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Macy's and Bloomingdale's, Organizing, Retail, UFCW Industries

UFCW Member Organizers Join Together for Four-State Worker-to Worker Outreach at Macy’s Stores

Jun 24, 2013

Last week, over 70MACYs 8 members from UFCW Locals 75, 227, 700, 876, 880, 951 and 1059 conducted a coordinated worker to worker outreach to nonunion Macy’s workers in Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.

“It’s a powerful experience to reach out directly to people who have never had a union. The Macy’s associates were very receptive to hearing about how much stronger we are when we stick together,” said Jeff Pleasants from Local 227 in Louisville, Ky. “I’m really hopeful that we can make a difference at Macy’s.”

The UFCW member organizers were able to engage 750 Macy’s associates at 76 stores and offered personal testimonies of what the union has meant for their lives, and why more retail workers like Macy’s associates should be in a union.

“Being part of a union isn’t just about what’s going on in my own store. It’s about the whole industry. If we can raise standards at Macy’s, then we are going to be that much more powerful when we sit down to negotiate our own contract,” said Robert Hernandez, a member of Local 876 in Detroit, Mich.

Thousands of Macy’s workers have already come together with the UFCW to make their jobs better. Now UFCW members are working to ensure that non-union workers at Macy’s in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana have the same voice on the job as their union counterparts.

To learn more about how retail workers nationwide are coming together to raise the standards in their industry, visit www.retailworkersunited.org.

Economic Justice, Health Care, Organizing, Retail, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values, Workplace Safety & Health

New York City Thrift Store Workers Vote to Join RWDSU/UFCW

Jun 12, 2013
Unique Thrift store workers in New York City voted to join the RWDSU for better wages and working conditions.

Unique Thrift store workers in New York City voted to join the RWDSU for better wages and working conditions.

This week, workers at Unique Thrift in the Bronx, New York, voted to join the RWDSU/UFCW. All 64 workers at the Bronx store will be part of the bargaining unit. The workers who sort through the donated goods and staff the Unique Thrift stores in the Bronx, and other parts of New York and New Jersey are speaking out about their working conditions. Workers are paid low wages, receive no paid sick days or vacations, are verbally abused by managers and are often hurt on the job.

“As a single mom living in New York City, it is extremely difficult to survive off $7.50 an hour,” said Joanna Carrillo, Unique Thrift employee. “I was proud to vote yes to join the RWDSU because we deserve respect, better wages, and basic benefits such as health care and paid time off.”

Unique Thrift is a for profit thrift store which contracts with the Lupus Foundation. The company solicits donations in the name of the Lupus Foundation, sells the clothes for profit and sends the charity a comparatively small contribution.

Corporate Responsibility, Organizing, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values

RWDSU/UFCW New York City Car Wash Workers Strike and Help Co-Worker Return to Work!

Jun 05, 2013

Workers at Jomar Car Wash in New York City, who joined the RWDSU/UFCW  in April, went on strike after a worker was assaulted by a co-owner and then fired. About 15 Jomar workers walked out, demanding that the owners give co-worker Guillermo Anzures his job back. Workers returned to the job when managers agreed to rehire Anzures.

“We just want respect. We’ve always asked for it; we’ve never gotten it. That’s why we’re doing this,” said Anzures.

RWDSU Jomar Car Wash workers in New York City strike to help their co-worker return to work.

RWDSU Jomar Car Wash workers in New York City strike to help their co-worker return to work.

Anzures’ firing was the latest incident in what workers say is a campaign of harassment that began before employees overwhelmingly voted to join the RWDSU. While Jomar workers used their new union voice to help their co-worker, they are still demanding their employer negotiate a fair union contract.

Jomar workers say co-owner and manager Jose Pires has taken a range of actions against workers and their efforts to organize and bargain a contract. Anzures pressed charges against Pires, who was arrested and taken to the police precinct.

The NLRB is investigating previous complaints from union members. Union lawyers are also preparing a complaint over this latest assault.
Six car washes across New York City have voted to join RWDSU since last July. Hi-Tek car wash in Queens, New York, ratified a contract, and is the first car wash east of Los Angeles where workers have a union contract.