Retail Food

Collective Bargaining, Corporate Responsibility, Economic Justice, Retail Food, UFCW Industries

Maximus Coffee Workers Strike in Houston to Protest Company’s Plan to Slash Benefits

Oct 10, 2013

Houston, Texas – Over 250 Maximus Coffee Group workers in Houston, a majority of who are members of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Local 455, went on strike this morning to protest the company’s plan to reduce wages from 25 to 50 percent per hour, reduce retirement benefits, increase insurance premiums, and eliminate overtime pay. Maximus Coffee Group’s U.S. headquarters is located in Houston.

“Maximus Coffee workers in Houston are simply trying to protect middle class jobs and their benefits after working hard to make their company profitable,” said UFCW Local 455 President Bill Hopkins. “I hope this strike sends a strong message to the company and moves the negotiation process to a successful conclusion.”

“I’ve worked at this plant for 41 years and for Maximus Coffee since 2006 when they purchased the plant from Maxwell House,” said Robert Barnes. “I haven’t gotten a real raise since 2009, and don’t know how I’ll be able to support my family if my wages and benefits are reduced.”

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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.

Collective Bargaining, Economic Justice, Retail Food, Safeway, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values

Grocery workers at UFCW Locals 21 and 367 Send Strong Message to Companies with Strike Vote

Oct 02, 2013

UFCW Locals 21, 367 and Teamsters Local 38 grocery workers sent a strong message to the grocery chains by overwhelmingly voting to authorize a strike.

UFCW Locals 21, 367, and Teamsters Local 38 sent a strong message of solidarity to Fred Meyer, Safeway, QFC, and Albertsons last week when they voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. The 98 percent strike authorization vote is the workers’ latest step in their fight for fair treatment, pay, and benefits. Contract negotiations will continue on October 10 and 11. Workers say they expect the chains to now come to the table with a set of serious proposals.

“We hope the employers come to their senses and make a fair proposal that respects me and my co-workers and our families. But if they force us to strike, we are ready,” said Jessica Roach, a UFCW Local 367 Fred Meyer worker.

Workers have been in contract negotiations since March. Despite more than 12 bargaining sessions and a first round of informational pickets in July, Fred Meyer, Safeway, QFC, and Albertsons have continued to stick to proposals that would stop providing healthcare coverage for employees working fewer than 30 hours a week, deny workers paid sick days, and cut pay – including for those who work on holidays.

More information and updates on the strike vote and bargaining situation at Fred Meyer, Safeway, QFC, and Albertsons can be viewed at http://www.ufcw21.org/

Economic Justice, In the News, Packing and Processing, Retail, Retail Food, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values

New Data Link Decline of Middle Class to the Decline in Union Membership

Sep 19, 2013

New data released this week underscore the fact that smaller numbers of unionized workers mean less bargaining power, a weakened middle class and lower wages for everyone.

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.

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