“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.

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/

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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.

D.C. residents from neighborhoods throughout the city took their calls for fair wages and good jobs to the D.C. City Council today in light of the override vote of Mayor Gray’s veto of the LRAA. The bill has been recognized by local residents, Council Members, policy experts, and economists as a bill that would help improve jobs and bolster the local economy.

At noon on Tuesday, hundreds of people – including OUR Walmart, UFCW Local 400, AFL-CIO, OUR DC, DC Jobs with Justice, and other community supporters rallied for an override. The rally came as Walmart workers in the D.C. area and nationwide have increased their calls to improve jobs at the country’s largest employer. Last week, 100 workers and supporters were arrested when refusing to end their calls for better jobs at Walmart.

On Tuesday, the D.C. City Council failed to override Mayor Gray’s veto of the LRAA. The bill faced fierce opposition from the world’s largest retailer, Walmart, which threatened to cancel three of six stores planned for D.C. if the LRAA was passed. The threat was made despite the fact Walmart had promised residents and elected officials it would pay a wage of $13 an hour to workers if the stores were approved.

Despite falling short of success, the wage ordinance has boosted living wage efforts across the country.

Less than a week ago, the California Legislature approved raising the state’s minimum wage from $8 an hour to $10 by 2016. This fall, New Jersey voters will vote on a referendum that would raise their state’s minimum wage to $8.25 an hour. And the Minnesota Legislature is moving toward passage of its own minimum wage increase.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, if the federal minimum wage had kept pace with the cost of living over the past 40 years, it would be $10.74 an hour today, not $7.25

A report from the national public policy center Demos shows that better jobs at Walmart and other large retailers would help the store’s bottom line, as well as have an impact on individual families and the larger economy. A wage floor equivalent of $25,000 per year for a full-time, year-round employee for retailers with more than 1000 employees would lift 1.5 million retail workers and their families out of poverty, add to economic growth, increase retail sales and create more than 100,000 new jobs. The Demos report can be found at http://bit.ly/QRHf0m.

New polling shows that voters overwhelmingly supported the LRAA.  Seventy-one percent of voters voiced their support in a survey conducted last weekend, with large majorities saying the bill would have positive effects not only on workers’ wages, but also on jobs, employment and the local economy. Additionally, 63 percent of voters said that they would be more likely to support a mayoral candidate in 2014 who supported the LRAA.

The survey of D.C. voters on the LRAA can be viewed here and you can access results by clicking here.

Reposted from Making Change at Walmart

It’s been an exciting week and it’s not even Labor Day yet!

This week, low-wage workers of all varieties have gone out on strike to stand up for an American economy that works for working people.

Earlier this week, port truck workers went out on strike in Los Angeles. Today, fast food workers went on strike in more than 50 cities nationwide. And if Walmart doesn’t respond to workers calls by Labor Day, Walmart workers say we’ll see intensified actions nationwide on September 5^th.

These dramatic actions come at a time when working people find themselves in a difficult situation. According to USA Today:

Jobs paying less than $14 an hour in fast food, retail, home health care and other fields made up one of every five jobs lost in the recession, but they account for three of every five new jobs in the recovery, according to NELP.

Many of them are held by adults, some of whom were laid off from much-better-paying positions during the recession. Eighty-eight percent of workers in jobs paying less than $10 an hour are older than 20, and a third are older than 40, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Or as President Clinton’s Secretary of Labor Robert Reich would put it, “The good news as Labor Day approaches: Jobs are returning. The bad news: Most of them pay lousy wages and provide low, if not nonexistent, benefits.”

While everyday Americans continue to struggle with an uneven recovery and more than 7% unemployment, many companies continue to post record profits. Again, according to Reich referencing a NELP report:

…most low-wage workers are employed by large corporations that have been enjoying healthy profits. Three-quarters of these employers (the 50 biggest employers of low-wage workers) are raking in higher revenues now than they did before the recession.

Despite the challenges of the current American economy, low wage workers have dug deep and found the courage to stand up. If you’ve like to stand with Walmart workers, please sign their petition here.

image via Working Washington

Recently, fast food and retail workers alike have come together into tell their employers that they deserve respect on the job, and that they will no longer stand for wages that don’t allow them to make a living. Going on 1-day strikes in cities across the country, these workers have ignited conversation and action surrounding the issue of a living wage.

What began as a 200-person strike in NYC last November, this growing movement is set to gain even more momentum tomorrow, with low-wage worker strikes set to take place in 35 cities across the country–with thousands of workers expected to take part. Employees at establishments such as McDonald’s and Macy’s will make their voices heard by walking off the job, as they call for the right to unionize and raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. These strikes come as America gets ready to celebrate Labor Day–a time in which workers are meant to be honored and recognized, yet many who will participate in the strikes must work on this holiday.

For the workers, most of whom are grown adults, often with families to support, $7.25 doesn’t cut it.  It’s not enough to both feed their children and themselves, or to pay for both healthcare and rent at the same time. These low wages are especially unacceptable when the companies they work for rake in billions of dollars a year, and the CEO-to-employee pay ratios only increase each year, by gigantic amounts.

That’s why, experts say, this is just the beginning of the movement. Workers at Church’s Chicken, Victoria’s Secret, Dunkin Donuts–you name it–are taking action because they have the energy and passion to change a vicious fast food  and retail economy, that rewards the executives up top, but does little to reward those who make the companies successful.

Some of these strikes in recent months have led to wage increases in places like Chicago, and the strikes have caused stores in cities like Seattle to close down for the day due to lack of manpower. This is just an example of how workers can make or break the company’s success–they need to be compensated accordingly.

For more information, click here. Also, be sure to keep an eye on Twitter, Facebook, and even out in your community tomorrow to see all the action unfold!

Hundreds of grocery workers will hold informational pickets at 38 grocery stores across the Seattle region to fight for workers’ rights.

