Ryan Christensen is a 52-year-old grocery worker for Lunds & Byerlys, where he has been for 38 years. Christensen says that what was once a strong, family-supporting job has deteriorated over time. He was one of 9,000 grocery employees working on an expired contract across the Twin Cities Metro rallying under the demand “One good job should be enough.”
Last week, workers ratified contracts with four companies—including the one where Christensen works. But grocery workers, represented by United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Local 663, rejected contracts with three other companies, and strikes could be imminent. Christensen commutes an hour and a half each way by car from his home in Richmond, Minn., to work at the Lunds location in Wayzata, Minn., six days a week.
