Economic Justice

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Economic Justice, Retail, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values

M.I.T. Professor Advocates for Better Jobs for Retail Workers

Oct 07, 2013

Zeynep Ton, an adjunct associate professor at the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management, recently spoke at a TEDx event in Cambridge, Mass., and delivered a provocative analysis of the economic advantages retailers can achieve by investing in their workforce. Drawing on a decade of research, Ton maintains that retailers such as Costco that invest in their employees—including higher pay, better benefits and schedules, and more training—have seen positive results, including healthy sales and profit growth, higher labor productivity, lower turnover and higher customer satisfaction.

Unfortunately, many retail employers have followed Walmart’s lead by skimping on hours and preventing full-time schedules so they won’t have to provide benefits to their workers.  This low-wage business strategy has, in turn, led to depressed earnings across the retail sector, as well as operational problems in stores, including out-of-stocks; a shortage of employees on the sales floor; and long checkout lines and wait times.

To view Ton’s lecture at the TEDx event, visit http://www.tedxcambridge.com/portfolio-item/zeynep-ton/.  Ton’s research and articles can be viewed at http://www.zeynepton.com/.

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

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

Oct 02, 2013
UFCW Locals 21, 367 and Teamsters Local 38 grocery workers sent a strong message to the grocery chains by overwhelmingly voting to authorize a strike.

UFCW Locals 21, 367 and Teamsters Local 38 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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Economic Justice, Legislation, Politics, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values

UFCW Locals Help Push California’s Minimum Wage to Highest in the Nation

Sep 27, 2013

CA Min WageEarlier this month, with support from UFCW locals across the Golden State, California’s legislature voted to increase the state’s minimum wage to $10 per hour.

This week, California Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill into law. This means that California will soon have the highest minimum wage in the country.

California’s minimum wage had been stuck at $8 since 2008.

Had California’s 1968 minimum wage been indexed to inflation, it would now be $11.08.

UFCW locals in California saw that an increase was long overdue so they stepped up and took action.

This isn’t the first time UFCW’s California locals have helped to secure a minimum wage increase. They were also recently involved with passing living wage ordinances in San Jose and Long Beach.

Securing a wage increase for the entire state of California was a much greater undertaking though and required a concerted effort by all of UFCW’s California locals.

To help give the bill the aggressive push it deserved, five lobby days were held at the State Capitol in Sacramento. This gave UFCW members the opportunity to appeal directly to State Senators, Assemblymembers, and the Governor about how raising the minimum wage would impact their lives.

As the minimum wage bill headed towards passage, UFCW members willed it over the finish line by making direct phone calls to uncommitted legislators.

At the signing of the bill, Governor Brown’s remarks made it clear he heard their message loud and clear.

“Our society is experiencing a growing gap between those at the top and those at the
Raising California’s minimum wage was a great effort and a great success. More than 2.3 million California workers will be affected by the wage increase. It will go a long ways towards ensuring hard work provides both dignity and a livable wage. bottom,” he said. “Our social fabric is being ripped apart. Today, we sew that fabric a little tighter together, as we raise the wages of those who labor at the bottom.”