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News and Updates
December 18, 2017
Celebrating the Talent of Our Members
The UFCW launched a “how to” video series this year to pay tribute to our members, who are trusted experts in their fields and take pride in their ability to produce quality products and provide exceptional service at stores across the country.
The “how to” series features expert advice from Carolyn, a cake decorator in Pennsylvania; Jon, a meat cutter at Cub Foods in Minnesota; Michelle, a florist at Kroger in Texas; Maia, a produce clerk at Stop and Shop in Connecticut; Chardonnay, a prep cook at the Marketplace at Kroger in Ohio; and Jasmin, a makeup artist at Macy’s in New York City.
These videos demonstrate our members’ commitment to excellence, and each video was viewed on YouTube thousands of times. You can view yhis year’s “how to” video series here.
December 18, 2017
Giving Back to Our Communities
The UFCW made a positive impact on thousands of lives this year through its effort to address hunger in America and find a cure for blood cancers.
For the second year, the UFCW served as a national partner of the National Association of Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, the largest food drive in the nation. In the weeks and days leading up to Saturday, May 13, the day of the National Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, UFCW members and locals volunteered at events and helped to “stamp out hunger” by collecting thousands of pounds of food.
In partnership with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), the UFCW launched the “Labor Against Cancer” initiative in the battle to end blood cancers in September. This new initiative builds on our 30-year partnership with LLS to fund and support some of the world’s best and brightest blood cancer researchers to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life for patients and their families. Our decades-long partnership with LLS has raised $83 million so far to help fund research that has advanced treatments such as chemotherapy, stem cell transplantation, and smart drugs, which have become the standard for many other cancers.
In addition to addressing national issues, the UFCW also donated time, money and resources to help members in need and spread a little cheer during the holiday season.
In September, UFCW locals banded together to help raise funds for members impacted by Hurricane Harvey. This fundraising drive helped to provide vital assistance to over 15,000 UFCW members who were affected by the hurricane.
And this holiday season, UFCW locals kicked into high gear to help make the holidays a little brighter by holding “turkey drives” and donating turkey dinners to food pantries for Thanksgiving. UFCW locals also collected toys and held holiday events that benefited various charities.
December 18, 2017
Negotiating a Better Life for Working Families
UFCW members stood together to negotiate strong contracts this year, and many new members celebrated the benefits of having a first union contract.
Paul Garrison, a member of UFCW Local 400 who works as a mechanic at the nation’s only Lipton Tea plant in Suffolk, Virginia, voted with his colleagues to approve a first union contract in July.
The ratification represented the first time in the history of the plant when workers were given the opportunity to vote on the terms and conditions of their employment. The four-year contract includes significant improvements to working conditions and health care benefits, and places strict limits on when management can require employees to work overtime. The contract also provides workers with four days per year to opt out of mandatory overtime, in addition to two weekends off each month in which they can’t be forced to work overtime.
“For the last 10 years, we saw so many of our benefits taken away,” said Garrison. “But now that we have a union, we’re getting them back again.”
Evan Adams-Hanson, a member of UFCW Local 653 who works as a front end floor coordinator at Linden Hills Co-op workers in Minneapolis joined his colleagues in ratifying a first union contract in September. The three-year agreement includes raises for all employees and paid time off.
“By standing together and voting to approve this contract, we’ve improved our lives and jobs. We chose to do this because we’re committed to strengthening our co-op and community because no one deserves to be left behind or struggle alone,” said Adams-Hanson.
Gilbert Grigsby, a food service workers for the Bon Appétit Management Company in St. Louis was one of 300 members of UFCW Local 655 who ratified a first union contract in November. The workers serve the students of Washington University, and negotiated a three-year contract that includes wage increases, additional vacation days, more funeral leave, improvements to overtime rules, and guaranteed “show up” pay. The contract also gives workers access to the union’s health care and retirement packages.