Grocery workers from UFCW Locals 21, 367 and Teamsters Local 38 will be joined by co-workers, elected officials, and community supporters in informational pickets held across the Seattle region. Today, workers from Fred Meyer, Safeway, QFC, and Albertsons will hold actions at 38 different grocery locations to draw attention to their fight for fair treatment, fair pay, and fair benefits.

Grocery store workers have been in contract negotiations since March. Despite more than 12 bargaining sessions and a first round of informational pickets in July, the companies have continued to stick to proposals that would stop providing health care coverage of employees working less than 30 hours a week, deny workers paid sick days, and cut pay including for those who work on holidays. A potential strike vote is set for the end of September depending on the progress of negotiations.

However, although more policymakers are agreeing that its time to focus on the economic challenges of the middle class, we are failing to fix the key problem that is hurting so many working-class Americans. Despite steadily increasing productivity, wages have remained stagnant or have even deflated for the majority of blue and white-collar Americans throughout the past decade.  Right now, overall growth is actually benefiting the richest households in the country, and companies that make billions of dollars annually, like Walmart and McDonalds, continue to make their executives unfathomably rich, while the workers who make such businesses flourish, earn starvation wages.

This data was recently presented in the newest report by the Economic Policy Institute.

Growing income inequality in America must be reversed. The economy cannot recover if the rich continue to become richer, and the poor only poorer. That’s why a raise in the minimum wage is essential. In the case of large retailers, whose CEO’s rake in staggering amounts in earnings and bonuses each year, there is no excuse to not pay their employees enough to live on, or to provide basic benefits.

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!

Members from UFCW Locals 21 and 367 join the Teamsters and fight for good contracts for grocery workers in the Pacific Northwest.

Thirty thousand  members of UFCW Locals 21 and 367 and International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 38 in Washington state are covered by contracts at grocers Albertsons, Safeway, Fred Meyer and Quality Food Centers and many other local independent stores that are up for bargaining this year. As the companies have proposed elimination of healthcare, cuts to pay, and denied paid sick days, UFCW and Teamsters members have responded with more solidarity than ever.

In the month of July, hundreds of members of the three union locals were joined by hundreds of community supporters at informational pickets in front of stores in more than ten communities to seek the support of customers as they try to reach a fair deal. The next week, they leafleted thousands of fans at “Union Solidarity Night” at the Seattle Mariners’ Safeco Field.

“All we’re asking for is fair pay and benefits for our hard work,” said Barbara Rhodes, a UFCW Local 21 QFC deli worker and member of the bargaining team.

“That lets us focus on caring for our families and taking care of the customers that depend on us.”

By mobilizing the customers they serve every day and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with their union brothers and sisters and community supporters, members of the locals are hopeful they will be able to build a better future for all grocery workers in the Pacific Northwest.

Lobbying efforts and political mobilization by members of UFCW Locals 23 and 1776 helped stop liquor privatization in P.A.

Over the past two and a half years, UFCW Locals 23 and 1776 in Pennsylvania have been fighting back against efforts to privatize state liquor stores. This past week, both locals were able to secure a victory when the Pennsylvania Senate failed to move the liquor privatization bill forward. This means that over 3,500 UFCW members will keep their jobs.

According to Wendell Young, President of UFCW Local 1776, success was due in large part to coordination across both locals and other groups within Pennsylvania.

“Everyone acted in unison. It was a great effort with Local 23. We absolutely worked as one unit on this. This was the largest member mobilization ever. The ability for everyone to become easily and actively involved was the key to success. If there was one thing that made the difference, it’s our members. They were our greatest strength.”

UFCW members lobbied at the Capitol in Harrisburg every single day during the session. Some often drove hours across Pennsylvania, arriving with spouses, children, and neighbors to help convince legislators that liquor privatization was the wrong direction for the commonwealth.

UFCW Local 1776 member Rob Peters, a Wine Specialist and Shop Steward in the Ardmore, Pa., PA Wine & Spirits store said, “Our stores generate more than $700 million a year for the state treasury. UFCW members keep alcohol out of the hands of minors and visibly intoxicated people. We take pride in our jobs.”

In addition to lobbying, members from UFCW Locals 23 and 1776 wrote letters to the editor, called in to TV shows, and held multiple strategy sessions every week. All of this helped to educate and re-educate members about the issue and guarantee that the debate stayed visible to the public.

To help financially support their campaign, members donated an extra $5 per paycheck to help put together a multi-million dollar fund. This went towards producing advertisements and hiring lobbyists to help make their case to state legislators.

As the session came to a close last week, the effort to privatize the liquor industry faced bipartisan opposition. The ability for the UFCW to gain support from both Democrats and Republicans underscored the success and effectiveness of their messaging and mobilization campaign.

Liquor privatization efforts are expected to resume in the fall legislative session but members are ready and optimistic to continue the fight.

Members from UFCW Local 1245 and community leaders celebrate their successful campaign to keep a Walmart from being built.

UFCW Local 1245 members in Hawthorne, N.J., joined with local community organizations to successfully stop a Walmart Neighborhood Supermarket from building in the area. About 40 members partnered with community leaders in a campaign that led to Walmart withdrawing their building application.

UFCW Local 1245 hosted a shop stewards day to educate members about the campaign and recruit volunteers to help participate.

Members then joined community groups and canvassed local neighborhoods to distribute door hangers to residents asking them to support local businesses and good jobs by keeping Walmart out of the area.

Members work at a Shop Rite and a Kings Supermarket within a short distance from where the Walmart was supposed to be built. A Walmart entering the area would significantly hurt local businesses and union jobs. As a result of the campaign and public demands, Walmart withdrew their application and does not intend to return to the Hawthorne area.

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!

Currently, the SNAP program denies eligibility to 50 million food insecure households and the proposed changes in the Farm Bill would have stripped an additional 2 million families from accessing the program. Over 200,000 low-income children would have lost their free school meal access.

