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Food Access, Retail Food, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values

Failed Farm Bill Saves SNAP

Jun 21, 2013

D10781_0518Millions of people are part of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), to help feed their families. Low-income and food insecure Americans on SNAP already struggle and must try to make ends meet by living on as little as $4.50 a day for food. The Farm Bill that was on the table this week threatened those millions of low-income working families, children, and seniors who use SNAP benefits with even more cuts to the program. The collapse of the Farm Bill on Thursday saved the SNAP program from a proposed $20 billion worth of cuts over the course of 10 years.

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.

Community Partnerships, Food Access, UFCW Values

Please Support the UFCW Local 1000 Oklahoma Disaster Relief Fund

May 22, 2013
Local 1000 members preparing and packing boxes of food for tornado victims

Local 1000 members preparing and packing boxes of food for tornado victims

A tragedy has directly affected UFCW Local 1000 in Moore, Oklahoma. At least seven of our union brothers and sisters lost their homes and all of their possessions in the terrible tornado. There is no comparison to the devastation that this community is suffering from as they search through the destruction for their loved ones and pets. Local 1000 has opened a Disaster Relief Fund and we ask that you contribute $10, $25, or as much as you can to our fund in order to help these members recover and rebuild. This is an opportunity for UFCW members from around the country to help people in need quickly. We will be delivering needed money directly to the affected members. The UFCW has always stood together in times of crises – help your brothers and sisters today.

To Donate Online: http://fundly.com/ufcw-local-1000-oklahoma-disaster-relief-fund

Send a Check: made out to “UFCW Local 1000″ 967 W. Wall St Suite 100 Grapevine TX 76051

1000

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

Walmart Falling Flat with Not-so-Fresh Foods

Apr 04, 2013

source: thecomingcrisis.blogspot.com

Walmart has been touting claims about its fresh produce, healthy food options, and great products all around for a while now, but recently, customers have been finding that the selection of great food products available at Walmart is not up to par with all the company claims it to be.

A few examples that went viral this week help demonstrate the problem.  When someone posted photos of a box of doughnuts that had layers of expiration stickers on it, each with a different date, many others related and shared similar stories. This twitpic shows another not-so-fresh photo from a customer who, while shopping at 6:30 pm at Walmart, saw rotisserie chickens on display that had been cooked at 10:15 am.

A driving force behind the poor selection in products like produce? An article in the New York Times helps explain what has been happening more and more in Walmart’s across the country:

“Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer and grocer, has cut so many employees that it no longer has enough workers to stock its shelves properly.”

Walmart’s decision to deprive its associates of full-time work and healthcare is actually hurting the company:

“Internal notes from a March meeting of top Walmart managers show the company grappling with low customer confidence in its produce and poor quality. “Lose Trust,” reads one note, “Don’t have items they are looking for — can’t find it.”

Despite this problem, Walmart continues to expand across the country, while the average number of store employees has decreased from 338 to 281. Not only has the decrease in employee staffing and hours hurt the availability of fresh food, but it has created other issues as well:

“Tsehai Scott, a manager at a Los Angeles Walmart who is a member of the union-affiliated employee group OUR Walmart, said “sometimes there’s a 30- or 40-minute wait in the line” because there are not enough cashiers working. With as few as 11 people on the overnight shift stocking the 218,000-square-foot store, “stocking has fallen by the wayside in what we call the consumable areas,” meaning everyday products like food or toiletries. “The department won’t get as clean as it should,” she said, “or we’ll see spoiled food in the food department, that if we had enough hands, we could get it back to the freezer or refrigerator in time.”

The result of all of this? An exodus of customers to other retailers like Costco and Safeway.  When will Walmart realize that what is good for the associate is good for business too? If the company wants to turn things around, they should start by listening to what the world is telling it: treat your workers better.