“This is why we voted to form a union,” said Grigsby. “We wanted better pay and working conditions that we’ve worked hard for, and this contract is the result of a lot of hard work. I’m thrilled to be joining this union with this new contract.”
Here’s a list of the negotiating victories that appeared in OnPoint this year:
Local 152 ShopRite Workers Ratify New Contract
Bon Appétit Food Service Workers Ratify First Contract
Local 7 Gino Morena Beauticians Ratify First Contract
Local 222 Seaboard Triumph Foods Workers Ratify First Union Contract
Local 400 Kroger Workers Ratify New Contract
New Contract Ratified by Food 4 Less Workers in Southern California
Local 21 Planned Parenthood Workers Ratify New Contract
Local 1473 WPS Workers Ratify New Contract
Local 653 Linden Hills Co-op Workers Ratify First Union Contract
RWDSU/UFCW Local 1102 Saks Contract Has National Impact
Local 400 Shoppers Food & Pharmacy Workers Ratify New Contract
Local 1000 Kroger Workers Ratify New Contract
Local 7 Safeway Pharmacy Technicians Ratify First Union Contract
RWDSU/UFCW Local 875 Sodexo Workers Ratify New Contract
CVS Workers in Southern California Ratify New Contract
Local 152 Bradley Beach Workers Ratify New Contract
Local 152 Beef International Workers Ratify New Contract
New Local 9 QPP Contract Increases Wages and Benefits
Local 21 Doctors Clinic Workers Ratify New Contract
New Local 400 Peapod Contract Increases Wages and Improves Workplace Conditions
Local 400 Lipton Tea Workers Ratify First Union Contract
Guitar Center Workers Ratify First Contract with RWDSU/UFCW
Local 1059 Members at Meijer and General Mills Ratify New Contracts
Local 152 Wilson’s Market Workers Ratify New Contract
Local 700 Tyson Foods Workers Ratify New Contract
Local 1445 UMass Memorial Medical Center Workers Ratify New Contract
RWDSU/UFCW Local 513 Coca-Cola Workers Ratify New Contract
Local 371 Foxwoods Resort Casino Workers Ratify New Contract
Local 21 Valley Medical Center Pharmacy Workers Ratify New Contract
Local 27 Moran Manor Workers Ratify First Contract
Local 919 Vernon Cafeteria Workers Ratify New Contract
Local 152 Johanna Foods Workers Ratify New Contract
RWDSU/UFCW Local 262 Chetak Workers Ratify First Union Contract
RWDSU/UFCW Local 3 Bloomingdale’s Workers Ratify Historic Contract
RWDSU/UFCW Local 17 Del Monte Foods Workers Ratify New Contract
Local 431 Logistic Services Workers Ratify New Contract
Local 655 Holten Meat Workers Ratify New Contract
RWDSU/UFCW Local 108 Gateway Shuttle Bus Drivers Ratify First Union Contract
RWDSU/UFCW Local 108 Pavilion Building Tower Workers Ratify First Union Contract
Local 876 Kroger Workers Ratify New Contract
Local 21 Olympic Medical Center Home Health Workers Ratify New Contract
RWDSU/UFCW Babeland Workers Ratify First Contract
Local 21 Grays Harbor Community Hospital Workers Ratify New Contract
Local 152 Bristol Glen Communities Workers Ratify First Contract
RWDSU/UFCW Union City Parking Authority Workers Ratify New Contract
Local 1189 Minnesota Medical Solutions Cannabis Workers Ratify New Contract
RWDSU/UFCW Local 1102 Modell’s Workers Ratify New Contract
Local 1776 Cargill Workers Ratify New Contract
December 18, 2017
Growing Our Union Family
In 2017, workers from around the country who work in a variety of industries ranging from food and non-food retail to health care stood together for a better life by joining our union family.
Seward Co-op members stood together and voted to join UFCW Local 653 in June.
