The four UFCW activists arrested yesterday.

Washington, DC—Four UFCW activists were among those arrested yesterday outside the U.S. Capitol while protesting the failure of House Republican leaders to pass comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship. The march, which included tens of thousands of people from across the country, followed over 180 similar actions in 40 states this weekend.

“Today we sent a message to House Republicans loud and clear,” UFCW President Joe Hansen said. “First and foremost, open this government. Secondly, once it is open, give us a vote on comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship.”

In an op-ed in the Huffington Post last week, Hansen laid out the case for reform. “We want to give aspiring citizens an opportunity to achieve the American Dream,” he said. “We want full rights and protections for immigrant workers. We want fairness and justice. We want an immigration policy that reflects our values. Speaker Boehner, we want a vote.”

The UFCW activists who were arrested spoke about the power of civil disobedience and the importance of standing together for comprehensive immigration reform.

Efrain Aguilera of UFCW Local 5 in San Jose, CA said: “I’m a Hispanic born in Michoacán, Mexico who came to this country legally but without knowing a word of English. The immigrant community has to struggle to find work and when it does, they face humiliation because of being undocumented and live in fear of being deported and separated from their families. Getting arrested for civil disobedience is the least I can do to support this great cause. We need comprehensive immigration reform now so that more than 11 million undocumented immigrants can get out of the shadows, work legally, pay taxes and stop being treated like second class citizens.”

Rigo Valdez of UFCW Local 770 in Los Angeles, CA said: “I was arrested today to stand up for the workers who cannot stand up for themselves. In twenty years of organizing, I have witnessed exploitation of workers because of their immigration status. We can no longer allow the abuse of any workers in our country, and must fight and demand that all of us are treated with dignity and according to our rights. Comprehensive immigration reform is not only morally right, but necessary to guarantee the long term economic and social health of our nation. If our lawmakers will not act, then we will.”

Celestino Rivera of UFCW Local 540 in Dallas, TX said: “I was arrested today because I stand with America’s meatpacking and food processing workers to demand that Congress fix our broken immigration system. I have witnessed the price of keeping working families in the shadows.  All workers should be able to exercise their fundamental rights on the job, regardless of immigration status. Now is the time for reform that preserves and protects these rights.”

Idalid Guerrero of UFCW Local 540 in Dallas, TX said: “I came to Washington today as both a worker and a mother. I know firsthand that women bear a huge burden because of our broken immigration system. We deserve reform that is humane and just and keeps families together. I was arrested in solidarity with all immigrant women who are calling on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform now.”

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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.

UFCW locals that are interested are welcome to take part in the video trainings, which are easy to access and use.

Check out the different safety trainings being offered below–if you’re interested, let your local know and have them contact the UFCW Occupational Safety and Health Office (202-466-1546) for details about how to sign up!

Training Sessions

Lock-Out  – Minor Servicing Exception
Major repair jobs are often locked-out properly, but hurried  machine adjustments or frequent unjamming can be a source of confusion, injuries and disciplinary action. This training session follows a step-by-step process to help operators, set-up people, machine cleaners and maintenance workers determine if that ‘’quick, little adjustment’’ requires a full lock-out or not. This training can also be helpful for stewards who have to deal with disciplinary action over Lock Out.
This training is applicable to ALL workplaces. It is most useful for manufacturing, food processing, poultry and meat packing plants.

Ergonomic Risk Factors
How can we predict which jobs will injure workers and which jobs are safe? Participants in this training session will learn about some of the elements of jobs that cause ergonomic-related injuries. The training includes an opportunity to practice using a method that combines the effects of three of the most important ergonomic risk factors.  This method can be used to evaluate most production-type jobs.

Hex Chrome
Welders who work with stainless steel may be at risk for lung cancer. This training session reviews the hazards and OSHA requirements for plants where stainless steel welding is done.

Hazard Recognition
This series of workplace photographs helps union stewards, activists and safety reps develop an eye for finding workplace hazards. This training session switches the focus from blaming workers for safety hazards onto identifying unsafe working conditions as the true hazards.

Extreme Temperatures
Many UFCW members work in conditions of extreme heat or extreme cold. Participants in this training session will learn about the possible health effects of these conditions, how the conditions can be documented and what can be done to protect workers.

Risk Assessment
‘’Long lists don’t get done!’’ This training session is for any union activist, steward, or safety committee member who is struggling to know where to start on their long list of safety problems. Risk Assessment is a systematic and logical approach to analyzing safety issues to place those issues in order of priority.

Material Handling
Participants in this training session will explore the safety requirements for material handling equipment from pallet jacks to fork trucks.

President Hansen says its time for Speaker Boenher to stop letting extremists dictate the actions of the House.  Calling out an “increasingly radical caucus”, President Hansen urges that the outcome of a vote for comprehensive immigration reform should differ from the House’s recent poor decisions on our nation’s budget and social safety net.

The UFCW has been very active in the fight for reform, and has worked hard to help secure votes in the Senate and House. Our members have seen to much destruction from the current, failing immigration system, time and time again.

So, as Joe notes in his op-ed, “they went to town hall meetings, participated in marches and rallies, and visited Congressional offices to create the momentum for comprehensive immigration reform.” All of this hard work paid off in June, when the Senate passed legislation on a strong bipartisan vote, but the House refuses to follow suit. Together with our allies, we must keep up the pressure.

Thanks to this pressure, 26 House Republicans have now announced their support for legislation that will protect the rights of immigrants, keep families together, and gives aspiring Americans the opportunity to become citizens.

“Now it is time for John Boehner to show the guts,” says President Hansen.

UFCW members will be taking part in the rallies happening nationwide on October 5th, to demand a vote for comprehensive immigration reform now.

Read all of what President Hansen has to say in his op-ed here.

credit: Huffington Post

On Tuesday, the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual report on incomes and poverty.  According to the report, the median household income in the U.S. in 2012 was $51,017, and not much different from the 2011 median income of $51,100.  However, when you look at the median household incomes over the last 25 years, the median household income in 1989 was $51,681—meaning that a typical middle class family earned more in 1989 than middle class families did last year.  The nation’s official poverty rate in 2012 also remained stagnant at 15 percent, representing 46.5 million people who are living at or below the poverty line.

Another study this week from Center for American Progress builds on the U.S. Census Bureau data and links the slide of middle class incomes to the decline in union membership since the 1960s.  Between 1967 and 2012, union membership fell from 28.3 percent of all workers to 11.3 percent in all 50 states.  The decline in union membership is reflected in the decline in the share of the nation’s income going to the middle 60 percent of households, which fell from 52.3 percent to 45.7 percent over the same time period.

As the gap between the rich and poor continues to grow, it’s clear that something needs to be done to rebuild the middle class.  Making it easier for workers to stick together in a union to bargain for better wages and benefits is a good place to start.

The protest comes at a critical time in the fight for reform. Months have passed since the Senate approved its own bill and pressure is mounting for the House to follow suit.  Throughout August, UFCW members went to town hall-style meetings, participated in marches and rallies, and visited Congressional offices to create the momentum for comprehensive immigration reform. During that time, 26 House Republicans announced their support for reform with a road map to citizenship.

