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UFCW Stewards

Stewards: Keeping Our Food Supply Safe

Dec 11, 2010

 

Food workers across the country are on the front lines of food safety. The work we do every day determines whether or not the country’s food supply will be safe. That is a responsibility we take seriously as UFCW stewards. The fact is, union plants are safer plants, and safer plants produce safer food. Having a voice on the job, and having stewards in the workplace, assures that we produce only the safest food.
Our union contract means we can speak out if we see something going wrong or jeopardizing food quality, without having to fear negative consequences – so only the highest quality food leaves our plants. It also means we can slow down the breakneck pace of production, and ensure proper staffing – factors that reduce on-the-job injuries and even further improve food safety. Workers who don’t have a union sadly do not have those same assurances.
“I see it as our duty to speak up if we see something going wrong in the plant. If we don’t make food safety our number one priority, everyone suffers. Bad food puts our families, and everyone’s families at risk. It also put our jobs on the line. If the public turns against our industry, it’s our jobs that get destroyed,” said Joel Elder, a UFCW Local 38 steward who has worked at ConAgra for 22 years.
It’s our responsibility as stewards to make sure that our coworkers feel comfortable enough at work to come forward and speak up if they see something unsafe going on. We must, above all, see to it that all of our brothers and sisters in the industry understand the high stakes of food safety and take seriously their active role in ensuring the quality of food we produce.
As stewards, as leaders, our responsibilities don’t end at the plant gates. The UFCW is leading our industry in pushing for food safety legislation at the federal level and at home in our states. We have to be active in that process so our lawmakers know we stand behind stronger food safety laws. Because we know that union plants produce safer food, we should also be involved in organizing more workplaces throughout our industry. The more food workers that come together in our union, the more power we can build at the bargaining table and the more leverage we will have to push for stronger food safety legislation. That will make food safer for all Americans. That’s something we can make happen by getting involved in organizing with our union.
“I’m proud to be part of a union that takes leadership in our industry, a union that looks out not only for those of us in the plant, but for everyone in our communities by making sure our food is safe,” said Elder. “One of the best ways I know to keep working to make our food even safer is to reach out to our colleagues in non-union plants and show them everything they have to gain by joining together with us in the UFCW.”
To learn more about how our union is working to ensure worker safety and food safety, visit www.FairnessForFoodWorkers.org.

UFCW Stewards

America Doesn’t Stand Still. We Move Forward.

Oct 11, 2010

 

UFCW stewards from coast to coast were a critical component of the incredible grassroots movement that united to elect Barack Obama in 2008 and bring a worker-friendly majority in to power in both houses of Congress. We walked countless blocks, registered thousands of first-time voters and brought uncounted new voices into the political process. Record numbers of people in every city and town, men, women, young people and retirees of every background were engaged and committed to shaping our country’s future for the better.
When President Obama took office, he inherited overwhelming challenges: irresponsible leadership for the previous eight years had given our country two wars, an economy in crisis, a broken health care system and record deficits.
Together with the President and Democrats in Congress, we didn’t hesitate to tackle the Bush mess. We pushed for laws to make banks more accountable, ensure women receive equal pay and provide for good jobs to get the American economy moving again. Most importantly, UFCW stewards were leaders in the effort to make affordable health care available to everyone—and we stuck to our ideals: everyone should have access, nobody should be denied because they’re sick and nobody should go bankrupt because they’re sick.
“We have achieved so much in the last two years,” said Local 227 Steward Estella Galarza. “By working together and standing up for change, we’ve made a real difference for the future of this country.”
Without a doubt, this is a tough time for Americans: a struggling economy, a negative political environment and corporate greed sapping our economy and destroying our middle class. The challenges facing us have gotten only larger and tougher and can’t be solved by a 30 second sound bite on cable news. We must find real solutions to make America work again, and we must continue to progress we have made in the last few years.
But since the day President Obama took office, Republicans have tried to block progress at every turn. Every advancement we made was over the howls of their protest as the sought to protect tax cuts and giveaways for the wealthy and massive corporations. Rather than offering a real alternative to the problems we face, Republicans became the “Party of No.”
So this election has become a critical one for UFCW members across the country and, as leaders in the UFCW, for the stewards as well. The choice is simple, do we want to continue progress and continue building a brighter and better future for America? Or do we want reward obstructionism and root for the failure of a government that works for working families?
“In my state, Kentucky, it’s a simple choice between Jack Conway and Rand Paul,” said Garza. “With Conway, we vote to continue to try and make things better in America and Kentucky. With Paul we vote not only to stop all progress, but actually destroy the gains we’ve made.”
This simple choice is playing out across the country and in every state as we approach fall and this critical election season. As stewards, as leaders in the UFCW we have a responsibility to get involved. If we care about building a better America, we need to talk to our neighbors, our family, and our co-workers. We need to knock on doors and make phone calls for the worker-friendly candidates our states who are ready to move our country forward. We’ve come too far to turn back now.

