Hundreds of CVS workers across the Los Angeles area have voted to join UFCW Local 770.

Since May, hundreds of workers at Los Angeles area CVS stores have stood together and joined UFCW Local 770, bringing the total number of newly unionized CVS stores to 50 and more than doubling the number of new stores under contract. These workers join more than 8,000 CVS workers in 11 states and the District of Columbia who are already members of the UFCW. By joining the UFCW, these workers have voted for a better life.

Coming on the heels of Raley’s threat to submit a last, best and final offerto the union on April 30, Local 5 immediately set up meetings throughout itsjurisdiction to hold strike vote meetings. Members attended in large numbersand authorized the union’s bargaining committee to call a strike.

Subsequent to Raley’s move to scuttle bargaining the parties agreed to enterfederal mediation.

“”Raley’s actions led the union to call a strike vote in the Nob Hilldivision. When a company threatens to submit a last, best and final offer itsets off a sequence of events that inevitably lead to either accepting aterrible offer or a strike. Both options are bad, but since we alreadycancelled one strike vote in a sign of good faith to further bargaining, weweren’t going to cancel this one. This overwhelming vote will send a strongmessage to the company and hopefully move negotiations to a successfulconclusion,”" stated Ron Lind, President UFCW Local 5.

Negotiations resume with Raley’s-Nob Hill on May 18 under the auspices ofthe Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in Oakland.

MONTCLAIR – From packaging food for holiday distribution to helping decorate for Thanksgiving, nearly 150 members of United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1428 were volunteering at various Inland Empire locations on Monday for a “Day of Service.”

The day of action was to thank local communities for their support during the union’s recent eight months of negotiations, said Connie Leyva, president of UFCW Local 1428.

“We wanted to give back with a day of service for our community who supported us,” she said.

In Montclair, about 18 union members occupied two classrooms at Kingsley Elementary School where they helped pack socks and toiletries for up to 100 people. They also helped pack bright yellow bags of food as well as gift certificates for shoes. Flu shots were provided for children and family members.

Ron Dietzman, the school’s assistant principal, said UFCW Local 1428 has partnered with Kingsley for nearly 15 years, providing pre-packaged meals for Thanksgiving and toys for Christmas.

“They’ve been helping us for years, and it’s fantastic,” he said.

Rachel Almazan of Rancho Cucamonga was among the volunteers at the Montclair site.

Almazan, who works for Rite-Aid and has been a union member for 39 years, has volunteered at the school site before.

“We sort of adopted this school,” she said. “We just want to give back to our community for their support.”

Almazan, who was helping hand out food, said she enjoys volunteering.

In Pomona, members also assisted in similar services for family members at Trinity United Methodist Church.

Members of UFCW Local 1428 also decorated a facility for a Thanksgiving celebration at Ability First in Claremont. Families in Ontario were able to receive food for the holidays from union volunteers who were at Feed the Children.

The tentative agreement was reached after 8 months of negotiating and strong involvement and activism by the 62,000 grocery workers and widespread support of customers and allies across the region.  The UFCW is grateful to Scot Beckenbaugh, Deputy Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services, for his guidance through the bargaining process.

UFCW members will vote on the proposals in meetings over the coming week. The agreement increases wages, protects health care and pension benefits throughout the life of the 3-year contract.

The new contract, once ratified, will cover 62,000 UFCW grocery workers, the largest bargaining unit in the UFCW.  An additional 28,000 grocery workers at regional chains like Stater Brothers, Food 4 Less, Gelson’s Market and other markets are covered by the successful resolution of the Southern California contract.  The contract covering 45,000 grocery workers in Northern California expires in October.

“The issue here is that Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons made $5 billion in profits last year, and they are trying to force cashiers, butchers, and baggers to pay 50% of their salary in order to maintain their health care,” said Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

“L.A. labor will join the delegates of the National NAACP Convention to march in the streets of downtown L.A. tomorrow to show our support for grocery workers and their families because if a person works hard in this country, he or she should be able to take a sick child to the doctor,” Durazo said.