UFCW members will continue to ramp up pressure on the House throughout the fall until they allow a vote on common sense reform that protects the rights of immigrants, keeps families together, and creates a path to citizenship for aspiring Americans. Members can pledge their support for immigration reform by signing the petition at http://bit.ly/ZzZRW5.

As delegates to the UFCW’s 7th Regular Convention in Chicago chanted last month, the “time is now.” A video about the impact pro-reform advocates had during the Congressional summer recess can be viewed here.

“I’m proud of the union contract that we negotiated,” said Araceli Flores, Cosmo’s Food worker. “This contract will mean more security for our families.”

The agreement provides $1.30 in wage increases over the life of the contract. In the negotiations, the bargaining committee focused on securing guaranteed hours and seniority rights that will provide workers with greater job security. The contract also guarantees seven paid holidays each year and between one and three weeks of paid vacation for the workers.

“From the beginning, this has been about respect. The relationship between workers and supervisors at Cosmo’s really changed when management had to sit down at the bargaining table with us and negotiate,” said Cosmo’s Food worker Guadalupe Muñoz.

UFCW Local 371 Cosmo’s workers celebrate signing their first contract that increases wages, and improves job security.

Cosmo’s Food Products, Inc., produces a variety of antipasto specialties under the Cosmo’s brand and for private labels.

One of the winning photos from the UFCW Made Facebook Contest – photo by George Wilson.

Earlier this year, UFCW launched a photo contest to highlight UFCW made products and members at work. We asked members and staff to post pictures on our Facebook app of themselves or their co-workers or members–on the job or with the products we make.

Congratulations to the winners of our contest! We will be contacting our winners about their prizes shortly. We’ll also post the winning pictures soon.

These members and staff got the most votes for their terrific photos, and have won the following in order of most votes received:

First Place: Paula, Local 770 Santa Barbara, winning a $500 grocery gift card

Second Place: Dawne, Local 880, winning a $250 grocery gift card

Third Place: Cole Edwards, Local 1189, winning a $250 grocery gift card

Fourth Place:  Mary Brown, Local 1428, winning a UFCW Bonded Fleece Jacket

Fifth Place:  Diane Johnson, Local 770, winning a UFCW T-shirt

Sixth Place: George Wilson, Local 23, winning a UFCW travel mug

Congratulations to our winners, and thank you to all who posted, voted, shared, and sent in pictures–we’ll be posting many of your pictures on Facebook and on our website in the weeks and months to come!

Currently the plant has about 800 workers. The workers and the good relationship between UFCW Local 540 members and the company directly played a part in the Paris plant being selected to have the new production line. Campbell’s Paris plant also makes Campbell’s condensed soups, Prego Italian sauces, Pace Mexican sauces and V8 juices.

Omaha Steaks products are UFCW-made

All of the following hot dogs are  UFCW-made:

• Ball Park
• Boar’s Head
• Foster Farms
• Hebrew National
• Hofmann
• Oscar Mayer
• Hormel

Sausages:

• Farmland
• Koegel’s
• Gianelli (UFCW)
• Kroger brand (UFCW)

Condiments:

• French’s and Guldens Mustard (UFCW)
• Heinz Ketchup and Catsup (UFCW)
• Lucky Whip
• Hidden Valley Ranch

Buns:

• Sara Lee (UFCW)
• Oroweat
• Arnold
• Stroehmann

Soda & Bottled Water:

• Barq’s Rootbeer, Coke , and Sprite products (UFCW)
• Pepsi
• American Springs  and Poland Springs Water (UFCW)
• Pocono Northern Fall’s Water

Beer:

• Bud Light (UFCW)
• Budweiser
• Michelob
• Miller
• Milwaukee’s Best
• Rolling Rock
• Goose Island

Snacks & Desserts:

• Breyers & Good Humor Ice Cream (UFCW)
• Flips pretzels
• Frito-Lay Chips

Supplies:

• Solo cups
• Weber Q grills
• Igloo coolers

This is just a small glimpse of the union-made products that you can use at your July 4th celebration–for more ideas, visit Labor 411 and our UFCW-made Pinterest board!

WASHINGTON, D.C.

“I commend the Senate for taking a major bipartisan step toward making comprehensive immigration reform the law of the land. This bill includes many of the UFCW’s principles including a roadmap to citizenship for those already here, strong labor protections for immigrant workers, and a modernized system for allocating employment-based visas based on hard data, not politics.

“For decades, the UFCW has been a staunch advocate for fixing a flawed immigration system that punishes working men and women, tears families apart, and fails workers, families, communities and businesses alike.  We have been proud to be part of a national movement that has led the way in changing the narrative–so that at this point in time a majority of Americans support comprehensive immigration reform.

“Let me be clear. This is a compromise bill. The ‘border surge’ provision added earlier this week is bad public policy at a high price and the UFCW will do everything in its power to mitigate its impact while making clear no further concessions are acceptable. But we cannot allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. Senate passage of comprehensive immigration reform with a road map to citizenship sends a clear message that America will no longer penalize aspiring citizens just for trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. It is now time for the House to finish the job.”

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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.

source: Farmland Foods

Workers at Smithfield Foods and Smithfield-owned brands like Farmland and Eckrich recently learned that a Chinese company, Shuanghui , has announced plans to buy the entire Smithfield family of companies. Shuanghui is China’s largest pork processor.

Over 16,000 workers across 14 different states work for Smithfield Foods and have a UFCW union contract. A few folks who work at Farmland Foods and are members of UFCW Local 440 in Denison, Iowa, sat down with USA Today and talked about what it’s like to work in a pork processing plant. They say that the work in the plant is demanding but workers are able to earn good wages and make a decent living for themselves and their families. Many of them talk about how having a job at Smithfield has meant they’ve been able to put their children through school, live in good communities, and earn good wages along with opportunities for advancement.

The kind of wages and benefits they’re describing are thanks to their union contract. Working union means living better. It’s called the union difference.

While some are apprehensive about a foreign company buying Smithfield, the transaction may provide an opportunity for the company to grow. Pork processing plants in the United States are exporting more pork to China to meet the country’s growing demand for the ‘other white meat’. Workers say that this might lead to more work, more shifts, and more jobs at plants in their communities – something our economy desperately needs.

Both Smithfield and Shuangui announced that they plan to continue to honor union contracts. With a union contract, jobs at Smithfield are safe and secure. No matter who owns Smithfield, the UFCW will continue fight for the kind of wages and benefits that the UFCW Local 440 workers are describing – at Smithfield workplaces, and at packing, poultry, and food processing worksites all over the country.

Watch the video of UFCW Local 440 workers talking about their union jobs and what the future could hold for them.

Initial reports say that the fire appeared to have started from an explosion caused by leaking ammonia, a chemical kept pressurized as part of the cooling system in meat processing plants. Ammonia is a dangerous chemical that is found in almost every poultry plant and proper safety precautions are imperative. Despite plant managers knowing how dangerous ammonia can be – there was still a leak that lead to disastrous results.

Many think that what happened in China is a problem that stems from poor worker safety laws in the Chinese system. Unfortunately, what happened in China is not a Chinese problem – it is a problem across the entire poultry industry. Violations of laws and safety regulations in poultry plants happen everywhere, including right here in the U.S.

