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Economic Justice, Legislation, Macy's and Bloomingdale's, Politics, Retail, Retail Food, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values, Walmart, War on Workers

OUR Walmart Members and Community Allies Support Living Wage Bill

Sep 19, 2013

Last week, Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray vetoed the Large Retailer Accountability Act (LRAA) which would have required big box retailers to pay a $12.50 per hour minimum wage.

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

DC RallyA 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.

Corporate Responsibility, Economic Justice, Retail, Retail Food, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values

Low Wage Workers Rising

Aug 30, 2013

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 5th.

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.

Corporate Responsibility, Economic Justice, Health Care, Retail, Retail Food, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values

Biggest Fast Food and Retail Worker Stike Yet Expected for Tomorrow Across America

Aug 28, 2013
image via Working Washington

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!