For updates, go to:

http://www.march2011.org/

UFCW Local 135: http://www.ufcw135.org/
UFCW Local 324: http://www.ufcw324.org/
UFCW Local 770: http://www.ufcw770.org/
UFCW Local 1167: http://www.ufcw1167.org/
UFCW Local 1428: http://www.ufcw1428.org/
UFCW Local 1442: http://www.ufcw1442.org/

Washington, DC—By an overwhelming majority, grocery workers in Southern California represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) ratified a fair contract agreement yesterday with the country’s largest supermarkets: Kroger, Safeway, and Supervalu.

The contract was ratified by an overwhelming margin exceeding 87%, with extremely high membership attendance at the meetings throughout Southern California. All seven United Food and Commercial Workers Local Unions recommended that grocery workers ratify the contract.

UFCW members and their union leaders in Southern California fought long and hard through six months of negotiations for this contract, and it is a major improvement over the previous one.  The new four-year contract includes:

• Elimination of the unfair “two-tier” wage  and benefit structure;
• Wage increases ranging between $1.65 and $6 over the life of the contract;
• All wages increases retroactive to previous contract expiration in March;
• Increased contributions to secure pension benefits;
• Significant improvements to all health care plans; and
• Necessary funding for health care guaranteed through the contract.

UFCW members owe much of what they’ve accomplished to the solidarity and strength they showed in working together to bargain for a fair contract. Seven UFCW Local Unions in Southern California all worked together in bargaining and coordinating campaign actions and strategies.

Southern California UFCW members also owe their success to the extensive support of community and religious leaders, shoppers, sister unions and UFCW members nationwide throughout the six months of negotiations in their efforts to gain improved health care coverage and fair wages.

Coordinated action with supporters and customers played a pivotal role in gaining a positive settlement. Union members, community members, religious groups, grocery workers, and supporters knocked on thousands of doors, handed out flyers, sent emails and letters of support, wrote editorials, attended rallies and marches, spoke out in churches, and signed pledge cards supporting UFCW members.

“This contract is a major step forward for grocery workers,” said Pat O’Neill, UFCW International Executive Vice President and Director of Collective Bargaining. “But it never would have happened without the solidarity of the UFCW members and their union leaders in Southern California, along with the support of the community. It just goes to show that it pays to be a member of the UFCW.”

The new contract covers approximately 65,000 workers in Southern California. Elsewhere on the West Coast, about 18,000 UFCW members in Washington and Oregon are still fighting for a fair contract with their employers. Grocery workers in Northern California will begin bargaining for a new contract later this fall.

The coordinated effort in Southern California is part of a UFCW nationwide unity bargaining program. By supporting each other regionally and nationally, as well as engaging customers and community members in their struggle, grocery workers are improving grocery industry jobs for themselves and their communities. To learn more about other bargaining campaigns, go to: www.groceryworkersunited.org.
–30–

Washington, DC—Last night, over 60,000 grocery workers in Southern California represented by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) reached a tentative agreement with the country’s largest supermarkets: Kroger, Safeway, and Supervalu.

Details of the contract will be available Monday after workers vote on whether to ratify the agreement on Sunday, July 22.

Southern California UFCW members had the support of community and religious leaders, shoppers, sister unions and UFCW members nationwide throughout the six months of negotiations in their effort to gain improved health care coverage and fair wages.

“This contract goes a long way in maintaining good jobs with health care, wages that pay the bills, and a loyal productive workforce in the grocery industry that is good for workers, communities, and businesses,” said UFCW International President Joe Hansen.

Throughout the negotiations process, UFCW members demonstrated solidarity and strength in bargaining for a fair contract. Seven UFCW locals in Southern California all worked together in bargaining and coordinating campaign actions and strategies.

Coordinated action with supporters and customers played a pivotal role in gaining a positive settlement. Union members, community members, religious groups, grocery workers, and supporters knocked on thousands of doors, handed out flyers, sent emails and letters of support, wrote editorials, attended rallies and marches, spoke out in churches, and signed pledge cards supporting UFCW members.

The coordinated effort in Southern California is part of a UFCW nationwide unity bargaining program. By supporting each other regionally and nationally, as well as engaging customers and community members in their struggle, grocery workers are improving grocery industry jobs for themselves and their communities.

To learn more about other bargaining campaigns, go to: www.groceryworkersunited.org.

The companies are trying to force another strike, like the work stoppage they caused in 2003 that put 60,000 UFCW members on picket lines for nearly five months and disrupted shoppers and communities throughout the region.

