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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

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.

UFCW Stewards

Global Companies, Global Campaigns, Global Unions

Jun 11, 2010

 

We work in a global industry, and UFCW stewards are part of a global federation of workers. In a time when Swift and Pilgrim’s Pride are both owned by JBS, a Brazilian company, when Plumrose is owned by the European company Danish Crown, and when Kraft Foods is acquiring the Britain-based Cadbury, stewards all over the world face the same issues and the same corporations as UFCW stewards here at home.
As more and more companies become multinationals, it is more important than ever that UFCW stewards interact with other stewards from around the world. When stewards connect across the globe to exchange strategies for keeping their coworkers safe and making sure working and living standards rise equitably across borders, the payoff is huge.
That’s why at a recent meeting in Omaha, the UFCW welcomed stewards and labor leaders who represent workers at JBS facilities in Brazil and Australia. JBS-affiliated stewards from several different UFCW locals had the opportunity to meet with these international representatives and share strategies for tackling challenges in the workplace and dealing with management on a variety of issues.
In the course of the meeting, one thing became clear: keeping lines of communications open among stewards across the world is crucial. If we keep in touch with our brothers and sisters in Australia, in England, in Brazil, as issues arise, we can get ahead of them and make sure things run smoothly in the workplace.
To that end, UFCW locals have also taken the lead in fostering international solidarity. UFCW locals from the United States have visited Brazil, to see how JBS plants there operate. Another important conversation started three years ago when Local 1776 was negotiating its contract with the Italian specialty meats company Citterio USA, in Freeland, PA. With assistance from the UFCW International, the Local turned to its brothers and sisters at Citterio’s plants in Italy for additional information about the companyand its practices overseas. In November 2009, a delegation of Italian union leaders and Italian Citterio plant stewards came to the United States to continue the conversation.
“Meeting with the Italian stewards from Citterio was great for us because we realized we are all dealing with the same company and facing the same issues. It was really helpful to have a chance to get together and discuss our experiences. I feel like now I understand the company I work for a lot better. I hope we can keep this connection going,” said Mike Palmer, a Citterio steward for Local 1776.
The visitors attended a 1776 Executive Board meeting, toured the Cargill case ready meat plant in Hazleton (the union also represents Cargill workers in Italy), visited the innovative Brown’s ShopRite at 52nd and Jefferson Sts. in Philadelphia, walked through a Walmart, and, most importantly, spent many hours meeting with 1776 Citterio Stewards to share experiences and best practices.
The UFCW also works with UNI Global Union and the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations to strategize around the issues food and commercial workers face every day, in every country around the world.