In a high voter turnout, members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 876 overwhelmingly ratified a contract designed to facilitate the sale of the company. The contract includes a 10% wage cut for most Farmer Jack workers and other concessions.

"The membership was faced with a tough choice, and we believe they made the right choice," says Victoria Collins, Local 876's president. "The officers and the members of the Farmer Jack Bargaining Committee truly believe this agreement was and is necessary to secure a buyer for the stores willing to preserve the majority of members' jobs."

This was the second vote on the proposal, the first was rejected about a week and a half earlier in very light voter turnout. "Since the contract vote benefits the livelihoods of thousands, the members serving on the Farmer Jack committees, along with the local's officers, wanted to be confident the outcome of the vote accurately reflects the intent of the majority of the Farmer Jack membership," Collins says.