenstad<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re proud to welcome Vertical Endeavors workers into the UFCW,\u201d said <strong>UFCW Local 663 President Rena Wong<\/strong>. \u201cWhen we organize, we lift up the standards for all workers in Minnesota because every job should mean dignity, respect and a voice at work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Workers at Vertical Endeavors in Minnesota ratified their first contract on Sept. 11, officially joining UFCW Locals 663 and 1189. The contract covers 96 workers between climbing gyms in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington and Duluth. The workers became the\u00a0first climbing gym unit to join our union\u00a0in 2023. The three-year agreement includes an average of 16.67 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":426,"featured_media":62956,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[568,517],"class_list":["post-62955","victories","type-victories","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ufcw-local-1189","tag-ufcw-local-663"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Vertical Endeavors Workers Stand Together for a Strong, First Contract - The United Food &amp; Commercial Workers International Union<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/actions\/victories\/vertical-endeavors-workers-stand-together-for-a-strong-first-contract\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vertical Endeavors Workers Stand Together for a Strong, First Contract - The United Food &amp; Commercial Workers International Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Workers at Vertical Endeavors in Minnesota ratified their first contract on Sept. 11, officially joining UFCW Locals 663 and 1189. 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