In 1991, 25 workers were killed in a chicken processing plant in Hamlet, North Carolina. When a fire broke out at the plant, workers were trapped inside because seven of the building’s nine exit doors were locked or blocked. Even though locking and blocking exits are violations of safety laws and regulations, those violations were never reported. The plant had never been inspected by safety officials in the 11 years it had been open. Because safety standards were ignored, the fire turned into the worst industrial accident in state history.

The poultry industry’s history is marked by tragic plant accidents like the ones in China and North Carolina for a number of reasons. In the poultry industry, low safety standards and dangerous worksites are the norm. In an industry that is often based on aging infrastructure, dangerous chemical problems, and the under reporting of safety violations and accidents all contribute to perilous worksites and environments for workers.

Poultry workers with a union on the job are empowered to report these kinds of violations to avoid serious accidents or injuries. That’s why it’s so important for workers to have a union voice. UFCW routinely trains poultry and meatpacking workers on how to spot these and other health and safety violations in their plants. Union members work together to address health and safety hazards to keep workers safe.

Poultry companies need to be held accountable for the conditions in their plants. What happened to poultry workers in China can happen in any poultry plant. Because of the poultry industry’s low safety standards, all poultry workers from the U.S. and across the globe are at risk. Safety standards in the poultry industry must change in order to avoid more deaths and headlines like the most recent ones from China.

Why not show it off! Enter our new contest by uploading a photo of you or you and your coworkers, or a UFCW product (you can see some of the great things UFCW members make here), and you are not only helping us showcase the great work UFCW members do, but are also entering for a chance to win cool UFCW gear and even grocery store gift cards–worth up to $500!

Its easy to upload and enter: you can either go to http://ufcwmade.com/ or you can get the Facebook app and share with friends!

Vote for your favorite photos on the site, and show your support for UFCW members!

Washington, D.C.

“As the representative of more than 16,000 Smithfield Foods workers in 14 states, the UFCW is pleased that current Smithfield management will stay in place and that all collective bargaining agreements will continue to provide strong wage and benefits for Smithfield workers following the sale.

The UFCW has a strong labor-management relationship with Smithfield.  Our union has productive relationships with other foreign-owned companies in the food industry including Marfig, Nestle, JBS, Unilever and others.  We intend to work with Smithfield’s new owners to build on that same spirit of open dialogue and cooperation.

We will watch the required regulatory process that oversees this proposed sale very carefully to make sure the interests of worker in the pork industry are protected and supported.

The Chinese market for fresh pork is a rapidly exploding market and this purchase reflects that country’s economic need for high quality, U.S.-made pork.  The UFCW is pleased that workers in our communities can benefit from the growth and expansion of the U.S. pork industry.”

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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.

Thanks to the AFL-CIO and Labor 411, you can refer to this grocery shopping list that makes buying union-made products a breeze.

Labor 411 is also hosting “Support UFCW Week” this week–you can find the UFCW-made items from the list below–what better way to support your brothers and sisters than to buy the products that they make?

All listed Hot Dogs

Condiments

• French’s Mustard
• Guldens Mustard
• Heinz Catsup and Ketchup
• Vlasic

Sodas & Bottled Water

• Barq’s Rootbeer
• Coke & Diet Coke
• Sprite & Diet Sprite
• Pepsi
• American Springs
• Poland Springs

Sausages

• Gianelli
• Hofmann
• Kroger

Sara Lee Buns

Breyers & Good Humor Ice Cream

Bud Light

While the EPA’s action is a step in the right direction, the comments pointed out that the settlement agreement failed to include the people who are closest to the problem – the workers who operate and maintain the refrigeration systems.

UFCW members work in almost 900 different facilities across the country that use anhydrous ammonia for refrigeration. Although these refrigeration systems are covered by very strict environmental and safety standards, many of them fail to comply with these standards. The UFCW Occupational Safety & Health Office has an educational program available for any interested Locals to help determine if plants are in compliance and to help develop an action plan to protect members.

The UFCW Occupational Safety and Health Office will continue to fight for workers and their representatives to be included in the process of improving and evaluating Tyson’s ammonia safety program.

Workers at John Morrell pork plants in S.D. and Ill. voted to ratify new contracts.

Recently, workers at John Morrell meatpacking plants from UFCW Local 304-A in Sioux Falls, S.D., and UFCW Local 1546 in St. Charles, Ill., voted to ratify new contracts. Local unions and members worked together and stayed in close contact during the negotiating process to raise the bar for workers at both local unions, ensuring workers at both locations made equitable gains.

The new four-year contracts increase wages and maintain affordable healthcare with no increase in weekly contributions from workers. Workers also ensured that the contracts protected seniority status.

Approximately 2,400 workers in the Sioux Falls plant and over 200 workers in the St. Charles plant are covered under the contracts. John Morrell Food Group is part of the Smithfield Foods family of companies. Workers at the St. Charles plant make dried sausage products and the plant in Sioux Falls is a full pork processing plant.

WASHINGTON, DC

“We write in support of the comprehensive immigration reform process and thank you for your critical and constructive efforts in support of this legislation,” says the letter signed by UFCW International President Joe Hansen and Barry Carpenter of FMIC.

The labor-business coalition said they support the Senate bill’s provisions to establish a roadmap to citizenship, protect family based immigration, promote smart, effective border enforcement, implement a workable, transparent employment verification system, and create an occupational visa for non-seasonal, permanent positions. However, Hansen and Carpenter are also calling for commonsense improvements to S. 744 in the areas of visa allocation and employment verification.

The labor-business coalition asked for more flexibility when it comes to employment verification. “Allowing employers to use Self-Check in a uniform, nondiscriminatory fashion will create greater transparency for new employees, and will enable employers to ensure that their new hires are not circumventing E-Verify,” the letter reads.

Moreover, the letter outlined: “If an employer takes the extra step of deterring identity theft through the uniform use of Self-Check, then the employer should be presumed to have acted in ‘good faith’ with respect to the E-Verify confirmations it receives.”

Finally, the labor-business coalition requested that Senators direct the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Justice to create regulations that would provide specific rules of the road “describing a course of conduct…that satisfies employment verification requirements and concurrently avoids anti-discrimination liability.” “If an employer follows these regulations, then the employer is presumed to have complied with both the verification and anti-discrimination rules,” the letter reads.

The labor-business coalition said they look forward to working with the Senate to improve S.744 and seeing comprehensive immigration reform become the law of the land.

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ONTARIO, Calif

Rodriguez, along with Warehouse Workers United, filed formal federal charges today to protest the illegal firing.

“Walmart is committed to one thing, looking the other way when workers in its supply chain are abused,” Rodriguez said. “Just look at the factory collapse in Bangladesh this week or the fire that killed 112 last year. Just look at the conditions inside the warehouses in Southern California.”

Supporters launched a petition calling on Walmart to ensure Rodriguez’s reinstatement Friday and plan to deliver the signatures to Walmart officials Monday in Downtown Los Angeles. (Local reporters, see event details below.)

Rodriguez and his coworkers have repeatedly demonstrated that Walmart does not hold its contractors to its own standards. Warehouse workers, who are required to work inside dark, hot, metal shipping containers with little ventilation or water, under pressure to meet high quotas in the face of frequent injury, filed a complaint with the state agency responsible for workplace conditions last summer.