Even though the economy is improving, the number of Americans receiving SNAP benefits remains high. The reality is that many hard-working people cannot make ends meet without government assistance.

The SNAP program is important to union workers because UFCW members work in the grocery stores and also make the food that is on the grocery shelves. The livelihood of these workers depends on a strong retail food market and people being able to buy groceries. When people can’t afford to buy food, communities and workers in the food industries suffer.

The farm bill failing to pass in the House this week is a small win for food insecure families. The ultimate victory will be when people don’t have to rely on government assistance and can afford to buy food to feed themselves and their families.

Already, the SNAP program denies eligibility to 50 million “food insecure households”.  But now, proposed changes to the Farm Bill would strip access to the program from an additional 2 million families.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and the other congress members participating in the SNAP challenge are addressing this alarming issue by attempting to live off of less than $4.50 a day.

On Wednesday, the challenge participants stopped at a Washington D.C. Safeway, where Local 400 members work, to buy a week’s worth of groceries for about $30.  In order to keep to the strict budget of the food stamp program, staples like milk and butter were out of the question.  Representative Lee described the difficulty of the trip in an online blog:

“What I’m thinking about most during this trip is that I’m shopping only for myself.  When I was a young, single mother, I was on public assistance. It was a bridge over troubled water, and without it, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I spent hours debating what to buy and what to skip, all the while keeping my sons in my mind.”

The proposed changes to the Farm bill will send many single parents who are in this position, into a state of utter uncertainty about how to provide food for their families.  A large portion of those affected by the cuts will be under the age of 18.

This is not the first time officials have tried the SNAP challenge, however. Newark’s mayor, Cory Booker did so earlier this year, and Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton found that adhering to the food stamp budget left him feeling tired, and eventually “unable to focus”.  Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) admitted that if this was how he had to live, he would likely be a more unpleasant person, due to his state of hunger. He also lost six pounds in just four days.

The conservatives who claim food stamp programs create dependency on government don’t know what its like to go hungry. Some may joke about those who must rely on government programs, but the reality is that many hard-working people cannot make ends meet without them.

UFCW Local 400 President Mark Federici made a statement following the group’s visit to Safeway this week, commending the challenge participants:

“Year in and year out, the SNAP/Food Stamp program proves itself an unqualified success in reducing hunger, alleviating poverty and stimulating the economy. That’s why we are deeply dismayed that the Senate version of the Farm Bill re-authorization cuts SNAP benefits for approximately 500,000 households, and outraged that the House version of the legislation would completely eliminate benefits for two million low-income families. This would be bad enough under any circumstances, but it’s even worse coming at a time when far too many Americans are unemployed and our economic recovery is still shaky.

“The SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge is a critical way for elected officials and other leaders to experience first-hand how hard it is to feed a family on a SNAP budget, and to understand why benefits should be increased, rather than cut. We applaud all the members of Congress who are joining the challenge this week, and we are especially proud that they chose to purchase their groceries at a union shop. They understand that shopping union gets you the most value for your grocery dollar and the best customer service in the industry.

“Local 400 is privileged to join with these members of Congress in educating the public about the persistence of hunger in America and urging lawmakers to restore full funding to the SNAP/Food Stamp program in the Farm Bill.

“We also remind policy makers that the best way to reduce SNAP expenditures is to shop union, and to restore to workers their right to choose collective bargaining. The rise of low-wage employers like Walmart is a big reason why the SNAP program has grown in recent years, because the workers earn so little, they need Food Stamps to feed their families. By contrast, the more workers with union contracts, the fewer workers will need SNAP or any other type of federal assistance. That’s a win-win solution for everybody, because it lowers poverty, eases hunger, bolsters the economy, and improves government balance sheets.”

Father’s Day is right around the corner, and you know that means–a great opportunity to support your union! Check out the list of gift ideas, provided by the AFL-CIO.

Among the UFCW-made products dads may enjoy are:

-Jim Beam

-Knob Creek Whiskey

-Naturalizer, Red Wing, and any shoes sold at the Union Boot Pro!

-Old Spice products

-Pierre Cardin cologne

-Omaha Steaks

-Carhartt clothing

You can get even more ideas here, and on our Pinterest page!

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!

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

Kroger workers from UFCW Local 455 attend a meeting regarding their new contract that raises wages, improves benefits, and
preserves pensions.

“The wage improvements are great,” said Kroger associate Lenda Cadoree. “These hard working members truly deserve it and the other wage increases assure the company will be able to hire and retain quality employees in the future. All the employees I have discussed our new contract with have been extremely pleased with what we have accomplished together in our union.”

The contract sets a high bar for negotiations in the grocery industry and will help pave the way for other workers who are members of UFCW Locals 540, 1000, 1996, and 2008.

The contracts cover 2,300 ShopRite workers. Members have worked for nearly a year under an extension of their previous contract that expired last May.

ShopRite workers from UFCW Local 1776
ratified new contracts that include wage
increases and maintain benefits.

The new agreements run for two years through May of 2014, dating back to the expired agreements.  They include letters stating the intent of the union and the owners to begin talks on the next set of contracts later this year, so as to avoid contract extensions when the new agreements expire in 2014.

ShopRite is owned and operated by the Brown, Collins, R&R McMenamin, Colligas, Ammons and Zallie families in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania suburbs.

Congratulations to all the 1776 members who stood together and bargained for their rights!

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

Shaquana Battle and George Miles both work for Martin’s Food Markets, which, along with Giant Food, Peapod, and Stop & Shop, is owned by the Dutch company Royal Ahold NV. The two Martin’s employees arrived in Amsterdam to attend the multi-national grocery retailer’s annual shareholders’ meeting, where along with other labor activists, they had the chance to confront Ahold’s CEO Dick Boer and the members of the Supervisory Board. The workers seized this unique opportunity to address the shareholders in attendance. Their message? That Ahold, as a multi-billion dollar company and 8th largest food retailer in the U.S, must end its double standard policy and afford all its employees the same rights, no matter where they work. While two out of three Ahold workers in the U.S. enjoy the benefits and protection of a union contract with the UFCW, the company denies the same right to Shaquana and her coworkers at Martin’s/Giant Carlisle.