The three grocery giants have repeatedly denied members’ need for accessible, affordable health care, and living wages for all workers.  This despite the fact that all three companies have shown a recent rise in profits that analysts predict will continue to grow.

It would appear that Safeway CEO Steve Burd knows that workers need affordable, quality health care for themselves and their families.  That’s why he announced earlier this week that Safeway and nearly 40 other companies were launching the Coalition to Advance Healthcare Reform (CAHR).  The UFCW applauds Burd and other CAHR participants as welcome voices to this important discussion.  We wish that all three grocery leaders would bring this commitment to the bargaining table.

UFCW members will be reaching out to consumers in Southern California and across the country to remind the grocery giants that their success is due to workers and shoppers, and that they need to show concern for their community and workers by reaching a fair agreement with Southern California workers.

Two grocery companies in Southern California, Stater Bros. and Gelson’s, settled fair contracts with UFCW members that included quality, affordable health care and living wages for all workers. That two regional supermarket chains can afford to offer their workers a fair contract proves that it’s possible to be profitable while still showing your workers respect.

If these regional markets can offer a fair contract, then surely Supervalu, Kroger, and Safeway — national supermarket chains that are currently raking in billions of dollars in profits — can do the same.

Southern California’s grocery workers, together with Stater Bros. and Gelson’s Markets, created a road map to a fair contract, a map that can be followed by the national chains. But instead of doing the right thing and partnering with the workers who helped them return to profitability, these national companies dragged out negotiations in an effort to keep their workers’ wages low and benefits out of reach for workers and families.

Southern California’s grocery workers are unified, and UFCW-represented grocery workers across the country are supporting them as well. But it’s time to end this drawn-out, dead-end negotiations process. With the support of the public, UFCW members can and will win a fair contract — even if means a long, difficult battle.

It is also one of the most successful strikes in history.

After five months, the picket lines remain strong, our members remain united, and customers continue to honor the workers’ picket lines costing the supermarket conglomerates billions of dollars in revenue.

Every day, support for the fight for affordable health care grows stronger. Community and religious leaders have put their bodies on the line in acts of civil disobedience. There have been scores of arrests from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay area to Baltimore, Maryland. There are daily rallies, demonstrations, picket lines and handbilling from Seattle and Portland to Washington, DC. The Southern California supermarket strike has become a national cause.

The men and women on the picket lines are genuine heroes. Their sacrifice for affordable family health care has motivated and activated workers across the nation. I am honored to be part of their union, and I am humbled as well as inspired by their dedication, strength and selflessness.

These members will never be forgotten. They will always be honored and respected. We owe them a debt of gratitude. They have sent a message to employers everywhere that attempts to eliminate health care benefits will come at a high price. Workers will not sit idle as their families are denied health care protection. Workers will stand united and fight for health care.

In Southern California, workers were given no choice but to fight. UFCW members have never faced, nor has nay UFCW-represented employer ever made a more extreme or drastic demand—a demand that would have effectively eliminated affordable health care benefits, as did the supermarket employers in Southern California. The UFCW, its local unions and its members rose to the challenge. The employers never believed that workers could sustain a five-month strike. The employers completely underestimated the determination and fortitude of their employees.

Through their struggle, the striking and locked out workers have performed a service for the whole country. They have sounded the alarm for all of America—your health care benefits at work are at risk. If the supermarket giants—profitable, growing Fortune 50 mega-corporations—can launch an attack on health care benefits, then every employer is sure to follow. They have sounded the alarm that the American health care system is ready to collapse.

In one year, over 2 million lost health insurance. That’s over 6,000 workers a day.

The fight here has given us a national call to action.

We must have national health care reform. No one company, no one union, no industry or group of workers alone can fix the health care system. We can patch it up. We can protect our members for another contract term, but the system continues to falter, exacting an increasing cost on both workers and employers and leaving more and more families without health care.

Now is the time for action. 2004 is the year to put health care reform on the political agenda and demand that every candidate for office commits to comprehensive, affordable health insurance for every working family.

No worker should ever again be forced to choose between a paycheck and health care benefits. No worker should ever again be forced into the streets for five months to protect health care for their families.

The UFCW will lead the fight for health care reform. And, I believe, with members like our Southern California members—the UFCW will win that fight.