Though Walmart initially dismissed workers’ concerns, in December, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) cited NFI Industries, which is contracted by Walmart to operate the warehouse, and one staffing agency, tens of thousands of dollars in health and safety violations.

Earlier this month Walmart supply chain workers from the National Guestworker Alliance, Warehouse Workers United, New Labor, Warehouse Workers for Justice and Jobs with Justice convened to respond to Walmart’s claim that it holds its suppliers to its “Standards for Suppliers.” Workers offered their own set of core principles that would ensure improved labor standards in the supply chain.

“What workers have shown is that Walmart’s standards are nothing more than a sheet of paper,” said Guadalupe Palma, director of Warehouse Workers United. “To be serious the Walmart’s standards must be enforceable, credible standards that are centered around workers. Walmart must ensure Javier is reinstated and immediately start acting to resolve serious problems in its supply chain.”

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Warehouse Workers United is an organization committed to improving the quality of life and jobs in Southern California’s Inland Empire. More than 85,000 warehouse workers work moving goods for major retailers like Walmart in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

Last week, in West, Texas, a fertilizer plant exploded, killing at least 15 workers and emergency responders.  The amount of deadly chemicals stored at the plant was thousands of times beyond the mandated limit, and inspections of the factory had not been performed in several years.

This week, news of a collapsed garment factory in Bangladesh that has killed at least 300 workers saddened us all.  Reports that cracks in the building’s foundation found yesterday were ignored and that management still forced employees to come to work are alarming.  This incident comes only months after more than 100 workers perished at another Bangladesh garment factory, when a fire broke out and locked doors (done by management) trapped workers inside.

• Can you take a moment to sign the petition asking Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju to Make garment factories in Bangladesh safe?

Workers at a Nicaraguan Walmart supplier were recently physically attacked by a paid mob when they protested about being fired for trying to organize for a voice on the job.

It’s time that companies stopped putting workers’ lives at risk in order to make a profit.  The working people who make corporations successful deserve basic human rights, and deserve safe working environments.

Take a moment to remember the victims of workplace fatalities, and help us continue to fight for worker safety. If you have a story of a friend or loved one lost or injured on the job that you would like to share, please send us a message on our Facebook page.

2013 Worker Memorial Day Break Room Flyers

Viscofan workers from UFCW Local 686 stand together with other UFCW locals to ratify a new three-year contract.

By standing together in the plant, and with other UFCW members, Viscofan workers in Danville, Ill. recently ratified a new three-year contract. The new contract includes better wages and safety improvements. Workers in the Danville plant manufacture casings used the in the production of meat products like sausages and deli meats.

The contract ratification follows a strike vote when bargaining between members and Viscofan broke down. At that point, workers reached out to their fellow UFCW members to continue their fight for a good contract and to show their solidarity.

Many of the plant’s customers are UFCW-represented meat processing facilities. The UFCW locals at those facilities signed on to a letter to the company where they work, informing them of the dispute at  Viscofan and warning that they might need to find other sources for their casings if the dispute were to continue.

UFCW Locals who stood with the Viscofan workers include 2, 5, 6, 7R, 8*, 75, 152, 204, 293, 304A, 324, 342, 400, 431, 440, 455, 538, 540, 711, 1473, 1546, and 1996. This great show of solidarity was a big source of support for the Viscofan workers and factor in their success. Congrats to all the plant workers on their new contract!

Members from UFCW Local 348-S rally to support the livelihoods of immigrant workers in New York.

On April 8, members of UFCW Local 348-S and allies rallied at the Homeland Security Office of Investigation in New York City. Members are fighting the Department of Homeland Security audits of work authorization records that could threaten the livelihood of immigrant workers in New York.

New York’s office of Homeland Security Investigations has announced an audit of work authorization records at 3 Guys from Brooklyn, a family-owned produce stand and grocery. The move comes on the eve of long-awaited national immigration reform legislation. UFCW Local 348-S members are calling on DHS to halt the audit until the specifics of comprehensive immigration reform are known.

The I-9 audit that DHS is pursuing examines the personnel records offered by employees when hired. If DHS agents discover workers they say are undocumented, they can fine the employer—or order him to fire workers. Thousands of these “silent raids” in recent years have led to untold numbers of workers losing their jobs and their foothold in local communities.

Mott’s workers in New York signed a new contract for better wages, benefits, schedules, and respect on the job.

Local 220* Mott’s workers in New York have ratified a new contract. The contract contains wage improvements, signing bonuses, secures health care coverage for over 300 employees at the plant, and contains numerous language improvements that will help workers with scheduling and overtime issues.

In 2010, Local 220* members employed at the Mott’s plant in Williamson, New York were forced on strike by company greed. Workers waged a nationwide public campaign that exposed the greed of Motts and their parent company, Dr. Pepper/Snapple. Workers walked a picket line for several months, until Motts backed away from demands to gut their contract and do away with the workers’ retirement security.

Congrats to the Mott’s workers of Local 220* on their hard-earned contract!

UFCW Pilgrim’s Pride poultry workers visited Secrectary of Agricultre Tom Vilsack, OSHA, and members of Congress to lobby for better wages and worker safety in the poultry industry.

Last week, 12 Pilgrim’s Pride poultry workers from UFCW Locals 227, 455, 540, 1996, 2008, and RWDSU Mid-South Council traveled to Washington, D.C. to fight for changes in the poultry industry.

Despite the financial success experienced by many poultry companies, poultry workers continue to earn some of the lowest wages and face some of the most dangerous workplaces in the industry. Pilgrim’s Pride workers especially are suffering.

When Pilgrim’s Pride faced bankruptcy back in 2008, the company asked the workers to make concessions to keep their plants viable. Those workers with a union voice on the job were able to protect themselves from the most severe cuts, but had to sacrifice overtime pay and holidays to keep their jobs. The company is now posting record profits but the workers have not seen a raise in over two years, or had the overtime and holidays they gave up returned to them. And, Pilgrim’s Pride is holding workers up at the negotiating table and leaving contracts open.

“We work hard and work full-time and we just can’t make ends meet on these wages. My entire community is centered around the poultry plant. When workers aren’t making decent wages, the whole community suffers because people can’t afford to buy anything,” said Brian Rush, a Pilgrim’s Pride worker from the Batesville, Ark., plant and a member of UFCW Local 2008.

“On these wages, a lot of people can’t even afford to buy the product that they make. If a person makes $9 an hour and a box of chicken is around $60 – it all just doesn’t make sense,” said Carey Stanley, a Pilgrim’s Pride worker from the Live Oak, Fla., plant and a member of UFCW Local 1996.

Pilgrim’s Pride traveled to Washington, D.C. on a mission to tell their stories and educate lawmakers and policymakers about what it’s like to work in the poultry industry. They visited and spoke with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and his staff, ranking members of OSHA, as well as Senators Pryor, Kaine, Bennet, and Stabenow, and several members of the House of Representatives.
At the Department of Agriculture, members told Secretary Vilsack and key staff members about the struggles they face working full-time for a successful company that pays low wages. Workers also pointed out that Pilgrim’s Pride receives almost $75 million in government contracts, and is the second largest government poultry contract in the country. They argued that changes have to be made so that there is some balance and justice between company profits and worker wages.