Unfortunately, Shaquana and George’s words were met with “denial and evasion” from the corporate owners, according to an In These Times article. Shaquana, who has worked at Martin’s for five years now, noted that Mr. Boer replied to her statement very indirectly. She also was met with a similar response last year, when she attended the 2012 shareholders’ meeting. She has not however, let this discourage her: “they know we are here, and that we are not going away till we get a union,” she said of the Board of Directors.

Shaquana’s determination to protect workers’ rights is what makes her a great leader in the push of her coworkers to organize at Martin’s, and, partnering with the UFCW, she has helped to push back against Ahold’s aggressive anti-union initiatives.

As Ahold continues to grow, it has expanded further into the U.S and Europe. However, instead of continuing to foster a mutually beneficial relationship with workers like it does at its largely unionized Netherlands grocery chain, Albert Heijn, or at its unionized stores in the U.S., the company is investing in non-union stores, at the expense of its employees. The effect of the non-union store expansion is pressure on union stores to reduce pay and benefits of their workers, since their union contracts have allowed them to bargain for good wages and benefits.

An unfortunate example of this race to the bottom strategy was seen last year, when a large unionized distribution center in Jessup, Maryland was shut down in order to transfer the work to non-union sites, where the company can pay workers less.  This type of anti-union action was not an isolated event. This past march distribution center workers with the Dutch union group Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging (FNV) went on strike against Albert Heijn, because of the chain’s decision to now use temporary, non-union workers.  The use of the temp workers not only hurts the union workers, but has also led to mistreatment of the temp workers, who are often submitted to substandard working conditions. Ahold’s anti-union activity was again seen in the U.S. this year, when Stop & Shop recruited strikebreakers in order to scare the striking members of five UFCW locals in New England to make healthcare concessions.  Despite the chain’s attempts to bully its union workers, the striking workers stood together and bargained for a new contract, which protected their rights.

For George, frustration comes from his store managers in Richmond, who have discouraged him and his coworkers from joining the UFCW.  Having been a union member at his previous place of employment, George says “I know what a union is, and what a union does, so I don’t need these guys to tell me.”

According to George, a majority of his coworkers would like to join the union. George and Shaquana, along with many of their coworkers, know that a union gives them a voice and enables them to protect their rights as workers.

That’s why this was the third year that Shaquana has attended the shareholders’ meeting.  Shaquana and her coworkers are standing their ground and making their presence known, to tell Ahold that they are being closely watched and that the workers at Martin’s/Giant Carlisle will not rest until their rights to freedom of association are respected.

(Source: Huffington Post) Republican House majority leader Eric Cantor

Republican House Majority leader Eric Cantor is spearheading a bill that has the potential to deny low-wage workers of their overtime pay. It’s being pushed by the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), a lobbying firm that represents large U.S. retailers – among them Walmart and Target.

The name of the bill — The Working Families Flexibility Act – poorly masks its true effects on working families.

If this bill were to be passed, employers could offer employees who work overtime the opportunity to earn future time off rather than overtime pay (which is typically one and a half times the normal hourly wage). As Vicki Shabo, a director at the National Partnership for Women & Families points out, this bill creates an unfair situation for workers.

“Employers would essentially be getting an interest free loan from their employees. They are taking the work today and are paying by giving time off or cashing out wages at a later time, up to 13 months later.”

The bill also ignores the realities of today’s workplace. Making the decision to accrue time off or accept overtime pay may not always be solely up the individual worker. Workers are often pressured by their employers to obey instructions, without argument, or face the risk of being fired. It’s easy to consider a scenario where a worker may feel forced into accepting time off instead of increased pay for working overtime.

Even if workers were able to fairly choose between time off or increased pay, there would be no realistic guarantee that time off an employee earns could be used when they need it.

Eric Cantor’s proposal is just another attempt by House Republicans to push down wages and weaken workers so that big retailers have more power over their workforce and are able to share less profits with them as well.

Although the bill is expected to pass in the House of Representatives, it is not being seriously considered by the Senate due it’s vagueness and inability to ensure that employees would actually be free to choose between time off and additional pay.

Workers have a right to enjoy the wealth that their labor helped create. This type of legislation underscores the importance of workers sticking together and speaking up for their rights.

For full details of The Working Families Flexibility Act, click here.

Keany Produce drivers in Landover, Md. overwhelmingly voted to join UFCW Local 400.

On Friday, March 29, Keany Produce drivers stood up for their rights, living standards, safety, and health and retirement security by voting overwhelmingly for representation by UFCW Local 400.

After years of frustration over low pay, inadequate benefits, inconsistent hours, and unfair treatment, many of the 140 drivers decided they needed to empower themselves through collective bargaining. After an intensive, months-long, worker-led organizing drive, they won in a landslide.

“Divided we fall, united we stand,” said Terrance Helm, a Keany Produce driver who spearheaded the organizing effort. “It’s been a collective effort and we all came together.”

“I love my co-workers,” he said. “I have such an appreciation for all the hard work and the sacrifices they’ve made, and the strength they showed in standing up to management.”

Today, in the wake of their victory, morale among the workers is at an all-time high, Helm observed, and they are looking forward to sitting down across the bargaining table with management.

“We’re here to fight until the end,” he said.

Keany Produce is a wholesale produce distributor located in Landover, Md.

UFCW Local 400 members and labor allies attend a hearing on the Large Retailer Accountability Act in Washington, D.C.

UFCW Local 400 members and labor allies including Respect DC, and the DC Labor Council attended a hearing to support the Large Retailer Accountability Act.