Members of the faith and labor communities hold the line for affordable health care at Safeway’s LA office.

We are dismayed that three Fortune 50 companies—Safeway/Vons, Kroger/Ralphs, and Albertsons—led by Safeway CEO Steve Burd have forced 70,000 Southern California supermarket workers into the streets in an attempt to effectively eliminate their health care benefits.

Safeway and the other supermarkets have knowingly misled the public about the impact of their demands that would “end affordable health care” for new employees” [and] “drastically curtail covered benefits or increase employee-paid premiums to unaffordable levels” for current employees, according to health care benefits experts E. Richard Brown, PhD., and Richard Kronick, PhD.

The supermarket workers are engaged in a righteous struggle, fighting to save health care benefits, not just for their families, but all working families. After more than 100 days on the picket line, they have sacrificed everything for this cause.

Safeway/Vons and the other grocers are some of the largest and most profitable supermarkets in the world. Yet they would push dedicated, productive employees from work to welfare for their medical protection.

The supermarket workers are our friends, neighbors, and congregants. Our children ride the school bus with their children. We cannot stand idly by and witness the devastation of their families. We cannot allow the devastation of our communities that comes with the loss of family health care coverage.

We will take the cause of the supermarket workers directly to the Safeway boardroom and executive offices—wherever they may be—seeking the economic justice the workers deserve.

We urge Safeway and the other markets to deal fairly and honestly with their employees. We pray they return to the bargaining table to negotiate a just settlement.

– 30 –

For more information, contact Reverend William Jarvis Johnson, senior clergy organizer, 213-268-4821 www.cluela.org

On Tuesday, December 16, 2003, 400+ UFCW local union presidents from across the country and Canada will meet in Century City to discuss ways of supporting the Southern California local unions whose 70,000 members have been on strike or locked out since October 11th.

The private meeting will begin at 8:30 AM at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City. At 10:30 AM, the meeting will be open to the press.

At 12 o’clock noon, the leaders will join 5,000+ striking and locked out grocery workers on the street for a march to a Pavilions store in Beverly Hills. This will be the largest demonstration since the strike and lockout began and will send a strong message to consumers that they should not shop at Vons, Pavilions, or Albertsons this holiday season.

More details to be released on Monday.

When: Tuesday, December 16; 10:30 a.m. for Summit Meeting Announcement; 12 noon for March

What: Summit Announcement with major national leaders from Labor, Religious, Women’s, and Entertainment communities; March from the Century Plaza Hotel to a Pavilions store in Beverly Hills

Who: 5,000+ Southern California striking and locked out grocery workers, Doug Dority, President, UFCW International, John Sweeney, President, AFL-CIO, Miguel Contreras, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, L.A. County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, Entertainment industry celebrity activists (names TBA)Religious leaders (names TBA), Elected officials (names TBA)

Where: March will begin at the Century Plaza hotel, 2025 Avenue of the Stars, Century City, and proceed to the Pavilions store at 9467 W Olympic Blvd.

Ad Campaign Launches Tuesday, December 16th.

View Ad  (pdf)

Striking supermarket workers continue to expose Safeway’s ‘big lie’ about the health care issues driving the three-month long strike in Southern California.  The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) will run full-page advertisements in the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, Bakersfield Californian and the San Diego Union Tribune.

The ad reprints an editorial written by health benefits experts, E. Richard Brown, Director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, and Richard Kronick, a Professor in the Department of Family and Preventative Medicine at UC-San Diego.  Their analysis, titled “Supermarkets ‘Offer’ to End Affordable Health Care,” appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on December 8, 2003.

“It’s time we put an end to Safeway’s big lie about the health care proposals.  Brown and Kronick explain better than anyone exactly how the supermarkets’ proposals would mean and end to health benefits in this industry,” said Doug Dority, UFCW International President.

View Ad (pdf)

UFCW International President Doug Dority holding the line at a Safeway store in Washington, DC, joined IUE-CWA President Edward Fire and AIL Vice President Jules Pagano.

IUE-CWA President Edward Fire met with strikers on the picket lines at a Washington, DC, Safeway store and presented his union’s $100,000 contribution to the Hold the Line for Health Care Strike Fund.