“I brought my W-2 and my last paycheck to show them that I work 40-hour weeks and last year I made only $18,000. I work hard, my family makes sacrifices, and we are struggling so much,” said Idalid Guerrero, a Pilgrim’s Pride worker from the Lufkin, Texas, plant and a member of UFCW Local 540.

Workers then visited with Assistant Director of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels, Chief of Staff Debbie Berkowitz and additional staff of OSHA. In their meeting, workers discussed safety issues on the job, including dangerous ammonia leaks, the lack of decent medical care at the workplace, and the company not reporting injuries to avoid any lost-time reports.

The lobby day continued with workers visiting senators and representatives on Capitol Hill. There, workers educated members of Congress and their staff on the nature of the poultry industry, how workers are treated, and called for the necessary changes that the industry and union can make to turn poultry jobs into middle class, family supporting jobs. Workers also asked members of Congress to support a new federal study on the poultry industry in order to investigate further into worker wages and workplace conditions and bring the poultry industry issues to attention so that companies will begin to be held accountable and changes can be made.

Check out photos from the Lobby days on our Flckr! (Day 1 ,  Day 2)

Currently, some members of the senate are writing an immigration bill that would severely limit access to green cards for extended family members of current American citizens. Senator Lindsay Graham, R-SC, who is part of a bipartisan senate committee for immigration reform, “indicated that he would prefer to eliminate” the current immigration clauses that allow citizens to petition for their married children and siblings to be brought to the U.S.

The UFCW, along with countless other organizations, believes that “families belong together”, no matter what their immigration status. Also, we believe that family relationships cannot be summed up by name – aunts and uncles can be just as close to someone as mothers and fathers, and cousins can be like brothers and sisters.  It is unfair that someone be denied a green card simply because their title isn’t included in the traditional nuclear family unit.

Written in the letter to Congress and President Obama, is the fact that “as of November 2012, nearly 4.3 million loved ones are waiting in the family visa backlogs.” Thousands of people from Mexico, China and other Asian countries, and elsewhere around the world have been waiting for years to be reunited with loved ones in the U.S.  Also noted, was the fact that “strengthening the current family-based immigration system is good for our economy and is commonsense policy for the United States.”  Turning away from a family-based system to focus on the economy doesn’t make sense, because, as said in the letter:

“A robust family-based immigration has significant economic benefits, especially for long-term economic growth of the United States. Family-based immigrants foster innovation and development of new businesses, particularly small and medium-sized businesses that would not otherwise exist, creating jobs for American workers and raising revenues for our recovering economy. Families also provide support and care for young children and the elderly, allowing others to focus on building the businesses and contributing to American society.”

UFCW and our allies hope that the President and Congress will uphold the family-based values that America was built on, and do what is right for working America.

CHICAGO, ILL.

President Hansen’s statement follows:

“Now is the time to pass comprehensive immigration reform – not next year or the year after but right now.  We can no longer accept an immigration system that breaks up families, harasses workers, and deports people who are simply trying to achieve the American Dream.  We can no longer be a nation that turns away aspiring citizens.

“For centuries, immigrants have come to America’s shores with the dream of making a better life for themselves and their families — from Ellis Island to the Florida Keys to the Rio Grande.  But for today’s immigrants, this dream has become a nightmare. Young adults who were brought here as children and have grown up in America—the Dreamers—still do not have a clear path to citizenship.  Workers face discrimination, abuse, retaliation, and sometimes worse.  Families are unable to reunite.

“Our immigration system is obviously broken. But worse than that, it flies in the face of our values as a nation.  So we must reform it.    No one is better to lead that reform than the labor movement.  It is the workers we represent who are most victimized by our current immigration system.

“For the UFCW, this issue hits close to home.  We remember the ICE raids in 2006 where our members were treated like criminals.  We remember hearing the stories of workers terrorized just for doing their jobs.

“Other unions have suffered similar experiences, as Wild West immigration enforcement has become the rule instead of the exception.  So as a movement, we are as united as ever to make comprehensive immigration reform the law of the land.

“The UFCW is joining our allies in the labor movement and in our communities to mobilize our members in support immigration reform that includes:

• A road map to citizenship for those already here
• An effective mechanism for determining employment eligibility
• Smart and humane border enforcement
• Streamlined family reunification
• A fair process for allocating employment based visas

“But most of all, we want an immigration system that gives immigrants hope, not fear.  We want to be a nation that builds dreams, not border fences.  We want the families of immigrants to be united, not divided.  We want immigrant workers to have rights, not wrongs.

“America has always prided itself on being a country where anyone who is willing to work hard and pursue their dreams can find success.   We must live up to that ideal. We must pass comprehensive immigration reform.”

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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, http://www.ufcw.org/, or join our online community at http://www.facebook.com/ufcwinternational and  www.twitter.com/UFCW

Associated Press: “USDA says shutting down meat-packing plants would limit supplies and lead to higher prices.”

Impending across-the-board budget cuts could mean fewer government food safety inspections and higher prices for meat at the grocery store according to a White House memo. “The public could suffer more food-borne illness, such as the recent salmonella in peanut butter outbreak and the E. coli illnesses linked to organic spinach, as well as cost the food and agriculture sector millions of dollars in lost production volume,” the memo read.

The federal budget cuts, known as sequestration, would mean 2,100 fewer food facility inspections by the Food and Drug Administration, “putting families at risk and costing billions in lost food production.” The cuts are set to take effect on March 1.

While the USDA oversees meat safety and is required to have a constant presence at meatpacking plants, the FDA conducts infrequent inspections at manufacturing facilities for most other foods. A reduced number of FDA inspections would mean less vigilance overall and could have an impact on public health, advocates say.

Department of Agriculture inspectors could be also furloughed for up to 15 days, meaning meatpacking plants would have to intermittently shut down and there could be less meat in grocery stores. This would result in about $10 billion in losses for the more than 6,200 plants affected.

Meatpacking industry officials immediately responded to the USDA furlough threat, saying it would devastate the industry.  Agency officials add that meat industry workers risk losing more than $400 million in personal wages while consumers could face limited meat and poultry supplies and a possible price increase as a result of shortages.

On Monday a coalition of 38 organizations representing various livestock and poultry producers, food processing and manufacturing, and retail wrote to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to express their strong concerns with the possibility of furloughing the nation’s federal inspectors if sequestration goes into effect.

The White House and congressional Democrats are hoping to find a way to avert the cuts, while some congressional Republicans have signaled that they will not oppose them.

“It is too early to draw hard and fast conclusions from one data point but this may be an early indication that the cattle herd has the potential to start rising in a couple of years,” wrote J.P.Morgan analyst Ken Goldman in a note to investors.

Goldman called the report “potentially positive long-term for beef packers such as Tyson.”  He went on to say, “It is interesting to see beef heifers as a percent of the total beef cow herd at a nearly 20-year high. If this trend continues it would help alleviate some of the lack of cattle supply that packers such as Tyson currently experience.”

Other factors such as the severe drought force many analysts to remain cautious about herd size recovery. Livestock analysts Steve Meyer and Len Steiner cautioned that time will tell. “As for cattle herd rebuilding, the latest survey showed that the incentives are there but weather will remain a critical driver,” they noted in the Daily Livestock Report.

