February, 2013

Economic Justice, UFCW Values

RWDSU Car Wash Workers Fight for New Jobs After Owner Sells Car Wash

Feb 28, 2013

RWDSU car wash workers in New York City fought for new jobs at other car wash locations after their location closes.

After a strike by workers and after coming under fire from the New York State Attorney General and the Wash New York campaign, car wash owner John Lage was forced by RWDSU members to hire them at his other car washes when he closes his SoHo location.

On Feb. 1, two months after workers at Lage Car Wash Inc.voted to join the RWDSU last November, lawyers for the owner John Lage notified workers that the car wash was closing. According to the owner, the property was sold to a developer before the workers voted to join the union. Workers say that the sale was an act of retaliation against them.

With the help of RWDSU, New York Communities for Change, and Make the Road New York, workers struck twice to demand that they be hired at other car wash locations in New York City.  An agreement was reached in union negotiations on February 15 with John Lage promising in a letter issued by his attorney, to hire the employees at his other locations and not to discriminate against them for having voted to unionize.

The Attorney General’s agreement, reached Tuesday, February 19 with Lage, ensures that the workers will be hired at the other car wash locations within 30 days of the Soho facility closing, and will factor in the workers’ location preferences.  If Lage fails to comply with this agreement, he is liable for $10,000 in penalties, $10,000 in liquidated damages, and restitution including back pay.
In addition, the union agreement guarantees the workers a bonus of up to 36 hours pay for staying until the car wash is closed and requires that the company provide final paychecks to the workers.  The agreement was approved unanimously by workers last Friday, February 15.

“We are happy to have won our jobs back, and feel very relieved. At first we were worried, didn’t know where we were going to end up since at our first meeting. I think the fact that we won a union election and the union was always here to support us, made us fearless to confront him.  We also had the help of the Attorney General, I think that made him more scared to give us our jobs back,” said Hector Gomez, who has worked for the company for six years.

“We are all so happy that we are no longer stranded and without jobs. It really was a team effort, the carwasheros here, the union, the organizations and the community that has supported us and made us stronger,” said Jildon Soriano, who has worked in the company for six years.

Read more about this story here, and go here to learn more about RWDSU.

Politics

UFCW Members Hold Lobby Days in Ohio and Kentucky

Feb 27, 2013

UFCW Locals 75 and 227 hold a lobby day in Frankfort, Ky., to
educate legislators on “no rights at work” legislation.

Last Wednesday, UFCW members and staff from UFCW Locals 75, 1059, and the RWDSU gathered to speak out against right-to-work legislation during a lobby day in Columbus, Ohio.  Following trainings with UFCW local union and International staff on lobbying best practices, UFCW members went into their meetings with their state representatives and state senators.

“Reaching out to our legislators regarding issues important to working families is one of the most valuable things we can do,” said Local 1059 member Travis Long who works at Kroger. “It was great this year, and I look forward to more opportunities in the future.”

Both veterans of past lobby days and first-timers reported they had a positive experience. Many legislators requested more information on UFCW issues and several scheduled follow-up meetings back home in their districts to continue the dialogue with UFCW members.

Also that day, hundreds of UFCW Local 75 and 227 members educated their legislators about “no rights at work” legislation during a lobby day in Frankfort, Ky. Speaker Pro Temp. Larry Clark welcomed UFCW members to the Capitol and spoke against “no rights at work”.

The following day UFCW allies in the House Labor and Industry Committee exposed the flawed arguments of “no rights at work” proponents. Members also stood in solidarity with their brothers and sisters from the Kentucky Trades against an effort to remove prevailing wage from school projects.

Members ended the day with thank you letters to the legislators they had visited, along with “sorry I missed you” notes to legislators they were not able to reach. “Lobby day is a time for legislators to hear what is important to UFCW members,” said Jeff Pleasant, assistant chief steward at JBS. “Our lobby day has grown every year, and we will continue to fight to keep ‘no rights at work’ out of our state.”

Organizing, Politics, Retail, UFCW Industries

UFCW Medical Cannabis Members Attend National Conference to Educate Members of Congress

Feb 26, 2013

UFCW members in the medical cannabis industry discussed strategies to protect workers at the National Unity Cannabis Conference.

UFCW members in the medical cannabis industry from Locals 5 and 770, along with medical cannabis staff from UFCW Locals 7 and 881, gathered in Washington, D.C., to share ideas with other medical cannabis activists at the first National Unity Cannabis Conference.

The conference featured medical and legal experts, elected officials, as well as seasoned advocates from the U.S. and overseas. It was an opportunity for UFCW members to discuss Labor’s role in the medical cannabis industry and how to develop strategies that protect the interests of workers as the industry continues to grow.

Today, 18 states and the District of Columbia allow legal access to medical marijuana for over one million Americans whose doctors have recommended it. In those states, UFCW members work in accordance with state laws to provide safe access to medical treatment for qualifying patients.

UFCW members ended the conference on Monday with lobby visits on Capitol Hill to educate their representatives in Congress about the impact of the conflict between state and federal medical laws on workers’ job security. They also urged the representatives to support proposed legislations HR 710 and HR 689 designed to provide for the rescheduling of medical marijuana and for an affirmative defense for the medical use of medical marijuana.

“The conference was very helpful to us,” said Jeff Jones, a UFCW Local 5 member who works at the Patient ID Center in Oakland, Calif. “UFCW members have a lot of work to do to educate Congress about the challenges that we face as workers in the medical marijuana industry.”

“Our goal is to give them the dignity that their sincerity deserves,” said Dan Rush, director of the medical cannabis and hemp division of the UFCW, in regards to workers in the medical cannabis industry. He added, as noted in a Bloomberg article, that “this is a growth industry, and people are looking for jobs.”