“We stand in full support of the UFCW members’ fight to maintain health care benefits.   We fought this same battle with General Electric earlier this year and employers across the country continue the attack on system of health care at work. We need a national public policy solution so that workers and their families no longer have to walk the streets to maintain access to health care,” said Fire.

As the Industrial Division of the Communications Workers of America, the IUE-CWA represents 80,000 manufacturing workers including 14,000 workers at General Electric.

Roger Smith, President, American Income Life, along with Jules Pagano, Vice President, and Hugh Walsh, Assistant Vice President, presented strikers with a $10,000 contribution from AIL and pledged to contribute $10,000 per month for the duration of the strike.

“”AIL, a wall to wall union company, feels we have a responsibility to support working families and we are proud to support the UFCW in this national fight to hold the line for health care,”" said Jules Pagano, AIL Vice President.

AIL is a nationally recognized insurance carrier that provides services and policies to labor unions and working families.  Headquartered in Waco, Texas, American Income is licensed in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, and New Zealand.

The Transportation Communications International Union (TCU) also pledged a $15,000 contribution to the Hold the Line for Health Care Strike Fund.  TCU President Robert Scardelletti also sent a letter to all TCU local unions encouraging additional contributions.

-30-

In a letter to Safeway CEO, Steve Burd, the California congressman went straight to the heart of the matter:

Safeway and two supermarket operators have waged a misinformation campaign designed to convince workers and the public that the grocery giants were only asking that current employees make a modest co-payment of $5 to $15 a week for comprehensive health benefits. The Lantos letter stripped away the facade from the companies campaign:

Both new and current employees would ultimately wind up with excessive co-pays, scaled back benefits and finally the effective elimination of benefits. Lantos directly challenged the veracity of company statements on the impact of Safeway’s proposal, “”Mr. Burd, it appears your company is lying to workers, consumers and the public.”"

“”The bottom line,”" according to the Congressman,”"is that 70,000 jobs that now come with affordable family health coverage will not come with that coverage in the future.”"

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) released today the letter dated November 21, 2003. Click here to read the full text of the letter.

The law, passed in 2002, requires that each and every employee individually be given 60 days’ notice prior to any mass layoff. In the current labor/management dispute between seven Southern California UFCW locals, there is a strike against Vons. Ralphs and Albertsons have locked out their employees.

The suit says that no notice of the intent to lockout was given by Ralphs and Albertsons and seeks the back pay and health care and pension payments for 60 days that is stipulated in the law. The unions estimate that the amount owed their union members locked out by the two employers exceeds several hundred million dollars.

The employers have 30 days to respond to the lawsuit.
#

• Press Packet (UFCW Statement, Acturarial Analysis of Benefits, and more) (pdf)

Corporate flacks have tried to reduce the struggle to save affordable health care to a matter of premium co-pays. The reality is the employers are attempting to effectively eliminate health care protection for 70,000 Southern California supermarket jobs.

Health care expert Sidney Abrams will strip the facade from the supermarket giants’ misinformation campaign on the impact of their health care proposals, and expose the real and devastating consequences for Southern California workers and communities at a press briefing at 10:30 A.M., October 22 at UFCW Local 770, 603 Shatto Place, Los Angeles.

International Executive Vice President and Director of Collective Bargaining, Sarah Palmer Amos will also present a national overview on the growing number of health care strikes.

Mr. Abrams is an actuary with more than 30 years of experience providing services to major health care plans, including the trust fund covering Southern California supermarket workers. He serves as an insurance industry representative on the CalPERS Board of Administration, and is Chair of the Health Benefits Committee and Vice Chair of the Benefits and Program Administration Committee. Mr. Abrams is a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and an Associate of the Society of Actuaries.

-30-

Picket lines will be withdrawn by 12:00 noon from Ralphs stores in Southern California.

Representatives of 70,000 striking and locked-out supermarket workers announced this decision this morning in simultaneous press conferences in Los Angeles, San Diego, Bakersfield, Santa Barbara and Palm Desert.

Supermarket workers will continue to be locked out of their stores by Ralphs management in a regional labor dispute that is about to enter its fourth week. Instead of picketing their own stores, Ralphs employees will supplement picket lines at — among other strategic locations — Vons and Pavilions stores, where employees are on strike, and Albertsons stores, where employees are locked out.