The US Department of Agriculture says that the nation’s cattle herd shrunk by 2 percent in 2012, and the herd is now at its lowest levels since 1952. The cattle shortage is being driven by a severe, two-year drought that has dried up soil and wilted crops throughout America’s heartland and affected more than 80% of our agricultural land. As a result, there’s less corn, alfalfa, and hay available for feed.

So far, the drought has hit the beef industry the hardest, because cattle are typically raised in the states hardest hit by the drought. Unfortunately, if nothing changes there’s likely to be a ripple effect through the pork and poultry industries as well as the beef industry, threatening jobs of meatpacking and poultry workers, jeopardizing the livelihood of farmers who can’t afford to feed cattle, increasing prices at grocery stores across the country, and eroding consumer demand for beef – which in turn threatens even more jobs. The unfortunate reality is that this drought affects people across all industries – right down to butchers working in grocery stores thousands of miles away from the nearest feed lot.

Compounding the problem is the ethanol mandate – part of the 2007 Energy Act which requires billions of gallons of corn-based ethanol be mixed into the US gasoline supply. Because so much of America’s corn crop must go to fuel, it exacerbates the scarcity of corn already caused by the drought. The high demand for corn and its low supply means the cost of corn for feed is extraordinarily high. The situation makes it difficult and barely profitable to raise cattle and bring them to market in drought-ravaged states like Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas.

Advocacy work on behalf of UFCW members at the federal level has already begun. Our union will be working with the USDA and other agencies to consider meatpacking workers along with farmers and ranchers in its drought relief programs.

Elsa Gordillo is a steward at Cargill Meat Solutions in Schuyler, Nebraska and a member of UFCW Local 293. She, along with dozens of other UFCW stewards and staff attended a USDA regional workshop with USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to discuss the agency’s drought recovery efforts held in Omaha at the end of last year. “We went to the USDA meeting so they could hear from UFCW members and meat packing workers. Everyone left knowing that people who work in plants are suffering from this drought too, and that our jobs and in many cases, our entire communities are at risk of plant closures. When the USDA or Congress takes action to help farmers and ranchers, they should also consider workers in our industry who are also at risk.”

UFCW members will also be working to advocate for meatpacking workers by educating members of Congress about how the drought, the ethanol mandate, the price of corn, and the cattle shortage hurt the livelihoods of meatpacking workers.

To learn more about UFCW’s food workers and meatpackers, visit http://www.ufcw.org/industries/fairnessforfoodworkers/

“In a volatile financial environment, Pinnacle Foods workers in Fort Madison are simply trying to protect middle class jobs and their retirement benefits after working hard to make their company profitable,” said UFCW Local 617 President Darin Boatman.  “I hope this strike vote sends a strong message to the company and moves the negotiation process to a successful conclusion.”

Defined benefit pension plans are the most secure retirement system for workers.  While many workers are forced to rely on less secure investments, like 401 (k) plans, or have no retirement at all, many UFCW members have retirement security through their pension benefits that provide for a monthly payment for their lifetime after they retire.

Pinnacle Foods, Inc. is backed by the Blackstone Group L.P., a private equity firm, and posted net sales of $2.5 billion in the 2011 fiscal year.

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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, http://www.ufcw.org/, or join our online community at http://www.facebook.com/ufcwinternational and https://twitter.com/UFCW

The findings from the report titled “A Dime A Day: The Impact Of The Miller/Harkin Minimum Wage Proposal On The Price Of Food” coincide and support the core values of Food Day. Food Day is a nationwide celebration and movement toward more healthy, affordable, and sustainable food. Food Day takes place annually on October 24 to address food issues from farm to table. Issues include labor justice for food and farm workers, health and nutrition, hunger, agricultural policy, and animal welfare.

“We rely on food system workers to bring our food to our tables – workers on farms and in food processing plants, warehouses, grocery stores, and restaurant and food service establishments,” said Joann Lo, executive director of the Food Chain Workers Alliance. “It’s a sad irony that food system workers rely on food stamps at one-and-a-half times the rate of the general workforce. Raising the minimum wage can help lift food workers, and workers in other industries, out of poverty.”

The report from the Food Labor Research Center, the Food Chain Workers Alliance, and the Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC United) looks at the proposed “Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2012.” The act would represent the first increase in the non-tipped minimum wage in five years. It would also be the first increase in 21 years for workers who receive tips.  A raise in minimum wage would increase the cost of retail food for the American consumer by at most 10 cents per day while at the same time, potentially help nearly 8 million food workers and as many as 21 million workers in other industries.

“Food workers are some of the lowest-paid workers in America, and they face much higher levels of food insecurity than the rest of the U.S. workforce,” said Saru Jayaraman, director of the Food Labor Research Center. “Our report shows that raising the minimum wage would help them put food on the table while barely, if at all, impacting everyone else’s ability to put food on their tables, too.”

The bill, introduced by Representative George Miller (D-Calif.) and Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), calls for incremental increases of 85 cents an hour for each of the next three years to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $9.80 an hour.  Similarly, this would raise the tipped minimum wage from its current $2.13 an hour to 70 percent of the full federal minimum wage.

“Raising the minimum wage at its core is about respecting and valuing work,” said Representative Miller. “No one who works hard every day and plays by the rules should live in poverty. It’s also good economic policy. Giving minimum wage workers a raise will help millions of working families make ends meet and help grow the economy.”

The rugged apparel brand Carharrt has newly released a “Made in America Line”.  This exciting news is part of a national movement to bring manufacturing, especially textiles, back to the USA.  Currently, less than 2% of the clothing available for purchase in our country is actually made here.

A video released by Carharrt talks about the new line of products made in America, in which all all items are designed in Michigan and produced in their Tennessee and Kentucky plants, but also highlights the fact that, in the 123 years since Carharrt began, they have never stopped manufacturing here.  Employees in the video note that one of the company’s mottos is “for the American worker” which it exemplifies by providing good jobs, including over 900 jobs to UFCW members.  The overall idea expressed in the short film is that America was not made by men in suits behind a desk, but workers getting down and dirty to build our country.

Watch the video below or by clicking here.

Yacine Zaid

An Algerian union activist named Yacine Zaid has been punished by his government for speaking out on the behalf of others.  As a representaive of IUF in Algeria, Zaid helps workers to organize for their rights, most notably within the UK catering company Compass.

Recently, Zaid was arrested for his outspoken defense of and work for human and workers’ rights, and was beaten by police. He was released, but shortly after he was picked up by unidentified men, while friends and family were left to fear for his safety and his life.

Zaid is scheduled to appear in court next today on trumped up charges. Together with IUF, UFCW is urging members and allies to speak out and put pressure on the Algerian government to drop these charges before it is too late.

You can help. Click here to send a message to the Algerian government now.

We must stand together with our union brothers and sisters not just across the country, but across the globe.  When human life is threatened simply for standing up for other people’s well-being, we cannot stand back and watch.

At the rally, warehouse workers, exhausted from the journey and the 103-degree heat, took the opportunity to express to the crowd that, although the pilgrimage was tiring and hard to endure, it was nothing compared to the conditions they are forced to work in at the Inland Empire warehouse, a subcontractor of Walmart.