Max Storey, who works a Seward Community Co-op store on Franklin Ave. in south Minneapolis joined his colleagues at two other Seward Co-op stores in the area and voted to join UFCW Local 653 in June. Earlier in June, the workers at the three stores, including the Creamery Café, the Seward Franklin store on Franklin Ave., and the Seward Friendship store at 38th St. and Clinton Ave., held a rally for a voice in the workplace after submitting cards authorizing representation by UFCW Local 653 to the National Labor Relations Board.
“Workers have come together to say yes to UFCW 653, yes to fair wages, yes to negotiating better benefits, and yes to respect and dignity in the workplace,” said Storey.
Certified Nursing Assistants at Delmar Nursing and Rehabilitation Center voted to join UFCW Local 27 in September.
Tierra Griffith, a Certified Nursing Assistants at Delmar Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Delmar, Delaware, voted to join UFCW Local 27 in September along with 89 of her coworkers.
Griffith and her colleagues were concerned about not receiving any raises over the last several years, unfair treatment by management, not having a voice on the job, understaffing, and questionable PTO calculations. Even though the company hired union busters and tried to intimidate some workers using fear tactics, the workers stood strong and formed a powerful organizing committee.
“It feels awesome to have Local 27 be our representatives. We all feel like it will make a positive difference here at work. We’re now ready for the next step, which is to get a contract that we’re happy with,” said Griffith.
Here’s a list of the organizing victories that appeared in OnPoint this year:
More Rocky Mountain High Workers Join Local 7
Bob’s Discount Furniture and Century 21 Workers Join Local 888
800 Seaboard Triumph Foods Workers Join Our Union Family
Rocky Mountain High Cannabis Workers Join Local 7
Delmar Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Workers Join Local 27
Kaiser Permanente Ergonomics Coordinators Join Local 7
Albertsons Deli Workers Join Local 368A
Safeway Pharmacy Technicians in Colorado and Wyoming Join Local 7
Albertsons Customer Service Workers Join Local 368-A
SBM Management Services Workers Join ICWUC/UFCW Local 94C
QFC ClickList Workers Join Local 21
Fresenius Kidney Care Workers Join RWDSU/UFCW
Pitman Manor Workers Join Local 152
Pleasure Chest Workers Join RWDSU/UFCW
Seward Community Co-op Workers Join UFCW Local 653
Good Samaritan Society’s Comforcare Facility Workers Join Local 1189
Viroqua Food Co-op Workers Join Local 1473
Genesis Woodlands Workers Join RWDSU/UFCW
Carefree Living Workers Join Local 1189
Bon Appétit Food Service Workers Join Local 655
Eastside Food Co-op Workers Join UFCW Local 653
L.T. Services Custodians Join Local 1994 MCGEO
Workers at Nestlé Distribution Center Join the RWDSU/UFCW
Wheaton Industries Workers Join Local 152
Colonial Parking Workers Join Local 27
Linden Hills Co-op Workers Join Local 653
Whole Foods Co-op Workers Join Local 1189
Cristal USA Inc. Workers Join ICWUC
Cannabis Dispensary Workers in Pasadena Join Local 770
People’s Food Co-op Workers Join Local 876
New A.T. Wall Workers in Rhode Island Join RWDSU/UFCW Local 599
December 11, 2017
UFCW Minority Coalition Holds Educational Conference and Awards Gala
The UFCW Minority Coalition recently hosted another successful educational conference and awards gala in Washington, D.C.
The educational conference took place on Nov. 17, and featured a workshop on Right to Work, as well as a conversation about the current political climate and the future of the labor movement. Facilitators Tiffany Loftin, senior program specialist in community with the NEA, and Jamal Watkins, national outreach director of campaigns with the AFL-CIO, presented the Right to Work session. This session highlighted the roots of this policy, as well as the racial divisions among working people and the impact that Right to Work legislation has had on working communities for 70-plus years. This session also outlined ways to frame messaging when addressing the issue of Right to Work.
