Casa Di Bertacchi workers in Vineland ratify five-year contract

More than 50 workers at Casa Di Bertacchi in Vineland ratified a five-year contract on April 22, locking in a new set of pay and benefit terms at one of Cumberland County’s visible food-manufacturing employers. The employees, members of UFCW Local 152, make Italian meatballs sold under the Casa name, and the agreement gives them guaranteed across-the-board wage increases every year of the contract.

The deal also adds reimbursement for work boots, aligns sick-day language with the New Jersey Sick Leave Law so unused sick time can carry over from one year to the next, and increases the employer-sponsored 401(k) match. Those changes matter well beyond the bargaining table. At a plant like Casa Di Bertacchi, where hourly production work depends on steady staffing and predictable operating costs, a multi-year agreement can help both sides plan further ahead, reduce turnover pressure and make the job offer more competitive in a tight local labor market.

UFCW Local 152 collective bargaining director Louis Faiola said the contract "moves employees closer to stability" and reflects workers speaking with a united voice so wages keep pace with the cost of living. That point lands in a county where many households depend on industrial and production jobs that can rise or fall with small shifts in pay, benefits and retention. For Vineland, the contract is less about a high-drama labor clash than about whether a long-term agreement can help hold onto experienced workers in a business that is tied directly to the local economy.

The union publicized the agreement on April 30, and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union followed with a victory post on May 13. SNJ Today also noted the ratification in late May, underscoring how the deal fit into the steady stream of labor news moving through South Jersey this spring.

The Casa Di Bertacchi contract also came amid broader UFCW Local 152 activity, including a separate ratification for Case’s Pork Roll members in Trenton on April 15. Together, the two agreements point to a union that has been securing multi-year contracts across New Jersey, with Vineland’s deal standing out for what it means on the ground: more predictable pay, stronger retirement contributions and a clearer path to keeping workers in place.