The bill would require large retailers, those with stores over 75,000 square feet and over $1 billion in revenue, to pay the DC Living Wage and follow the First Source hiring law. It makes sure that big box retail is a better deal for D.C. by making sure residents share in the profits of the large corporations like Walmart, Target, Home Depot, and Lowe’s that want to enter and expand in the city. A petition to support the Large Retailer Accountability Act in Washington, D.C. is available here.

By supporting and approving this bill, we hope that similar legislation will emerge in other major cities throughout the nation, bringing us another step closer to economic justice for workers.

Many IUF union workers are employed by Mondelez International, a leading chocolatier, biscuit and candy maker, and gum manufacturer. Their brands include Cadbury, Milka, Oreo, Nabisco, Tang, and Trident, just to name a few.  Despite being the world’s leading manufacturer for these products, Mondelez international has repeatedly shown that they do not care for the hard workers that make them successful.

Ahmad Abdulghani Awad Abdulghani, 26 years old, worked at Cadbury Egypt, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mondelez, from 2008 to December 2011. He never had a permanent job, but was part of the army of precarious workers making chewing gum at the Alexandria factory. He lost half his thumb while operating a machine which should normally be run by three persons. Then he lost his job.

This is the same factory management that sacked 5 union leaders in June 2012 following a spontaneous protest over the company’s refusal to pay a government-mandated private-sector pay rise.

This is the same company whose management in Tunisia has dismissed and suspended union leaders and denies responsibility for these abuses.
This is the company whose corporate management refuses to respond to communications to the IUF, the international union that represents these workers.

The IUF has therefore filed a formal complaint for violations of international human rights standards with the relevant US government agency – and has launched a GLOBAL CAMPAIGN in defense of its members at Mondelez in Egypt and Tunisia.

To learn about the campaign go to http://www.screamdelez.org – there you can learn more and download campaign materials for distribution to union members at Mondelez.

Click here to send a message to Mondelez – tell them to make time to rectify human rights abuses and to meet with the IUF NOW!

Also, please be sure to like the campaign facebook page.

Thanks to union member activism during the November elections, California’s legislature is occupied by a worker-friendly majority.  Having allies in leadership positions is key for workers who want to stand up for their rights.

Another trend that has led to increased union membership in the state–  immigrant workers have organized in other industries that simply cannot be “shifted overseas”.  As noted in a recent Guardian article, jobs in arenas such “as healthcare, food service, retail, and transportation” are in need of workers here at home. Indeed, “some work – flipping burgers, administering flu shots, or driving the city bus – just can’t be shipped to China.”

Also, retail is the fastest growing industry in America, with new jobs emerging every day. The large number of retail and service positions opening up in states like California are great for the middle class. However, there is also the potential for workers in these sectors to be exploited by their employers.

As America’s retail union, the UFCW wants to make sure these new jobs are good jobs. Workers who join a union have more access to better benefits, wages, and hours than non-union members, and can stand together to ensure their voice is heard.

The new contracts include:

• Wage increases per hour for full and part-time workers ranging from 95 cents to $1.62 over three years.

• Scheduling language that protects current part-timers working over 30 hours per week from any ACA-related pressure to cut hours.

• Mechanisms that keep part-time workers in the existing Taft-Hartley benefit plans for ancillary benefits while investing in health savings accounts for part-timers to use in conjunction with a plan on the state exchange.

• A number of new structures, depending on the collective bargaining agreement or state, for part-time, new hires to connect with their union for health coverage.

Ratification meetings were held in all five local unions this past weekend and the contract was overwhelmingly accepted by members across New England.

The five locals are a perfect example of what we can all achieve when we stick together in solidarity.

“We are pleased that through the dedicated work of our negotiating team, we were able to present a comprehensive offer to our membership. While all contract negotiations represent compromise, I am confident that we stood our ground on our membership’s core issues and values,” said Dan Clay, president of UFCW Local 555.

Congratulations to all members on the new contract, and the hard-earned benefits it includes.

These members at Kroger have secure pension plans.

Millions of UFCW members and retirees have earned the right to real retirement through years of dedicated service to some of the globe’s largest and most successful companies – and now they’re standing up to protect their retirements.

Now, the agreement is awaiting legal review, and then ratification by the locals: Local 328, Local 371, Local 919, Local 1445, and Local 1459.

Two of the main elements of  the tentative agreement will deal with wages and healthcare, regarding coverage for part-time employees in particular. Although the Affordable Care Act penalizes employers for not providing health insurance to full-time employees, there is no such penalty for not covering part-time workers.  Therefore, the members involved in the joint negotiations have been fighting hard to ensure all workers are provided affordable coverage.  The UFCW also supports the Part-Time Worker Bill of Rights.

Here’s to a fair contract that allows for good wages and benefits to the hard-working members at New England Stop and Shops.

For more information, click here.

The NAACP and the community group allege the retailer’s hiring practices discriminate against applicants with criminal records. In a news conference in Minneapolis, the groups accused Target of denying people with criminal records job interviews, even when the alleged crime was old, expunged or irrelevant to the prospective job. NAACP and TakeAction members filed 10 formal complaints with the EEOC and referenced an additional 150 cases documented over eight months.

EEOC spokeswoman Julie Schmid said employers cannot have blanket policies that bar applicants with criminal records from consideration. Such practices have been found to disproportionately affect African-Americans, she said. Instead, employers must review each applicant’s situation on an individual basis, consider how long ago the arrest or conviction occurred, the nature of the incident, and if it is relevant to the job.

As a result, TakeAction Minnesota and the NAACP are asking Target to adopt the EEOC’s hiring guidelines so that individual assessments of applicants with criminal records can be done in order to allow more people with records a chance to secure employment and economic stability.