The conference also featured Bill Fletcher, Jr., an activist, syndicated columnist and regular media commentator on television, radio and the web, who led a conversation about the tumultuous state of our current political climate as it relates to the future of the labor movement. This engaging conversation brought to the forefront the difficulties working people face in the time of Trump and right-wing populism.
On the evening of Nov. 18, the UFCW Minority Coalition hosted its 19th Annual Awards Gala and Fundraiser. The gala honored individuals who champion diversity and equality among men and women in the labor movement, as well as special humanitarians who are committed to the fight against sickle cell disease.
Executive Vice President and Organizing Department Director Shaun Barclay received the Person of the Year Award. Other honorees included International Vice President and UFCW Local 99 President Jim McLaughlin, who received the Local Union of the Year Award; UFCW District Council of New York and New Jersey, which received the Roland B. Scott Sickle Cell Award; Tonya McCoy of UFCW Local 75, who received the Addie Wyatt Award; International Vice President and UFCW Region 5 Director Milton Jones, who received the Robert Vaughn Award; and International Vice President and UFCW Local 21 President Todd Crosby, who received the Wendell W. Young III Award.
December 11, 2017
UFCW Members Rally to Save TPS
Last week, members from several local unions across the country, including UFCW Locals 99, 431, 876, 1189, 1776 and RWDSU, came to Washington, D.C., to deliver a message to our elected officials: Save Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and keep hard-working families together. This message was highlighted by the delivery of over 60,000 signed petitions to members of Congress.
UFCW International Secretary-Treasurer Esther Lopez rallied members on the Hill. with a clear message.“Hard-working people who have lived here for decades and played by the rules should be offered a path to legalization and citizenship,” she said.
TPS families have fled natural disasters, violence, instability, and ethnic, religious, and ideological persecution. They have also raised children here, regularly undergo DHS background checks, paying renewal fees on top of taxes, and are truly making America a better nation even as they work hard to build a better life for their families.
Ending TPS for tens of thousands of hard-working families is a personal issue to our union family – that’s why we recently joined with UNITE HERE, IUPAT, Bricklayers, AFL-CIO and the Ironworkers to form a group called Working Families United to raise our united, collective voice on behalf of TPS holders. We support Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.)’s bill (SECURE ACT), and another introduced by Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), H.R. 4253 (115). Together, we’re keeping the pressure on key congressional targets to support these measures.
December 11, 2017
UFCW Responds to GAO Report About Health and Safety in the Poultry Industry
On Dec. 7, UFCW International President Marc Perrone issued a statement in response to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) regarding safety and health in the poultry industry. This report confirms that the U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn’t consider worker safety when allowing new and dangerous chemicals to be used in poultry plants, and that OSHA can’t or won’t adequately protect poultry workers from injury. The GAO also found a pattern of poultry companies repeatedly denying access to federal safety and health inspectors, leaving workers in at least 15 plants across the South working in potentially dangerous environments.
This report supports findings by Oxfam that poultry workers struggle to get adequate bathroom breaks, even to the point of endangering their health. Other GAO reports in 2005 and 2016 also found significant problems with safety and health in the poultry industry.
Perrone’s statement reads as follows:
“The hard-working people who work in poultry plants have some of the most dangerous and physically demanding jobs in America. This report sadly confirms that many of these skilled professionals who keep our food safe are struggling to keep themselves safe at work. They have earned and deserve better.
“The dangers endured by poultry workers that are highlighted in this report also underscore why a recent request by the National Chicken Council to increase line speeds defies common sense and is being clearly driven by greed. We urge the U.S. Department of Agriculture to take this report seriously and reject that request so that poultry workers and the food we all consume can be kept safe.”
December 11, 2017
Local 152 ShopRite Workers Ratify New Contract
On Dec. 6, 2,696 UFCW Local 152 members who work at ShopRite stores in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware ratified a new contract by an overwhelming margin. The workers are employed in the meat, seafood, deli and prepared foods divisions of ShopRite.
