2006

Collective Bargaining, Giant, Press Releases, Retail Food, UFCW Industries

Statement by United Food and Commercial Workers International Union President Joe Hansen on Royal Ahold Intention to Sel

Nov 13, 2006

(Washington DC) — The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) represents approximately 84,000 Ahold workers nationwide, employed under numerous company banners including Tops, Giant, and Stop & Shop.

The sale of its New York and Pennsylvania Tops stores will affect nearly 11,000 UFCW members.

The UFCW will continue to aggressively represent our members and enforce all union contract provisions while the company seeks a buyer for its Tops stores. We will actively engage with and impress on all potential buyers the necessity that UFCW members working at Tops stores maintain their union voice and good union wages and benefits.

UFCW members working at Ahold supermarket chains are some of the best and most productive workers in the industry, making Ahold’s U.S. operations, especially Giant and Stop & Shop, the crown jewels of the company.

Supermarkets operate to serve customers and serve communities.  Grocery jobs with good wages, affordable health benefits and job security – like those that come with a union contract – are good for the local communities and economies in which they operate.

If Ahold attempts to sell its Top stores without regard for what becomes of the workers and the community post-sale, the company risks tarnishing its reputation at every banner operating in the U.S.

The UFCW is ready and eager to work with any potential buyer, one that knows and understands the dynamics of the supermarket industry.

We will not sit idly by and watch what happens and hope for the best – we will actively support the best situated and most enlightened bidders to actively engage in the bidding process for the betterment of the company, its future shareholders/owners, and for the more than 84,000 Ahold employees represented by the UFCW.

The UFCW intends to protect all Tops’ employees and the community members that make up Tops’ customer base by ensuring that their interests are well served.

UFCW local unions with members working under Ahold banners up and down the East Coast are united to take action in solidarity to support UFCW members employed by Tops.

Economic Justice, Elections, Health Care, Politics, Press Releases, UFCW Values

FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS BRING FIGHT FOR HEALTH CARE, MINIMUM WAGE TO THE BALLOT BOX

Nov 13, 2006

(Washington, D.C.) -In the final weeks of the election, members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) from across the country mobilized their co-workers, neighbors, and communities in a massive GOTV effort on behalf of pro-health care reform candidates and legislative initiatives that work for working families. UFCW members were engaged in nearly every important election across the country-from Deval Patrick’s groundbreaking election in Massachusetts to Jerry McNerney’s upset Congressional victory in Stockton, Calif. Their efforts paid off as dozens of candidates committed to health care reform and other worker issues were elected at all levels of state and local government.

“”Working families voted, and working families won,”" said Joe Hansen, President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). “”That’s the simple explanation for the results of Tuesday’s election.”"

The UFCW’s complete grassroots effort in Iowa brought new leadership to both state legislative chambers, two new pro-worker members of Congress, and a governor who understands the issues working families face. A top-to-bottom campaign in Michigan helped to change leadership in the State House there as well as re-electing Governor Granholm and Senator Stabenow. In addition to political races, UFCW members targeted state legislative campaigns as well. Faced with the threat of right-to-work-for-less legislation in Indiana, UFCW members mobilized and helped to change the leadership in the State House to candidates who oppose that anti-worker legislation.

Working with their own local unions, and together with both Change to Win and AFL-CIO affiliated locals, UFCW members used phones, mail, literature and member-to-member canvasses not only to get out the vote, but to inform people about issues like health care, minimum wage, and the right to join a union. More than a quarter million pieces of mail were sent to UFCW members in targeted states and districts.

“”Though the election is over, our members’ work is not over,”" Hansen said. “”In January, we’ll begin holding our newly elected leaders accountable on the issues on which they were elected. Our members will leverage their hard-fought political and legislative victories to push for meaningful health care reform, to improve the economy for working people, to secure real retirement security, and to help workers gain a voice on the job.”"

UFCW Stewards

Mentoring New Stewards Stregthens Our Union

Oct 08, 2006

When you decided to become a steward, you took a big step. Clearly you had the
leadership skills and passion it takes to stand up for your fellow workers. Yet there are certain parts about being a steward that no one can learn until they become one. The best way to prepare a new steward is to serve as a mentor and provide the motivation and guidance so that all our coworkers have someone who they can count on.
Doug Payton of Local 1546 remembers how nervous he was when he first became a steward. A three-year steward at the Tyson plant in Josslyn, Ill., Payton knows firsthand how important it is to mentor new stewards. “I look at new stewards as an addition to the
family. We need to show them we are here to support one another.” If it weren’t for the older stewards who took him under their wings, Payton would have had a much more difficult time learning the ropes.
Becoming a steward means adding responsibility that presents a whole new set of challenges.
Even though new stewards are trained to face these new obstacles,nothing replaces the lessons learned from personal experience. “You learn as you go. When you start, there’s no way of knowing everything there is to know about being a good steward.” That’s why it’s important to reach out to new stewards and share the knowledge you have gained throughout the years.

Payton makes it a point to befriend new stewards. He’ll approach new stewards and let
them know they can come to him whenever they need help or advice, and makes it clear that asking a lot of questions aids the learning process. “A lot of times the solution to a problem isn’t spelled out in the contract. Not everything is black and white and new stewards can always count on us to help them deal with the different shades of gray.”

Payton knows how much of a steward’s effectiveness depends on how a particular situation is approached, so he offers advice based on the tactics which have worked for him under similar circumstances. This involves making sure new stewards know how to address management and deal with specific supervisors to better communicate the concerns of coworkers.

It’s also important to keep new stewards motivated. After years of being a steward, the hardest thing for Payton is still accepting that you can’t win every battle. When he sees new stewards getting frustrated or discouraged, he reminds them of their important role in the union. “When new stewards aren’t able to help a worker, I tell them it’s just one apple in the
whole tree. We hate that it fell off, but we have to fight for the other apples. We need to stay focused on the big picture.”
Payton still looks to his senior stewards for advice and inspiration. All stewards can learn from
one another because everyone has a different approach. Payton points out that sometimes the tactics of different stewards can be integrated—that’s how stronger and more effective stewards who are ready to deal with different kinds of situations are built. “We
are always learning from one another. Knowledge is power— that’s why we have to make sure
new stewards are prepared.”
In the end, by serving as a mentor, Payton not only helps to develop better stewards, he also contributes to building a more powerful union.