BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE
Secretary/Treasurer Solberg was born and raised in Pierce County. He attended Sumner High School the district in which both his parents were teachers. Following High School, he attended Green River Community College and earned an Associates Degree. He then transferred to Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland, Washington receiving a bachelor’s degree in Sociology. He currently lives on a small farm in Graham, Washington with his wife of 28 years. They have one daughter who is off pursuing her own life goals attending college in Bellingham.
Mike Solberg has been a member of Local 367 for the past 35 years. He began his career in 1987 when he began working for Safeway as a courtesy clerk. During his career, he worked in positions throughout the store including working as a produce clerk, a cashier, night crew manager, and dairy manager. His experience in the stores puts him in a unique position to understand the membership and the struggles they face daily. He has always been a leader helping others and offering advice. In 2007 he took that leadership role a step further and became a shop steward. He understands that change happens when members take action. He has done this by joining contract action teams, becoming a picket captain in 2013, and serving on the bargaining team in 2019. During the 2019 bargain the team won some of the best wage increase we have seen in many contracts and a plan was created to secure the failing pension plan.
In 2020 he was elected as a Vice President of the Executive Board. In August of 2021 he began working for the Local as a Special Project Union Representative (SPUR). In November of 2021 the Local hired him as a grievance representative and contract bargainer. His role on the Executive Board has since evolved, he was elected to serve as Recorder in December of 2021. In the 2022 grocery bargain he joined the bargaining team, and they negotiated the highest wage increases this Local has ever seen. He is even more proud that this bargain ended the wage inequities in our contract by moving all workers on to a higher all-purpose scale and eliminated the lower wage classifications. During the August Executive Board meeting he was elected Secretary/Treasurer of Local 367 when the previous EST resigned. He is committed to moving this Local forward and is excited to see what the future brings.