by: Elisabeth Butler Cordova

Local 3 of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union gets a new deal covering everyone from stock room workers to sales people, and providing for a guaranteed wage increase of at least $2.15 per hour over the next four years.

Members of Local 3 of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Thursday approved a four-year labor contract with Bloomingdale officials. About 2,000 union members staff the department store’s flagship location.

“The contract was approved overwhelmingly,” says Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.

The new contract, which covers everyone from stock room workers to sales people, calls for a guaranteed wage increase of at least $2.15 per hour over the next four years. That means a gift wrapper currently making $9.50 an hour will make at least $11.65 an hour by 2012. Employees can earn another 30 cents per hour, depending on the store’s productivity, Mr. Appelbaum says. The union rejected a performance-based increase that would have allowed store officials to judge each employee’s performance individually.

For the first time, Bloomingdale’s will have to get permission from the union before hiring additional employees to work on commission. The store will also have to provide two paid days off to any employee who works a holiday.

The labor contract finalizes everything but the workers’ health care plan. The parties agreed to extend negotiations on the health care issue until May 15. The union rejected the store’s plan to switch to a proposed HMO and is now pushing for store officials to merge the current medical plan with a union-run RWDSU program, Mr. Appelbaum said.