September, 2012

Organizing, Walmart, Workplace Safety & Health

A Message and Video from Marta Medina, Striking Walmart Warehouse Worker

Sep 13, 2012

Yesterday, courageous workers at a Walmart-contracted warehouse in California came together to take a stand against unlivable working conditions and ongoing retaliation by their employer. They went out on strike. They are calling for safe working conditions and demanding that Walmart take responsibility for working conditions in its contracted warehouses. Today we bring you a message from warehouse worker Marta Medina. Check out her story – and an inspiring video – below.

Dear Friends, 

After five years lifting heavy boxes every day in the warehouse my body aches. I am 31. Walking is difficult, lifting my son is nearly impossible, and I frequently have very painful back spasms. I finally left my job at the warehouse after I seriously hurt my back.

But I had to fight for medical attention. The managers of the warehouse didn’t care about my health or safety. They tried to prevent me from seeing a doctor. I fought and I won medical care, but I have seen a lot of my coworkers fired for similar injuries. They leave the warehouse hurt, with no job and no healthcare.

We move goods for Walmart, but we are treated like we are disposable. To this day it makes me angry, that’s why I am joining with other workers and people who support us to end these inhumane working conditions.

Watch our video and then join with us to help make our jobs better:

Will you stand with us and tell Walmart to take responsibility for its warehouses? 

Together, we can improve the lives of the thousands of people who live with these conditions on a daily basis. Support warehouse workers and sign our letter to Walmart. We will deliver it to Walmart executives when we arrive in Los Angeles at the end of our march.

Thank you for your support,

Marta Medina
Warehouse Worker
San Bernardino, California

Community Partnerships, Feeding the Hungry, Food Access

Growing Food Insecurity Not Acceptable

Sep 12, 2012

A recent report by the USDA’s Economic Research Service has rekindled the constant concern that some people in our country don’t know where their next meal will come from. The report found that the percentage of American’s with very low food security increased last year, from 5.4 % to 5.7%, according to an article by Meatingplace.com.

UFCW Feeding the Hungry

Although more than three quarters of our population have a steady, secure supply of food, a growing percentage of people suffering from food insecurity, or in other words, a limited access to food due to a lack of money or other resources, is simply unacceptable.

That is why UFCW Partnerships with groups like Feeding the Hungry are so important. The good jobs unions help provide allow us to live well, and put food on the table for our families, but there are many Americans whose jobs don’t allow them to make ends meet. Food should not be a something that someone should have to sacrifice, it is a human right.

The work we do in our communities, like holding food drives, can make a difference, and so can standing together, to achieve a voice for what’s right. It is also important to make sure we vote to keep President Obama in office this November, so government programs that help feed families and individuals who don’t know when their next meal will be won’t disappear.

We must keep sticking together for good jobs that pay people enough to keep themselves and their families fed, because letting people starve is not an option.

2012 Presidential Election, Kroger, Politics, Retail Food, UFCW Stewards

A Star Steward

Sep 11, 2012 (0) Comments

Penny Gibson

Penny Gibson is a meat-cutter at Kroger, a union member, a political activist, and definitely a star steward for UFCW Local 876.

One of the great things Penny is doing to help her coworkers and her community is helping people to register for this year’s election.  With the help of her local union’s Voter Registration Toolkit, Penny working hard to make sure all her coworkers, friends, and neighbors, have a voice in November.

Penny has also dedicated her time and energy to the Protect Our Jobs effort, a drive to put a measure on the November ballot allowing voters to decide on a proposal to add the right to collective bargaining to the Michigan constitution. She secured over 50 signatures, the most of any Local 876 steward. With collective bargaining under attack in so many states across the country, Michigan has a chance to lead the charge for the basic freedoms of speech and association that collective bargaining represents.

Penny says she’s dedicated herself to protecting collective bargaining in part because “many young workers do not realize it is their union contract that provided that raise, that $3 prescription refill, and that week-long paid vacation up north. It is not the company that provided these benefits, it was the union who negotiated these on our behalf.”

With Penny on the case, those young workers will be activists in no time! UFCW member activists and stewards keep their union running. To learn more about how to get involved with your local union, email submissions@ufcw.org or send us a message on Facebook.