“”Please help us in our struggle to save affordable health care by not shopping at Vons, Pavilions and Albertsons during this dispute,”" said a Ralphs worker. “”We’ve taken down our picket lines at Ralphs for our customers’ convenience.”"

Overwhelming popular support for the employees has resulted in empty supermarket aisles and millions of dollars in losses for Ralphs (Kroger Co., NYSE: KR), Vons and Pavilions (Safeway Inc., NYSE: SWY) and Albertsons (NYSE: ABS).

“”The public has endured enough,”" a UFCW spokesperson said today. “”Between the MTA transit strike in Los Angeles and the supermarket strike and lockouts — not to mention the horrific tragedy of the Southern California wildfires — the people need some good news for a change. We are extremely grateful for the public’s support,”" the spokesperson continued.

The striking supermarket workers will ask customers not to shop Safeway until the giant supermarket ends its demands for the elimination of health care benefits at work.

Who: Striking supermarket workers from Southern California

What: Extend picket lines to Northern California–East Bay Safeway stores

When: Noon, November 14, 2003  Where: Safeway, 5130 Broadway Street, Oakland, California

Press Backgrounder 11/14 (pdf)

WHO:  Striking supermarket workers from Southern California

What:   Extend picket lines to Northern California Safeway/Vons storesWhen:  Noon, November 11, 2003

Where: Safeway/Vons, 2020 Market Street—Corner of Market and Church—San Francisco, California

October 30, 2003

I want to thank John Sweeney and the AFL-CIO for arranging this event and for helping to build a coalition to “Hold The Line For America’s Health Care.”

Almost 90,000 UFCW members, 70,000 in Southern California alone, are in the streets in a fight to save health benefits at work.  Make no mistake about the scope and the consequences of this struggle. It is corporate greed vs. human need and corporate greed is a killer.

If corporate greed prevails in this wave of strikes, it will signal the death of workplace health care benefits in the supermarket industry and, eventually for all workers.

The supermarket giants, Kroger, Albertson’s and Safeway, led by Safeway’s CEO Steve Burd, are trying to cover their agenda with a misinformation campaign about the true nature of their demands.    They are lying about the impact of their proposals.  They are trying to mislead both workers and customers into passively accepting their plans to kill affordable health care.

The issue is not cost sharing, worker co-pays or deductibles. It is not about premiums.

Kroger, Albertson’s, Safeway and Steve Burd propose to eliminate health care benefits for all future workers in the Southern California supermarket industry. They propose to shift massive costs to current workers until the existing health care plan collapses.   And Kroger is trying to do the same thing in West Virginia.

Of course they don’t say that is their purpose, you have to look at the funding mechanism.    Like so many politicians, they promise a program, but then fail to provide the funding to support it.  Or much worse, they promise a program and then propose a funding mechanism that they know will kill the program.

We are here to say, Safeway, Kroger, and Albertson’s and particularly to Steve Burd:   you have miscalculated the resolve of workers.   You have underestimated the determination of the UFCW.

You have failed to see the strength of support for workers from the community, from the labor movement, from religious leaders, from civil rights and women’s organizations and from everyday Americans who think its wrong for profitable corporations to take health care from working families.

Make sure you understand the impact on working families.     It is not simply a matter of a tighter budget to pay for health care. It is not about giving up a few luxuries, so the kids can see the doctor. Working families will face the choice between food and health care—between the rent and health care.

In Southern California, a working mom with a couple of kids can work in a supermarket and keep her family out of poverty.

Maria Lopez was supposed to be here today but she is at her mother’s bedside, helping her recover from a stroke she suffered last night.   Maria supports herself and her three children on her wages she earns at Vons/Safeway.  She makes about $19,000 a year and with health benefits, her family is secure.

Take away her health benefits and how is she going to pay for health care? There is no fat in her budget. There is no extra.    A broken arm, the flu…any illness could be a financial disaster.   We are not going to let that happen.

UFCW members will not give up, they will not give in—UFCW members will hold the line for health care.    The UFCW will mobilize all of its resources, all of its members and all of its friends and allies.   We will not allow any worker to be starved into giving up health care benefits.

We will be there one day longer, fighting to save health care, than Safeway will be there, trying to kill health care.

> First, we will maintain strike benefits. We have amassed tens of millions of dollars to support our members holding the line.