UFCW Stewards

UFCW Stewards Standing Together to Fight Against Corporate Greed at Mott’s

Jul 11, 2010

 

As our country tries to pull itself out of the economic recession, corporations, despite having largely contributed to create the worst economy since the Great Depression, continue to use the same economy as a scapegoat to justify anti-working family behavior. Highly profitable companies are now demanding that workers take concessions at the bargaining table. At a time when the unemployment rate remains hovering near double digits and the economy desperately needs quality jobs, these companies are fueling a race to the bottom by gutting the few remaining family-sustaining jobs. This is an all out attack on working families, our communities and the broader economy.

 

One blatant example of such corporate greed at play is happening now at the Mott’s processing plant in Williamson, N.Y., where over three hundred of our brothers and sisters from UFCW Local 220* have been forced out on the streets on strike since May 23 over the outrageous concession demands Mott’s made, that would destroy the workers’ livelihoods and jeopardize their prosperous community.

 

Mott’s, a subsidiary of Plano, Texas-based Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, is the top applesauce and apple juice brand in the United States. Last year, the company made $555 million in profit. While other companies are struggling because of the recession, Mott’s, clearly, is doing very well. Despite their success, largely due to Local 220* members’ productivity and performance, Mott’s wants to eliminate workers’ pensions, force a 20 percent reduction to their 401Ks, slash wages by $1.50 an hour, significantly expand job responsibilities, and make workers pay thousands of dollars more for health insurance.

 

As stewards, we are the first line of defense of  bargaining agreements and it is our responsibility to make sure that the issues that matter most to our fellow union members are addressed and that their livelihoods are protected in our contracts. When there is no financial need for a successful company to insist upon drastic demands at the table, we must stand together and fight such corporate greed until we prevail.

 

“They say that we are overpaid, and to take money and benefits out of our pockets is the right thing to do, and that’s what they plan to do,” said Mott’s worker and Local 220* member Ira Bristol.

 

But while Mott’s is attempting to drive down wages for UFCW members, Larry Young the President and CEO of Mott’s’ parent company, made $6.5 million in total compensation in 2009, which represents an increase of 113 percent in just two years: that is corporate greed at its best.

 

UFCW Local 220* members, many of whom have worked at Mott’s for decades, refuse to be bullied by Mott’s into accepting a contract that would literally destroy the quality of jobs in their community. They are standing up to corporate and are engaged in a fight to level the playing field for working people across the country.

 

“There is no more just fight in the United States right now than the one against what Dr Pepper Snapple is doing to you right now,” UFCW International President Joe Hansen told the Mott’s workers on the picket line.

 

Please stand with UFCW Local 220* members and show your support by spreading the word inside your plant and your community.

 

Support the Williamson workers’ struggle by not buying the following Mott’s products:
Mott’s Apple Sauce, Hawaiian Punch, Margaritaville Margarita Mix, Mr. & Mrs. T Drink Mixes, Welch’s Grape Juice (64 oz.), Rose’s Lime Juice, Snapple cans, Mott’s Fruitsations, Mott’s Garden Cocktail, ReaLime Juice, ReaLemon Juice, Holland House Cooking Wines, and Clamato.

 

Visit www.mottsworkers.org or www.NoBadApples.org to learn more about the workers’ plight and on ways you can help. Call Mott’s at 1-800-426-4891 and tell them you support the workers in Williamson. On the Web site you can send a letter to Mott’s management. You can also print out materials for in-store actions at your local supermarket or to educate consumers in your community.