Target Has A Huge Opportunity To Help Reduce Minnesota’s Worst-In-Nation Racial Jobs Gap By Adopting New EEOC Hiring Guidelines (Photo by TakeAction MN)

Specifically, the two organizations are asking Target to take into account:

• the length of time since an offense occurred,
• the type and severity of the offense itself, the vast majority of which are non-violent misdemeanors,
• the nature of the particular job an applicant is seeking

Jeff Martin, president of the NAACP St. Paul branch, said Target is an important part of the Twin Cities community and should do its part to help reduce Minnesota’s racial unemployment gap. Since the recession, Minnesota’s African-American unemployment swelled to 13.8 percent, compared with 5.8 percent overall.

The complaints submitted are “the tip of the iceberg of a massive structural problem at Target,” Martin said. “This is an opportunity for Target to lead. We are asking Target to adopt the EEOC’s [rules].”

The complaints against Target’s hiring hit just as the retailer is dodging a controversy about wages paid to janitors who clean its stores and offices. Last week, Target’s contractor, Diversified Maintenance System, settled a $675,000 class-action lawsuit with Twin Cities janitors who were made to clean metro Target stores seven days a week without overtime pay. Over 6,000 separately contracted janitors and security guards are now threatening to strike on February 24 unless labor talks improve. The contracted workers want their employers to sit down and talk about wages and their right to form a union. The contractors provide services to Target and other area big-box retail shops.

source: Labor 411

According to the National Retail Federation, Americans will spend $1.6 billion on candy this year to celebrate Valentine’s Day.  UFCW members across the country, along with members of many other unions, have worked hard to make this holiday a little sweeter this year, by helping to create your favorite candy, chocolate, gifts, and other Valentine’s day products! Refer to the list below, brought to you by Labor 411 to help you find last-minute, union-made goodies.

Chocolate:

• See’s Candy
• Russell Stover
• Ghirardelli Chocolates (UFCW)
• Hershey Kisses and Hugs
• Necco Sweethearts
• Tootsie Rolls
• York pepper mint patties

Champagne:

• Andre (UFCW)
• Cook’s (UFCW)
• Eden Roc (UFCW
• J. Roget (UFCW)
• Jacques Bonet (UFCW)
• Jacque Reynard (UFCW)
• JFJ (UFCW)
• Le Domaine (UFCW)
• Tott’s
• Wycliff (UFCW)

C0logne and Perfume:

• Hugo Boss
• Pierre Cardin (UFCW)
• Avon (UFCW)
• Old Spice (UFCW)

Making dinner for your Valentine? Then pick up what you need from a union grocery store near you, with the help of the UFCW mobile app. Then pick out some union-made wine to go with it!

You can also make these Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes with the union-made ingredients provided in the recipe for your sweetheart. You’ll be sure to impress.

And if you really screwed up last V-day, why not purchase some jewelry from fellow union members at department stores like Macy’s?

We hope that with the help our our tips, you and your honey have a happy, union-made Valentine’s Day!

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.

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/

Stop and Shop supermarkets has now begun putting ads in local newspapers to hire temporary workers, or strikebreakers, in the event that a strike will take place- an insult to the company’s hardworking union members. These tactics are designed to scare and intimidate workers.

So far however, the difficult negotiations have yielded some results, and Stop and Shop has removed some its negative proposals from the bargaining table.  Still in negotiation are issues surrounding holiday premiums, sick pay, and job transfers – all important issues to our members.  On an even bigger scale though, are conflicts involving pensions, health and welfare, and wages, which will be discussed next week.

Stop and Shop is owned by the Royal Dutch company Ahold, which makes more than half of its profits in the U.S. That revenue came to more than 25.8  billion dollars in 2012, keeping it in competition with the likes of Walmart and Target. Yet, the company is greedy to expand those profit-margins further, by implementing low wages and taking away healthcare and other benefits from its Stop and Shop employees, as well as those who work for its many other grocery stores and businesses.

Although these contract negotiations are often long and difficult, the five locals have already made progress by standing together in solidarity. By working in unity, UFCW and Stop and Shop can come away with a deal that is fair for both parties.

Stay tuned to updates by visiting http://ufcwstopandshopnegotiations.com/

Our very own UFCW President Joe Hansen was one of the featured executives in the article. Here’s what Joe had to say:

“As we work toward 2020, strengthening the middle class is essential to rebuilding our economy, and retail employers must lead the way in making sure that retail jobs are good jobs with benefits so that more retail workers have a pathway to the middle-class.
In supermarkets across the country you will find United Food and Commercial Workers International Union members stocking the shelves, working the deli counters and cash registers, and carefully bagging groceries.

Despite the fragile economy, retail food jobs are growing and these jobs are setting the working and living standards for thousands of American workers. Moving forward, it is critically important that all employers in this industry compensate workers with the kind of pay and benefits that allow them to live in the middle class.

Academic studies, including a recent report by Demos, provide quantitative evidence that retailers, workers and the U.S. economy can benefit if retail companies invest in their workforce. According to the Demos report, raising wages for full-time retail workers at the nation’s largest retail companies (those employing at least 1,000 workers) would result in improving the lives of more than 1.5 million retail workers and their families who are currently living in or hovering above poverty.”

With the help of the union, many of these workers are enjoying good jobs, and in turn they work hard to ensure the success of their companies.  But there is much more to be done in order for all working voices to be heard, and to ensure a bright future for the industry and America’s middle class.

(Washington, DC) – Even though Tim Mason ran Fresh & Easy into the ground, the former CEO will still be getting his Christmas bonus. Tim Mason has proved more successful at lining his own pockets than at running a grocery chain. Although Mason has resigned following the failure of Fresh & Easy, he will still walk away with a severance package of more than $9 million.

But the company’s 5,000 workers are more likely to see pink slips than bonuses in their stockings this holiday season.

This pattern of putting C-suite interests above the needs of workers and customers contributed to the failure of Fresh & Easy. Now those workers and customers will likely pay the price, with lost jobs and communities blighted by empty storefronts.

