July, 2013

Community Partnerships, Corporate Responsibility, Economic Justice, Retail, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values, Walmart

RWDSU Local 338 Protest Walmart Neighborhood Market’s Grand Opening in Long Island, N.Y.

Jul 18, 2013
RWDSU Local 338 members and community supporters protest the opening of a Walmart Neighborhood Market to protect the local economy, small businesses, and jobs.

RWDSU Local 338 members and community supporters protest the opening of a Walmart Neighborhood Market to protect the local economy, small businesses, and jobs.

On June 12, RWDSU Local 338 joined dozens of Long Island community and labor organizations to protest the grand opening of a Walmart Neighborhood Market in Levittown, the first of its kind in the Long Island region. Protestors claimed that another Walmart opening on Long Island would hurt the local economy and small businesses, and said that the store’s opening on the same site of a previously unionized Waldbaum’s supermarket added insult to injury.

“This store was proudly represented by RWDSU Local 338 and it saddens me that what used to be a great supermarket that took care of its workers with good wages and strong benefits, as Waldbaum’s did, is now hosting a Walmart Neighborhood Market.  The residents and workers of this community deserve better than the bottom barrel wages and unaffordable benefits that Walmart jobs bring. A Neighborhood Market sends the wrong message here on Long Island,” said John R. Durso, President, RWDSU Local 338.

Over 100 RWDSU Local 338 members, community activists, and labor allies called on Walmart to change their business and labor practices and held signs that read “Shame on you Walmart, Workers Deserve Better Wages.” Protests at the store will continue until Walmart practices change and workers are provided with fair wages and affordable benefits.

Politics

UFCW President Hansen on Senate Rules Agreement

Jul 17, 2013

UFCWnewsWASHINGTON, D.C. — Joe Hansen, International President of the UFCW, today released the following statement after the Senate reached an agreement on nominations to the Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and other key posts.

“When it comes to the Senate, this is the best day for workers and their families in years, if not longer. Today a path was created to confirm a Secretary of Labor with a track record of standing up for workers’ rights, a fully functioning NLRB that can carry out its important mission of promoting collective bargaining and protecting the right to organize, and the first director of the CFPB so everyday consumers have an advocate to defend them from the predatory practices of big banks.

“Today would not have been possible without the voices of millions of Americans—including many UFCW members—who have demanded that the Senate end the gridlock and give nominees to important posts an up or down vote. While a change in rules did not occur, today’s agreement is a direct result of those pushing for a more functional Senate. I sincerely hope this marks the beginning, not the end, of a process where executive branch nominees are considered in a fair and timely fashion.”

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The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, visit www.ufcw.org, or join our online community at www.facebook.com/UFCWinternational and www.twitter.com/ufcw.

Corporate Responsibility, Economic Justice, Legislation, Macy's and Bloomingdale's, Retail, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values, Walmart

Tell D.C.’s Mayor Gray: Sign the Living Wage Acountability Act

Jul 16, 2013

Adapted from Making Change at Walmart

Last week, Washington D.C.’s City Council voted 8-5 to approve a living wage bill despite threats by Walmart. The bill requires large retailers in the District, like Walmart, to pay their employees no less than $12.50 an hour.

photoWhile the bill enjoyed the support of a majority of the members and many district residents, Walmart threatened at the last minute to cancel the construction of three stores slated to open in the District if the bill became law. Interestingly, the company made this threat after publicly stating that it would pay District Walmart employees $13 an hour if the stores were approved to be built.

While many are shocked by Walmart’s clear hypocritical stance, groups like OUR Walmart and Making Change at Walmart have shown that Walmart is a company that likes to say one thing but do another. Walmart has a history of making promises but then reneging.

Not only are Walmart’s promises empty, but when they are held to their commitments they threaten the communities who hold them accountable. Walmart comes into communities, says one thing and does another. If they don’t get their way they threaten and bully communities the same way they bully their workers. Walmart proclaims to embody and promote American values, but when those values become inconvenient to their bottom-line they do everything in their power, including firing workers and reneging on promises, to get their way.

The DC Council sent a powerful message to not only Walmart but to companies that choose to do business in the city: you must fulfill your promise and treat DC residents with dignity and respect, while paying them a wage that allows them to care for their family. The living wage bill comes at a time when a family of four living in D.C. needs over $88K a year just to get by, according to a recent study.

With so much at stake, D.C. workers need your help to make sure the bill gets finalized. Please click here and send an email to D.C.’s Mayor Gray, asking him not to veto the bill.

D.C. is just the beginning–cities around the country are pushing for living wages, and the corporations are beginning to realize that the people have a say in how businesses operate on their turf. Let’s all tell Walmart that if they want to be in D.C., they need to pay a living wage.