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Organizing

>Price Rite Worker Speaks Out on the Need for Employee Free Choice

Jan 13, 2009

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Today, a PriceRite worker involved in the UFCW’s PriceRite campaign spoke out about the need for Employee Free Choice at a press briefing held at the National Press Club. Representatives from the UFCW, as well as the nation’s top workers’ rights groups, labor experts, and progressive leaders laid out the case for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Joe Sorrentino“The company has made people afraid that they’ll lose their jobs when the union comes in,” said PriceRite worker Joe Sorrentino. He spoke about how the company has intimidated workers who support the union, by telling them that their store will close if they vote for a union, spying on them, sending out letters and even calling the police to arrest organizers who are legally handing out literature to the public.

Workers at PriceRite do not have a union, but many workers at another company owned/and or operated by the same parent company, Wakefern, are represented by the UFCW.

“We just want to the same fair chance to choose a union and have the same union benefits that workers at most ShopRite stores have,” said Sorrentino. “Instead, the company won’t even give us the chance to talk about the union. The Employee Free Choice Act would make it so the company couldn’t interfere with us or try to intimidate employees into voting against their own interests like they do now.”

Sorrentino emphasized the need for Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. “To not pass Employee Free Choice,” he said, “would lead to another generation of low-paying jobs and uninsured Americans. The middle class would be a thing of the past.”

The event was organized by American Rights at Work, representing a broad coalition of labor and workers’ rights advocates, which also previewed new television ads as part of a nationwide ad campaign in support of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Organizing

>Smithfield Workers Win a Voice with UFCW

Dec 23, 2008

>Tar Heel, N.C. – Workers at Smithfield Packing in Tar Heel, North Carolina, chose union representation with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). Workers voted 2041 to 1879 for a voice on the job.

“When workers have a fair process, they choose a voice on the job,” said UFCW Director of Organizing Pat O’Neill. “This is a great victory for the Tar Heel workers. I know they are looking forward to sitting down at the bargaining table with Smithfield to negotiate a contract. The UFCW has constructive union contracts with Smithfield plants around the country. Those union contracts benefit workers, the company and the community. We believe the workers here in Tar Heel can achieve a similar agreement.”

Ronnie Ann Simmons, a veteran of 13 years at the plant said, “We are thrilled. This moment has been a long time coming. We stuck together, and now we have a say on the job.”

Workers at 26 Smithfield-owned facilities around the country already have UFCW representation.

CLICK HERE for photos of Smithfield workers.

UFCW Industries

Unity Means More Power for Workers

Jun 08, 2008

The UFCW has been empowering America’s workers for decades, fighting for better wages, good benefits and higher standards of living. Workers today face growing challenges and need unions now more than ever. Companies merge to cut costs, often at the expense of their employees. Wages and benefits are decreasing, yet the cost of living continues to rise sharply. The middle class is dwindling and the American Dream is slipping out of reach for many workers. As corporations grow and consolidate their power, unions must also grow and combine resources to be more powerful in confronting these challenges.
The UFCW has redoubled its efforts to empower workers and restore the balance between employers and employees. Foreseeing the challenges ahead, the UFCW is forging new strategies for growing a stronger union that is proactive, not reactive–a union taking on today’s challenges and preparing for tomorrow’s battles.
These efforts start from the ground. Members are leading these changes by focusing on uniting more members for greater strength in the workplace and at the bargaining table. And the results have shown that by planning for the future, local unions have put workers in a stronger position and increased union density. Together they are setting a new standard for the labor movement.

 

“Nowadays, we have more organizers outthere,” says Richard Vazquez, a steward from Local 540 in Plainview, Texas. “The more organizers we have to help workers form a union, the stronger we will be. With more members, we can speak with one voice and have more power at the bargaining table.”
“It is important that all the plants have a union,” he continues. “Because then we can have better benefits and wages for all.”

 

Vazquez has been a union member for 18 of the 21 years he has worked at the meatpacking plant. For nine of those years, he has worked as a steward.
“There have been a lot of good changes throughout the years,” says Vazquez. “Even now we have an office here in the plant, where we can help more workers band we can be closer to them. And we’ve seen the difference first hand with more membership and more density.”
For the past 10 years, David Espinosa Rangel has worked as a truck loader for a food company in Salinas, California. Since his first day on the job as a new member of Local 1096, he has been an active union member. Three years ago, Rangel became a steward.
On January 1, 2007, his local merged with UFCW Locals 120, 373R, 428, 839, 870 and 1179, to form Local 5, based in San Jose, California.

 

“When I heard about the merger, I thought it was an excellent idea because I knew we were going to have more members working together, and a stronger voice to negotiate,” says Rangel.
Rangel said that before the merger, some locals were too small and not strong enough. “Now we are over 20,000 members and we are very strong. We are stronger at the bargaining table and we can get better benefits and wages to all workers.”
He says one of the main advantages of the merger is that there are more available resources.
“It is easier to organize more people because there is more money and more support. Other workers who are not organized can see how we have a better standard of living, and they are more interested in organizing a union at their workplace. Every worker in America needs to join a union. Together, we can reach a better life- -with one union speaking with one voice.