Under Mason’s watch, Fresh & Easy lost over $1.6 billion since opening its doors five years ago. Fresh & Easy repeatedly missed its benchmarks for both performance and growth. A June 2012 field research study by Change to Win, a labor federation with which UFCW is affiliated, found that a number of Fresh & Easy stores had execution problems such as product out of stocks, cleanliness and/or product freshness issues, and problems with the ease of self-checkout.

Despite this record, Mason was consistently one of the highest paid executives at Tesco. But compensation for the workers stagnated, with the most senior workers going three years without a pay raise. Now, Mason will walk away from Fresh & Easy with a generous severance package that includes 2 million shares of company stock, and a year’s severance pay, with an additional $14.5 million in pension money.

Mason’s shocking compensation package had been a thorn with investors as they watched Mason become the most highly-paid executive at Tesco, out-earning his own boss, Tesco International CEO Phil Clarke. In 2011, the United Food & Commercial Workers International Union engaged with investors and triggered a revolt in which nearly half of Tesco’s investors refused to approve the remuneration package, pushing the company to overhaul its pay policy for top executives.

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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, go to ufcw.org and join us on Facebook: UFCWinternational and follow us on Twitter @UFCW.

Tesco has poured over £1 billion grocery stores in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada over the past five years. But this investment has not paid off for workers, customers, or investors. The UFCW has led the charge for the past five years, since the company opened its first store in California, to press Tesco into adopting a business model that works for all of Fresh & Easy’s many stakeholders.

When Fresh & Easy first opened, UFCW officials reached out to Tesco in good faith to find a fair process for American workers to join together in a union, just as the company’s British workers had their own union. Tesco executives refused to meet with UFCW leadership, giving the first sign that Fresh & Easy would not be cooperating with stakeholders. 

At each turn, Fresh & Easy continued to rebuff the concerns of community stakeholders. Fresh & Easy’s low-staffing and 100 percent self-checkout model has made it difficult for the chain to compete with high levels of customer service offered by retail workers with a protected voice on the job. But this model also ran afoul of a push in California to reduce underage drinking by banning the sale of alcohol through self-checkout machines. The UFCW worked with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Alcohol Justice, law enforcement and clergy to pass this public safety law. Instead of complying with the new law, Fresh & Easy antagonized the community by publicly opposing the law and supporting a lawsuit against the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

The UFCW’s efforts have empowered workers to speak out about problems in their stores. A majority of workers in a Los Angeles store signed cards declaring their desire to form a union, but never experienced a fair NLRB election. Undeterred, workers continued to speak out, traveling to London to attend an annual shareholders meeting and later forming The Committee for Success at Fresh & Easy to unite workers across stores.

UFCW has also engaged deeply with Tesco’s investors. Representatives of the UFCW and the Change to Win investment group have attended each of the last five annual shareholder meetings, educating investors and proposing shareholder amendments. A quarterly newsletter directed to investors directly addressed the company’s conduct and amplified investors’ rising skepticism of the company’s ability to reach profitability.

As the voice of American retail and grocery workers, the UFCW has worked to hold Tesco accountable to their workers, customers, and other stakeholders. But over and over again, Tesco has refused to engage with us, or our allies. Now, thousands of workers are facing a holiday season uncertain if their jobs or their stores will still be there next year.

“Tesco’s announcement today forces thousands of Fresh & Easy workers in California, Arizona, and Nevada to face a holiday season filled with uncertainty and fear if their jobs and stores will still be there in the new year. These job losses could have been avoided if Tesco had chosen to engage with community stakeholders and its customers to address the many underlying problems and warning signs of the troubled Fresh & Easy model.

“We call on Tesco and Fresh & Easy executives to include all community and labor stakeholders as the company undergoes this review process.”

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The United Food & Commercial 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, go to ufcw.org and join us on Facebook: UFCWinternational and follow us on Twitter @UFCW.

Washington, DC – The following is a statement from the UFCW regarding the resolution of the Raley’s and Nob Hill strike: 

“Today, grocery workers around the country are acknowledging the tremendous resolve and solidarity of Raley’s and Nob Hill workers who took tremendous risk to protect middle class grocery jobs. Nearly a million union grocery workers and their families count on grocery jobs that provide meaningful benefits and a middle-class paycheck. The fight in California was truly a fight against lowering the bar in this industry, and worker solidarity with loyal customers and allies from around the labor movement secured a real victory for grocery workers.”

“Workers at Raley’s and Nob Hill stores in Northern and Central California ended their nine-day strike against the company today when a tentative agreement was reached between Raley’s/Nob Hill management and members of UFCW Local 5 and UFCW Local 8.”

“More than 7,000 UFCW members went on strike against the grocery chain on Sunday, Nov. 4 after 15 months of highly contentious bargaining.”

“Ordinarily, the terms of a tentative agreement are not released prior to the members having an opportunity to vote. However, UFCW Locals 5 and 8 confirmed that Raley’s agreed to retain and fund the union’s health benefit plan, the same plan agreed to by Save Mart and Safeway.”

“The settlement will be submitted to members of UFCW Locals 5 and 8 for review and ratification. The proposed agreement also will be submitted to workers at Raley’s Bel Air chain.”

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

Photo credit: Washington Post

Last week, the Washington Post featured Nita Robinson, a 67-year-old cashier and UFCW member at a La Plata Safeway, in the “Fist Person Singular” section.

In the article, Nita tells her story about starting out at Safeway in 1982, making $4.75 as a salad bar person, and then being made a greeter due to her willingness to “talk to anybody.”  The fact the Ms. Nita has worked at Safeway for 30 years now is impressive, but what makes her a remarkable employee is her dedication to her customers and working hard for her company.

Ms. Nita knows that people like being cared for, and she cares for her customers, whom she says have become her family, by asking about their families, and helping those in need, such as a homeless young man whom she once stopped from stealing in her store.