The five-year contract includes wage and pension increases. The agreement also includes health insurance premium increases for the duration of the contract.
“I am very pleased to secure a new five-year contract extension that runs through 2022,” said UFCW Local 152 President Brian String. “The contract contains a guarantee of 40 percent increases in contributions, if needed, to fund the health and welfare benefits through that time. We also secured wage increases for every year of the contract, as well as increases into the pension plan every year. Language changes resolved outstanding issues regarding overtime and proper payment, and the contract vote was nearly unanimous for an outstanding agreement.”
December 4, 2017
UFCW Calls on Lawmakers to Oppose the AGA and Protect American Jobs
UFCW International President Marc Perrone called on lawmakers to protect U.S. jobs, as well as the safety of our food supply, by opposing Agricultural Guestworker Act (AGA) of 2017 (H.R. 4092) in an op-ed for The Washington Examiner on Dec. 4.
The following are excerpts from the op-ed:
The AGA is a direct threat to America’s hard-working families, the incomes they depend on, and the food we all eat. This is not hyperbole. If the AGA becomes law, it will allow 450,000 foreign visa holders to work in agricultural and meat processing jobs that are currently held by hard-working American men and women. The impacts of this bill, particularly upon the hundreds of thousands of people employed by the meat and poultry industry, would be devastating.
This bad bill does more than just hurt American jobs and workers – it also puts our food supply at risk. While we may not see food processing workers do their jobs, the truth is that they are highly trained professionals who perform dangerous and highly skilled work. These professionals serve as a much needed layer of protection for consumers when it comes to food safety because they know to quickly spot meat that is low quality or diseased.
Like any high skilled and vital profession, current salaries reflect the quality and importance of this workforce, with wages as high as $23 per hour. By allowing untrained workers or guestworkers to hold these important jobs for as little as $10.88 per hour, the AGA will effectively drive down wages and destroy hundreds of thousands of good jobs in the process.
At a time when we need to strengthen American jobs and make our food safer, the AGA would also allow guestworkers to stay for up to three years. That isn’t a guestworker – that’s a long-term employee and further shows how this bill is designed to both exploit foreign workers and replace American workers at the same time.
Click here to read the full op-ed.
December 4, 2017
MCAW Launches Ad Campaign to Highlight Walmart’s “War on the Holidays”
Making Change at Walmart (MCAW) released a 30-second TV commercial on Nov. 22 as part of its multi-pronged holiday campaign denouncing Walmart’s “war on the holidays.” The ad ran during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on local NBC affiliate markets in Sacramento, Phoenix, Madison, and Cincinnati.
The ad is part of MCAW’s six-week holiday initiative to highlight the retail giant’s “war on the holidays,” which included grassroots actions and social media efforts in Indianapolis, California, Arizona, Texas, Illinois, Delaware, and New York during the week leading up to Thanksgiving. Coordinated actions will continue this week at Walmart locations in at least 10 cities across the U.S. to highlight Walmart’s failure to do what every responsible employer does – pay its workers holiday pay.
Up until last year, Walmart workers who worked on a holiday received their regular hourly wage plus additional pay, equal to the average daily wage in the 12 weeks leading up to the holiday. In 2016, Walmart changed its policy and eliminated holiday pay for all workers.
The script of TV ad titled “This Thanksgiving, Be Thankful That You Don’t Work For Walmart” reads as follows:
These are all real Walmart workers
Afraid to speak out publicly or show their faces.
They’re faced with a choice of working with no holiday pay on Thanksgiving
Instead of spending time with their daughter,
Or to see her grandfather,
Or to be with her four-year-old.
Hard-working Walmart workers
With no holiday pay,
And no chance for a better life.
So, this Thanksgiving, give thanks for one thing,
That you don’t work at Walmart.
You can view the ad here.