These warehouse workers are not protected by a union, and, by taking a stand to highlight the abuses they have endured, they have risked everything.  But the risks are worth it to these workers, who work in 120-degree warehouses with no fans, which often results in vomiting and nosebleeds. Not only is the heat unbearable, but they are no given clean water or regular breaks, and the equipment they use is unsafe. Does Walmart, who controls the working conditions of the sub-contracters, think that putting workers in terribly unsafe environments and then not paying them enough to make a decent living, is okay?

It simply isn’t.  

The strike has brought well-deserved attention to the unacceptable conditions at Walmart warehouses, and drawn many supporters to the workers’ cause.  Warehouse Workers United, health professional volunteers, and countless supporters have helped in the effort, and speakers at the rally on Tuesday included Rep. Judy Chu, California Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, City Councilman Ed Reyes, National Farmworkers Association co-founder Dolores Huerta, California Secretary of Labor Marty Morgenstern, and LA County Federation of Labor secretary-treasurer Elena Durazo.

Despite widespread community support for workers, Walmart and its sub-contractors haven’t offered to meet about improving the situation at all.  In fact, a Walmart spokesman has claimed that Walmart officials regularly tour the locations of their subcontractors, and the conditions are “ambient.”

Despite the lies and blatant denial of those responsible, workers have taken a stand and a national spotlight is shining on the unjust treatment they receive.  Once they return home, the warehouse workers plan to continue to picket outside the facility in Mira Loma where they work, in the hopes that even more workers will take a stand to decrease the amount of worker injuries due to unsafe working conditions, to fight for respect, and to force corporations like Walmart to be responsible.

For more information on the warehouse workers’ pilgrimage, and to see great photos from their journey and the rally, click here.

(Washington, D.C.) – After a 12 year legal struggle, more than 12,000 Tyson poultry workers in 41 plants in 12 states will receive their payments from the largest settlement against a major poultry company at $32 million.  Thanks to the tenacity and dedication of thousands of workers from across the country and the support of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, workers involved in the suit will receive payments averaging $1,200 in lost wages.

The success of the Tyson’s settlement for poultry workers is just one in a series of actions where workers continue to fight and take a stand for workers’ rights in poultry and meatpacking plants around the country. Similar cases have been brought and resolved against Perdue and Pilgrim’s Pride plants as well. The UFCW continues to work to make sure that every meatpacking and poultry worker is paid honestly and fairly for the work they do. A suit that was filed in 1999 was the first action of its kind to force poultry companies to obey the nation’s basic wage and hour laws.

“This lawsuit and the new pay practices in the meatpacking and poultry industry are just one way union workers raise standards for every worker in their industry,” said Joe Hansen, UFCW International President. “While this settlement is long overdue, our efforts have ensured that thousands of workers have been paid correctly for years now.”

The affected Tyson poultry employees work at plants in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.

These payments will inject much-needed money into America’s rural economy and reward a hard-working and dedicated group of poultry workers.

The lawsuit charged Tyson with violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and cheating their poultry plant employees out of wages by failing to pay workers for the time they spend putting on and taking off protective gear they wear to keep the food they process safe and for their own protection. The poultry company also violated the basic wage and hour laws by failing to provide workers with their required break time.

“Every American deserves to get paid for the work they do,” Hansen continued. “We’re changing the way meat and poultry industries do business by ensuring that workers are paid for all of their time on the job.”

Workers, the UFCW, and activists started to take collective action for workers’ rights to fair wages and treatment at the workplace in 1999. Between 1999 and 2001, they took their action on the road and spread the word of their mission through a bus tour and leafleting other Tyson workers. In that brief time, almost 4,000 workers signed up to join. The federal lawsuit developed following a U.S. Department of Labor survey that found over 60 percent of the nation’s poultry companies were in violation of basic wage and hour laws.

The collective case representing the workers from several plants from across the country went through several judges until a judge in November 2006 declared that the case under the different plants could not be presented as a singular case and dismissed it. The workers and their supporters continued their legal action despite the large setback and filed their cases on a plant-by-plant basis. More than 17,000 workers start signing up to join the suit under the new case conditions.

In September 2011, the workers sent a settlement agreement to the court, which the court later approved. After almost 12 years, workers receive notice in January 2012 that they will finally be receiving their settlement payments.

In order to qualify for the settlement, current workers must have signed up to be part of the lawsuit back in 2008 and former employees were required to send back the W-4 form included with the payment notice, so that tax withholdings could be properly calculated.

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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.

Committee members from each local routinely attended and supported the negotiations of their sister plant, and distributed handbills that let their co-workers and the company know that while the details of their contracts might be different, their priorities – affordable health care, and good jobs with middle class opportunities – were the same.

“We can’t stand alone,” said Bob Bigford from the Muscatine plant. “The consequences are mighty when you stand alone.” Both units were able to negotiate 3% wage increases every year for each year of the contract as well as an increase in their pension contributions. Both units also maintained affordable health care benefits. In Muscatine, negotiations reduced the waiting period for medical, vision, and dental eligibility. In addition, they were also able to add limits to the use of temporary workers, improve tool allowances, shorten and simplify grievance language, and improve language that allows union representatives access to the plant.

Kyle Smith, a member of Local 431, was glad the bargaining committee was able to address the issue of temporary workers. “People want to stay, and they work hard to keep a job at Heinz. They want a permanent job, and I want them to have the same opportunity I did.”

The UFCW has called on USDA to halt this rule until the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducts comprehensive studies on the impact it would have on the health and safety of workers in poultry plants. It will use this 30-day extension to work directly with NIOSH to determine a course of action to study the probable effects of increased line speeds on worker health and safety. This extension is a victory for all poultry workers who can rest assured that their safety on the job is being taken seriously. Members can continue to submit their comments online by visiting www.regulations.gov and referencing Docket No. FSIS-2011-0012 “Modernization of Poultry Slaughter Inspection.”

“The UFCW applauds Secretary Tom Vilsack’s decision to extend the comment period on USDA’s proposed poultry inspection rule in order to further study its impact on worker safety. We have said all along that this rule should be halted until it is proven that increased line speeds are safe for workers. The UFCW will use this 30-day extension to work directly with USDA, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Obama Administration to determine a course of action to study the probable effects of increased line speeds on worker health and safety. Today is a victory for all poultry workers who can rest assured that their safety on the job is being taken seriously.”

Click here to read the full column. 

“Increased line speeds means increased bottom lines for Big Poultry,” said Mark Laurtisen, UFCW International Vice President and Director of the Food Processing, Packing and Manufacturing Division. “For workers, it means more danger on the job.”

By increasing line speed so dramatically, workers will be at heightened risk of repetitive motion related injuries. In fact, a recent study by Wake Forest University showed that 59 percent of poultry workers had definite or possible carpal tunnel syndrome at current line speeds. Despite these alarming statistics, no comprehensive effort has been made to determine the impact this proposed system will have on the health and safety of workers.

“Quite frankly, it is no surprise that Big Poultry wants to rush this new system into operation,” Lauritsen said. “That’s why USDA—as the responsible regulator—must slow this process down until it can guarantee that workers are protected.”

The UFCW is calling on USDA to halt this rule until the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducts comprehensive studies on the impact it would have on the health and safety of workers in poultry plants. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) must then use that information to develop a standard that would adequately protect workers.

Many UFCW members have already submitted their opposition to USDA in advance of the April 26 comment deadline. The UFCW will continue its push for worker safety into the summer and beyond.

