April, 2005

Packing and Processing, Press Releases, Social Justice, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values, Workplace Safety & Health

Workers Win New Election to Gain Voice at Nebraska Beef

Apr 22, 2005

Omaha, Nebraska-The National Labor Relations Board ordered a new election at Nebraska Beef in Omaha, Neb., after citing the company for violating workers’ rights in an August 2001 election, after the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) had filed charges on behalf of the workers. The Board ordered the election to take place on May 26. The NLRB upheld a hearing officer’s findings and recommendation to set aside the 2001 election where the company used a broad range of intimidation tactics to deny workers a voice on the job. The workers had tried to organize with the UFCW Local Union 271.

Nebraska Beef, one of the country’s largest meatpacking plants, was cited for violations that included:

  • Illegal interrogation of employees concerning their union sympathies;
  • Illegal threats of job losses or loss of benefits if workers selected a union as their collective bargaining representative; and
  • Illegal threats to change working conditions if they selected the union.

The company employs approximately 1,100 mostly Latino workers who slaughter and process 2,400 cattle a day at the plant.

The NLRB ruling is just the latest in a series of actions, over the last few years, directed at Nebraska Beef by federal agencies for breaking the law.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture temporarily removed federal Food Safety and Inspection Service personnel from the plant in 2003 due to the company’s food safety violations. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service raided the plant in 2000, detaining more than 200 undocumented workers and indicted several mid-level company managers.

“”This ruling represents a victory for the workers at Nebraska Beef, who have had to wait four years before justice was done about the outrageously illegal behavior of the company,”" said Donna McDonald president of Local 271 in Omaha. “”We hope the entire community will bear witness to what goes on in the plant from now until the election is held, and hold Nebraska Beef accountable if they don’t live up to community values.”"

UFCW Local 271 represents nearly 1,000 meatpacking workers in Omaha. The UFCW International Union represents approximately 250,000 members in the meatpacking and food processing industry.

Constituency Groups, Corporate Responsibility, Economic Justice, Press Releases, Retail, Social Justice, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values, Walmart, Women's Network

wakeupwalmart.com Launches Mother’s Day Campaign Against Wal-Mart

Apr 20, 2005

Washington, D.C. – WakeUpWalmart.com, America’s Campaign to change Wal-Mart, announced today a new grassroots initiative to highlight Wal-Mart’s systematic discrimination against women workers. The “”Love Mom, not Wal-Mart”" campaign, the name of the initiative, will ask all Americans to sign a “”Mother’s Day Pledge”" promising not to buy their Mother’s Day gift at Wal-Mart this year until Wal-Mart stops discriminating against women.

As part of the campaign, the group will also be mailing Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart, Inc. the “”Mother of all Mother’s Day Cards.”" The enormous card, a symbol of how large Wal-Mart’s discrimination problem is, will ask Lee Scott to stop ignoring Wal-Mart’s record of discrimination and start doing the right thing for all our Moms and all women.

“”This Mother’s day, on behalf of all mothers and women across America, Wal-Mart must do the right thing and stop discriminating against women,”" stated Paul Blank, WakeUpWalmart.com Campaign Director. “”Wal-Mart’s systematic discrimination against women is simply un-American.”"

The “”Love Mom, Not Wal-Mart”" campaign highlights Wal-Mart’s terrible record of discriminating against its women workers. Wal-Mart is currently involved in a gender discrimination lawsuit covering more than 1.5 million women. The case is the largest class action lawsuit in U.S. history. The suit documents Wal-Mart’s systematic discrimination against women for lower pay and unequal promotion. In fact, women make-up 72% of Wal-Mart’s hourly workforce, but account for only 33% of managers and only 15% of store managers. In addition, women earn from 5% to 15% less than men for the exact same work. This equates to nearly 40 cents less per hour for female hourly workers or nearly $5,000 less per year for female managers.

“”How can America’s richest company and largest employer of women discriminate against so many of its women workers, many of them Moms? It is time for Wal-Mart to wake up and stop treating its women workers and their families like second class citizens.”" added Susan Phillips, Director of Women’s Outreach for WakeUpWalMart.com.

The “”Love Mom, Not Wal-Mart”" campaign launches today on www.WakeUpWalmart.com . The Mother’s Day campaign includes discounts on sending flowers and tools for Americans to join the campaign. Supporters can sign the Mother’s Day pledge and send the pledge to their friends. Supporters will also be able to send mother’s day e-cards and download a volunteer action toolkit which contains a fact sheet and flyer detailing Wal-Mart’s record of gender discrimination.

The text of the Mother’s Day pledge is as follows:

As a symbol of love and respect for my Mom, and all women across America, I pledge not to shop or buy any gifts for Mother’s Day at Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart’s company-wide policy of discriminating against so many hard-working women is terribly wrong. I stand with all of the 1.5 million Wal-Mart women who are part of the largest gender discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history.

In my America, Wal-Mart should do better than pay women and mothers less than men for equal work.

In my America, Wal-Mart should do better than disrespect all women and mothers by providing them with poor pay, poor health care, and poor working conditions.

As the largest employer of women in America, Wal-Mart has a responsibility to do the right thing!

I can easily say that my mother deserves better than Wal-Mart.
Until Wal-Mart changes for the better, I have one thing to say:
“”Love Mom…Not Wal-Mart.”"

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Corporate Responsibility, Economic Justice, Legislation, Press Releases, Retail, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values, Walmart

Food and Commercial Workers File Charge against Wal-Mart On Coughlin “”Union Project”"

Apr 13, 2005

Washington DC- The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) filed a “”Unfair Labor Practice Charge”" against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The charge against Wal-Mart is in response to the serious allegations that former Wal-Mart Board member and Vice Chairman Thomas M. Coughlin, the #2 person at the company, operated an illegal anti-union slush fund as part of a company program to monitor and suppress the democratic right of workers to organize.

In a letter to the NLRB, the UFCW states that “”the charge complains that Wal-Mart, acting through officers, employees and agents, including those at the highest levels of management, systematically denied workers their democratic right to exercise a choice for union representation.  Wal-Mart’s actions seemingly involved the criminal misappropriation of company funds to create an illegal anti-union slush fund.”"

It also calls on the Board to “”use the NLRB’s subpoena power to obtain all relevant information from Wal-Mart, particularly the documents that are in possession of Wal-Mart according to former Wal-Mart Vice Chairman Thomas Coughlin and which, according to Coughlin, substantiate the alleged scheme.”"

“”The point of the UFCW filing this charge with the NLRB is simple,”" said UFCW Executive Vice President Bill McDonough. “”The UFCW and the American people deserve to know what Wal-Mart knows about this ‘union project’ and when they knew it.”"

In previous filings with the NLRB, Wal-Mart, Inc. has been found guilty of illegally spying, bribing with promotions, firing and intimidating workers. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the latest revelations, if true, mean that Wal-Mart’s anti-worker, anti-union program “”would represent a criminal offense under the federal Taft-Hartly Act,”"-a federal felony to pay employees to persuade coworkers to abandon support for union representation. The Journal also reported that Coughlin “”is expected to use the ‘union project’ as part of his defense to the charges about mismanagement of funds.”"

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