> Second, today we are announcing the “Hold The Line For Health Care Fund.”   Organizations and individuals can make contributions to provide emergency relief to striking families.

> Third, we will ask our friend and allies to take action in areas where there are strikes—to honor picket lines, to put up a yard sign, to send a message to the employers to settle the contracts and keep affordable health care.

> Fourth, we have received requests from our striking members to extend their picket lines.   We are considering their request.  We could extend picket lines from the stores in Southern California nationwide to all Safeway, Albertson’s and Kroger stores.

> Fifth, UFCW members in Arizona are working without a contract with these employers.   The contracts for workers in Indiana and Memphis are expiring very soon.   Safeway, Albertson’s and Kroger could face additional strikes before the end of this year where our members are holding the line to save health care.

In all areas of the country, we are asking friends and allies to contact Steve Burd and Safeway. Tell them to stop the attack on working families.

These strikes are not local matters—they are the battlegrounds in a national fight over the future of health care benefits at work.

These strikes are not just about UFCW members, because if the giant supermarket chains can kill health care in Southern California, then all employers will feel that they can get away with eliminating benefits.

UFCW members on strike for health care are fighting for all workers. They are heroes and I am proud to be part of their union.    On behalf of those working and their families, I want to thank all of you who came here today. Together, we will win this fight.

…more (strike newsletters, worker testimony, news clips)

Statement by
Sarah Palmer Amos
International Executive Vice President and Director of Collective Bargaining for the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union

October 22, 2003

From Southern California to West Virginia and Missouri in between, almost 90,000 supermarket workers are fighting to save affordable health care for themselves, their communities and future generations of workers.

This outbreak of strikes in different parts of the country is not a coincidence. It is part of a planned and coordinated effort on the part of major retail food chains to effectively eliminate worker health care benefits in the supermarket industry.

The employers have tried to cover their real agenda with a coldly calculated misinformation campaign about the true nature of their demands on health care. The supermarket giants are afraid to tell the truth because they know the public would be revolted by the unrestrained greed and the total disregard for human need contained in their demands.

In all my years of bargaining contracts, I have never seen a more flagrant employer campaign of lies than I have witnessed here. We are talking about people’s lives. We’re talking about their ability to provide health care for their children. We’re talking about their ability to obtain medical care in life and death situations.

The employers, Albertsons, Ralphs, and Vons, are pounding away with the big lie. Over and over again they say “”it’s only about a modest co-pay.”" How dare they lie when they know the facts, they understand exactly what their proposal would do.

70,000 jobs in Southern California that now come with comprehensive affordable health care would be transformed into low wage jobs, without meaningful health care benefits. And the next generation of supermarket workers and every generation thereafter would be without health care protection.

The employers would abandon their commitment to the workers who have given them a lifetime of service. Retirees would face increasing costs and reduced benefits. The employers, led by Safeway CEO Steve Burd, have made their intentions clear: cut cost regardless of the human cost; squeeze another penny in profit, and the public be damned. As Burd said, “”this is an investment in our future.”"

People are not part of the equation in Burd’s view of the future. But people are the source of Safeway’s profits.

Safeway is built on superior service from workers and loyalty from customers. Steve Burd now threatens both.

The fact is: customers come to Vons and other Safeway outlets because the workers establish a relationship with customers. They are friends and neighbors. Supermarket workers are part of the fabric of the community.

How can you keep the profits that come from superior service when you attack the very workers that provide the service?

Steve Burd is like a fading movie star, desperately trying to regain his former glory. From being the darling of Wall Street, he is now a box office bust. And now he expects Southern California workers to pay for his miscues in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Supermarket workers in Southern California average about $12 to $14 an hour and most do not get 40 hours a week.

Under the employers’ proposal, after three years, an average worker would earn about $12.30 an hour, that’s $369 a week before taxes are taken out or about $19,173 a year.

That’s a salary that can keep a single mom and her children out of poverty but, cut her health care benefits or shift several thousand dollars worth of health care costs from the company onto her and, look what happens.

A self-supporting working family can be reduced to near poverty. A self-supporting working family can be reduced to welfare.

Who should bear the burden of rising health care cost—a $19,000 a year working mom or Southern California taxpayers who will pay when more workers become eligible for Medi-Cal? Or, should Safeway be responsible for its workers?