USDA did not contact the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the agency responsible for protecting the health and safety of American workers, before publishing this proposed rule. This sets an alarming precedent for all agencies that may want to use administrative rulemaking to change policies that could weaken health and safety protections for workers. This lack of transparency or collaboration with the agency responsible for workplace safety could put workers in danger. And as we know, when worker safety is at risk in food processing facilities, the safety of our food supply can also be jeopardized.

Please join the UFCW in urging the USDA to pull this rule in its entirety until adequate safety studies are conducted and OSHA uses this information to create standards to protect workers. Click here to send a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, urging him to pull the poultry rule today.

Photo Credit: AJ Mast for The New York Times

“Federal food safety inspectors said a proposal by the Agriculture Department to expand a pilot program that allows private companies to take over the inspections at poultry plants could pose a health risk by allowing contaminated meat to reach customers.”

Click here to read the full article. 

Workers at Eurofresh Farms overwhelmingly approved a new 3 year agreement. Eurofresh grows tomatoes and cucumbers in huge greenhouses in Arizona. Local 99 represents over 800 crop workers and packing house workers there.

Workers said they sought to unite in a union because they lacked any respect on the job and they wanted to be treated with simple human dignity. They were also concerned that working for contractors, instead of for the poultry companies like Tyson or Perdue, was making it harder and harder to make a living.

Chicken catchers have what has been described as the hardest, dirtiest job in the poultry industry catching clawing, squawking chickens by the feet and loading them into cages to be hauled to processing plants.

The UFCW urges you to join the IUF in standing with Nestlé workers in Indonesia, Pakistan, and around the world. Take a moment to like the campaign on Facebook and be sure to visit the website to find out how you can help.

The vote ended the workers’ two month union organizing campaign. Workers said they became interested in forming a union when management began to use intimidation tactics to increase productivity. Workers cited wanting respect, equality and accountability as reasons to vote for union representation.

“The workers at DFA are very much a close community, and watching management mistreat coworkers was an incentive for workers to fi nd their voices,” said Noah Hefner, a DFA receiver. “I am really proud of my coworkers today,” We are ready to make progress by bargaining a fair contract with management.”

The good news is, according to new reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), workplace safety in the meatpacking industry is steadily improving, with injury and illness rates for full-time workers on the decline.

The bad news is, in comparison to other industrial and manufacturing sectors, meatpacking and poultry processing are still among the most dangerous. Food manufacturing workers are twice as likely to experience injuries and illnesses than industrial and manufacturing workers as a whole. The meatpacking industry also ranks high for severe injury and illness cases – meaning those that cause workers to miss days at work or those that necessitate restricted work activities or even job transfers. Nationally, the poultry industry has the fifth-highest rate of worker illness across all industries.

Though progress has been made on worker safety in the meatpacking and poultry industries, we must understand what the numbers really mean, and make sure we are addressing issues that really make a difference in improving safety and health in these industries.

Some in the meat industry, like the trade association (read: lobbying outfit) American Meat Institute, are quick to highlight improvement using data that does not reflect the most dangerous jobs in the industry. That’s a slippery slope – and one that risks obscuring the truth on safety for the sake of profit-margin. The truth is, there is some doubt about the accuracy of the BLS numbers themselves. Studies conducted by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conclude that both BLS and OSHA miss from 20 percent to as much as 50 percent of the nation’s workplace injuries. A number of factors can cause this kind of under-reporting: workers sometimes don’t report injuries because of fears surrounding their immigration status and retaliation by their employers; employers are motivated to under-count injuries in order to win safety awards, and managers are incentivized by low-injury bonuses; and finally, some employers have instituted programs requiring workers who report injuries or accidents to undergo drug testing – adding additional risk to reporting.

For all these reasons, we must not let a modest increase in overall workplace safety lull us into a false sense of security when it comes to the meatpacking and poultry processing industries. We must continue to strive for better and safer workplaces for all meatpacking and poultry processing workers – and for collective bargaining agreements as well as stronger regulations that make it safe for all workers to report hazards and injuries.

A String of Slaughterhouse Successes for UFCW

Workers at the Farmland Foods meatpacking plant in Carroll, Iowa, make a starting wage of $11 an hour. Workers at a similar plant owned by the same company 25 miles away in Denison, Iowa, make $14.60 an hour, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union. That’s one of the reasons, according to UFCW spokesman Marc Goumbri, that in October a majority of the about 125 workers at the Carroll plant voted to join the UFCW Local 440.

Wage disparity with a nearby union plant was also a driving force behind another vote in a string of union election victories for the UFCW this fall. In an early November election, a majority (1292 to 824) of  around 2,500 workers at a National Beef slaughterhouse and packing plant in Dodge City, Kansas, decided to join the UFCW Local 2. The union has long represented workers at a Cargill plant nearby. Goumbri told In These Times:

When you have a union facility that’s not far away, what you see is workers know from the get-go what having a union can mean for them and their families and the community—the wages at the union plant are much higher.

Goumbri said the National Beef election along with an October election at a JBS beef slaughterhouse in Plainwell, Mich., helped the union significantly bolster its “density” in the beef industry. The Michigan workers brought the UFCW’s total membership at JBS plants to about 28,000. Additionally, in September, about 300 workers at a Nebraska Prime kosher beef plant in Hastings, Neb., voted to join the union’s Local 293.

Now, Goumbri said, the UFCW represents about 60 percent of beef and about 72 percent of pork slaughterhouse and packing house workers nationwide. He told In These Times:

When a lot of workers are represented by a union in a particular industry, they use the strength they have in numbers to raise the floor for everyone… These are well-paying union jobs that come with wages and benefits – in the current economic state our communities are in desperate need of such jobs.

A 2008 article by Cornell University professor Richard Hurd about UFCW retail food (grocery) organizing notes that even when the union has a high concentration in a given sector, it needs a unified national bargaining strategy in order to effectively advocate for its members in changing, consolidated industries.

In the above four campaigns, the union said the employers agreed to remain neutral and allow a fair vote free of intimidation or other interference. Goumbri said this is not the norm in the industry or in general, but that in these cases the employers understood there was widespread support for unionization and that the employees were determined.  He told In These Times:

Companies are still hell-bent on preventing workers from having a free and fair process. (Fair elections) come when companies see workers are really united and the workers just take a stand, and the company knows workers are determined to make that choice. These were workers who knew exactly what they wanted and knew what their rights were.

Slaughterhouses and packinghouses are significant targets for unionization, since the jobs are typically grueling and dangerous and often employ a high percentage of Latino immigrants and African refugees.

(Denison, site of the two Farmland Foods plants, made national news in 2002 when the skeletal remains of immigrants were found in a boxcar. Horrified and sympathetic residents noted the quickly growing Latino population drawn by the slaughterhouses, though it’s not clear the people in the boxcar were specifically bound for Denison.)

Goumbri said wages, benefits and conditions will all be the focus of contract negotiations at each workplace, with workers at the kosher slaughterhouse also prioritizing Sundays off (the plant is closed on Saturdays).

Goumbri said the National Beef unionizing campaign built momentum this year after workers attempted to organize last year in an effort that didn’t result in an election. The JBS election came after just several months of organizing, he said.