After suffering a heart attack recently, Nita was about to take some time off, but couldn’t stay away from the job for long.  Nita needed two weeks to recover, and with the help of her union and the respect of her employers was able to do so.  She returend after that time, saying: “I know it’s a long way, but, baby, it’s worth it to me. When I saw a lady today that was coming to find me to meet her son — a 9-month-old little boy — that makes it worth it. The [customers] in the area have always treated us with respect, and the [new] ones will learn to know us. But I know it’s gonna be all right, because you gotta know me. Once you get to know Ms. Nita, it’s on. ”

We are grateful to hear stories about people like Ms. Nita, who work hard for their customers and get treated with respect in return.  The long line that is always in Ms. Nita’s checkout lane speaks for itself.

(Washington, D.C.) — The following is a statement issued by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union President Joseph Hansen:

Raley’s employees went on strike Sunday morning, November 4, 2012.

Following months of intense negotiations, workers from UFCW 8-Golden State and UFCW Local 5 have been forced on strike against Raley’s supermarket chain.

Nearly one million union grocery workers and their families across the country count on grocery jobs that provide meaningful benefits and a paycheck that can support a family. We cannot allow Raley’s to lower standards for working people in Northern California. Our full union stands in solidarity with the UFCW members standing up to keep grocery jobs middle class jobs.

Workers are fighting back against the company’s unlawful implementation of contract proposals and lowered job standards that were put in place without the input or approval of union employees. Workers have also filed unfair labor practice charges against the company, citing violations of laws prohibiting harassment and intimidation of union members, circumventing the union’s authority as a bargaining agent, and “regressive bargaining” — submitting proposals that are worse than previous offers.

The strike affects more than 7,000 workers in Northern and Central California .

UFCW 8-Golden State and UFCW Local 5 have been negotiating with Raley’s (which owns Bel Air and Nob Hill stores), Safeway/Vons and Save Mart/Lucky for more than a year, seeking agreement on new contracts for grocery workers in Northern and Central California. While an agreement was ratified with Save Mart/Lucky and negotiations are continuing between Safeway/Vons, Raley’s management has been bargaining in bad faith since contract negotiations began 15 months ago.

For further updates please visit www.yourbreadandbutter.com and www.supportgroceryworkers.com/.

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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.

Raley’s employees went on strike Sunday morning, November 4, 2012 after not coming to an agreement with management.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/04/4960322/raleys-employees-strike.html#storylink=cpy

Following days of intense negotiations in the presence of Federal Mediator Greg Lim, leaders of UFCW 8-Golden State and UFCW Local 5 announced a strike was in effect at Raley’s, Nob Hill and, in all likelihood, Bel Air stores in Northern and Central California. The labor dispute involves approximately 7,000 union members.

UFCW Local 8-GS and Local 5 members are asking community members to honor the picket lines, and take their business to other union grocery stores until Raley’s shows its workers the respect they deserve.

For more information, visit the UFCW Local 8-GS website, the UFCW Local 5 website, or call the strike hotline at 1-800-619-4036.

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.”

Penny Gibson is a meat-cutter at Kroger, a union member, a political activist, and definitely a star steward for UFCW Local 876.

One of the great things Penny is doing to help her coworkers and her community is helping people to register for this year’s election.  With the help of her local union’s Voter Registration Toolkit, Penny working hard to make sure all her coworkers, friends, and neighbors, have a voice in November.

Penny has also dedicated her time and energy to the Protect Our Jobs effort, a drive to put a measure on the November ballot allowing voters to decide on a proposal to add the right to collective bargaining to the Michigan constitution. She secured over 50 signatures, the most of any Local 876 steward. With collective bargaining under attack in so many states across the country, Michigan has a chance to lead the charge for the basic freedoms of speech and association that collective bargaining represents.

Penny says she’s dedicated herself to protecting collective bargaining in part because “many young workers do not realize it is their union contract that provided that raise, that $3 prescription refill, and that week-long paid vacation up north. It is not the company that provided these benefits, it was the union who negotiated these on our behalf.”

With Penny on the case, those young workers will be activists in no time! UFCW member activists and stewards keep their union running. To learn more about how to get involved with your local union, email submissions@ufcw.org or send us a message on Facebook.

“The UFCW is shocked and saddened at the news of a shooting at the Pathmark supermarket in Old Bridge, New Jersey, early this morning. The full details of this tragedy are still being investigated, and UFCW is working to assist our members, Pathmark, and local authorities in any way we can. While the investigation continues, UFCW will be offering professional counseling services to Old Bridge Pathmark workers. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims and the workers who have been affected by this terrible tragedy. We will continue to monitor the situation and offer our support to our members, Pathmark, law enforcement, and the Old Bridge community.”

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. UFCW Local unions 464A and 1262 represent workers at the Old Bridge, N.J. Pathmark.

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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.

Ryan Young featured on the news after his suspension from Safeway Photo credit: Change.org

However, upon hearing this news, swarms of people have come to Ryan’s defense, and it has paid off. UFCW Local 5, Ryan’s local union, began supporting Ryan by immediately challenging the suspension. It took several weeks, but Ryan has finally been reinstated at Safeway.

Head over to the UFCW blog to read the full story!

A major highlight of the app is its “Shop Union” feature, which allows anyone in the United States or Canada to locate and secure driving directions to their nearest union grocery store. If UFCW members work at a grocery store near you, the app will be able to get you there. The release of the smartphone app is just the latest element of UFCW’s ongoing program to connect with the next generation of workers.

The UFCW app also lets users receive the latest updates from UFCW members and working people everywhere, see breaking news and original video, and get information about how to take action for working families.

Already, the app is receiving positive reviews from early adopters:

“What a great app! Now I can easily stay informed on the latest union news, and always find the closest union store even when I am on the go.”

“Love the feature where I can search for the nearest union grocery store!”

“Works well and smoothly. Quick download and installation.”

“This is great for finding union grocery stores! We need to support good jobs.”

The app can be accessed from any smartphone at http://ufcwaction.org/app.

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.