Operating profits for the employers have increased ten times faster than health care costs. A little of that profit should be used to pay the cost of health care.

The UFCW remains ready to talk about cost containment. We will cooperate in any program or plan that stretches the health care dollar or makes the benefits more efficient but we will not agree to the elimination of health benefits in the supermarket industry!

The workers on the picket line are heroes. They are fighting not only for themselves but for future generations of workers. They have earned the support and the respect of their communities. I am proud to be part of the their Union.

-30-

• Human Need Vs. Corporate Greed–Facts and Figures (pdf)
• UFCW Members Vote to Authorize a Strike
• Consumer Handbill

Over the past several days, Southern California supermarket workers have been voting on a contract offer from three of the largest supermarket operators in the country.

They have been confronted with a stark choice: give up health care benefits for not only themselves and their families, but also, for future generations of supermarket workers.

In unprecedented numbers, Southern California supermarket workers turned out to vote and sent a clear message: we will fight for affordable health care.

They delivered a mandate to their union that they will strike, if needed, to save health care for their families and strike to save health care coverage for the next generation of workers.

These workers are heroes. They are willing to make the sacrifice to take up the fight to save health care.

This is a fight for all Southern California workers.  It is a fight for all supermarket workers—union and non-union—here and across the country because if these three supersize, super-profitable, supermarket chains can cut benefits here, then every worker is at risk.

The UFCW is announcing that on October 11, workers will strike one of the supermarket chains. We will limit our job action to a single chain, so we will limit the inconvenience to our customers.

We are asking the employers to also respect our customers and not to take retaliatory action against workers through a lock out. There should be no lock out.

After all, the customers are the ones that we depend on for our jobs and the companies for their profits.

Following today’s meeting with the companies and the federal mediator, we will announce the time and the target of the strike.

We will make an effort to avoid a strike but, workers will not give up on health care.  We are not asking for more, we are asking to keep the benefits that we have.

There is information on this website about company profits and health care costs.

Employers’ profits have risen 10 times faster than their hourly contribution to worker health care.

Their profits overall have gone up 91% since 1998.

We have contained health cares cost. The increased costs for health care for these employers have been significantly below the national average.

This is a battle between corporate greed and human need and, we are asking our communities to stand with us.   We are your friends and your neighbors. We serve you everyday in your local supermarket. We ask for your support.

If the supermarket giants win, Southern California loses.  These companies would drain over 328 million dollars a year from Southern California because when they cut health care for workers, they rip off California.

Friday, Oct. 10, 2003

UFCW Supermarket Workers Reject Employers’ Offer Vote Overwhelmingly To Protect Health Care and Retirement Benefits

In elections this week at seven local unions of the United Food and Commercial Workers, almost 70,000 supermarket workers in Southern California voted overwhelmingly to reject the demands of their employers and to authorize their leaders to call a strike. The vote to reject the proposals surpassed 97 percent.

Some 85 percent of workers eligible to vote did so in an unprecedented turnout of support for rejection of the offer.

The three supermarket companies – Albertson’s, Safeway (Vons) and Kroger (Ralphs) – have been working together to impose a package of severe cuts in benefits for their employees. In addition, they aim to set up a “”second tier”" of wages, benefits and working conditions for new employees – in effect making them second-class citizens in their own workplaces.

Workers have also announced that they will only target one supermaket chain in order to avoid inconveniencing their customers. Workers at the two other supermarket chains will urge their employers to allow them to stay on the job and not to act on Employer threats to lock the workers out of the stores. The other chains are urged by the seven locals on behalf of their customers and neighbors not to spread the dispute by engaging in a retaliatory lockout .

The seven local unions represent supermarket employees and other workers from Bishop in the north to the Mexican border in the south and from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Nevada and Arizona borders in the east.

The 1.4-million-strong United Food and Commercial Workers International Union is the largest private-sector union in North America. It represents employees of  supermarkets, pharmacies, health agencies and other companies and organizations throughout the United States and Canada.

UFCW MEDIA CONTACTS:

Greg Denier, 202-256-7851 (cell)

Ellen Anreder, (818) 591-7480, (818) 416-9400 (cell)

Barbara Maynard, (323) 850-1356. (323) 855-8739 (cell)