UFCW Gold Covers Capitol Hill

Nebraskans Patricia Harris, Armando Martinez, and Jorge Angel – all UFCW members – were on Capitol Hill to share their experience about having a union at work and to urge their elected officials to support the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.

“I know that having a union makes the difference because I have worked in places where employees were harassed and threatened when they tried to join a union,” Martinez said:

When I started working at the Hormel Foods plant in Freemont in 1998, UFCW Local Union 22 already represented the workers. All I needed to do was sign up to show I wanted to join.

Harris, Angel, and Martinez are urging Senators Mike Johanns (R-NE) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) to support the the Employee Free Choice Act. They are just a few of the hundreds of UFCW members and other workers from across the country who visited the halls of Congress to speak with their elected officials and urge passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Many of the workers have experienced firsthand the disappointment of being unable to join a union, despite the fact that a majority of they and their co-workers wanted to join one. Darlene Bruzio and her co-workers at Giant Eagle grocery store in Pennsylvania lost their union election, despite having majority support at work, because of employer interference. She said:

When you have more 80% support like we did at my store and still lose an election, you know that the system is broken. Congress has to realize that and pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

Another grocery worker, James Satler, is a former Fresh and Easy worker from California who says he was fired for trying to organize a union at his workplace:

I believe that if Congress really cares about fixing the economy, it should pass Employee Free Choice because it will allow us to have better wages and benefits. Our economy is stronger when more American workers have more money to spend.

Satler, along with Celia Cisneros and Diane Garcia, say they were fired for trying to form a union at their California workplaces. They are in town to urge Senators Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to support the Employee Free Choice.

"I noticed a lot of things that weren’t right at work and I called the union for help," Garcia, a Pomona resident, said of her experience trying to form a union several years ago at Big Saver:

The company did not like the fact that we were trying to form a union and they did everything they could to prevent unionization. In the end, they fired me.

Cisneros’ experience is no different. Despite being a model worker for several years at Foster Farms, the Lindsay resident was fired when she became too involved with the union. She said:

I worked there for seven years without having one point against me. But when I became a vocal supporter of the union, they fired me and cut my medical insurance. I have a family to take care of. Fortunately, the union helped me get my job back.

UFCW Local 700 member Rick Jackson, a grocery worker in Indiana, was there to urge Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Evan Bayh (D-IN) to support the bill.

"The union helped me and I know that having a union at work makes a difference," said Jackson, a meat manager from Huntington.

Yolanda Abreu from Las Cruces, New Mexico was there to speak on Employee Free Choice. “When my coworkers and I tried to form a union at Albertsons, the company responded with threats and harassment." She continued:

Managers held mandatory meetings bashing the union, threatened workers with loss of benefits, and offered preferential treatment to those who promised to oppose the union. Even after three elections and a year of waiting, we still face a company across the table that has little legal incentive to negotiate a contract quickly or fairly. There is no better proof that the current system is broken, and that workers need the Employee Free Choice Act to protect their right to join a union of their choosing.

Abreu is urging Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Tom Udall (D-NM) to support the bill. This is just the first step for her and other UFCW members and workers across the country, who have pledged to continue to contact their members of Congress, as well as write letters and blogs, sign cards, and take an active role in urging passage of Employee Free Choice.

UFCW Members and Workers to Visit Congress Tuesday

On Tuesday, UFCW members and other workers from across the country will be visiting the halls of Congress to speak with their elected officials and urge the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Throughout the day, workers will be visiting their respective elected officials to share their stories about forming a union in the workplace, and to urge them to make the passage of the critical bill a priority.

Many of the workers have experienced firsthand the disappointment of being unable to join a union, despite the fact that a majority of they and their co-workers wanted to join one. Darlene Bruzio and her co-workers at Giant Eagle grocery store in Pennsylvania lost their union election, despite having majority support at work, because of employer interference. She said:

When you have more 80% support like we did at my store and still lose an election, you know that the system is broken. Congress has to realize that and pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

Another grocery worker, James Satler, is a former Fresh and Easy worker from California who says he was fired for trying to organize a union at his workplace:

I believe that if Congress really cares about fixing the economy, it should pass Employee Free Choice because it will allow us to have better wages and benefits. Our economy is stronger when more American workers have more money to spend.

Gallup Poll finds Public For Employee Free Choice

A new Gallup Poll finds that Americans support Employee Free Choice by a wide margin. Of Americans polled, 53% favor the law; 39% oppose it.

Big business has been screaming itself hoarse over the "evils" of Employee Free Choice--and this is the result? Perhaps Americans realize that CEOs and greedy corporations aren't exactly the most trustworthy messengers right now. Perhaps they realize that Employee Free Choice would help expand the middle class and get our economy back on track. Perhaps that's what most Americans would like--a level playing field.

Whatever the reason, Employee Free Choice opponents are starting to lose the war of words. So far, much of their argument against the bill has been a panicked call to "save our secret ballots," even though the Employee Free Choice Act would preserve the right to a secret ballot--just putting that choice in workers' hands, not CEOs. As AFL-CIO Chief Lobbyist Bill Samuel told Politico:

That argument is not going to hold up when senators see that the secret ballot
is still an option for workers...Now they are shifting their argument,
saying unions are bad for the economy. I don’t think that holds up since a
lot of economists, including [White House adviser] Larry Summers, are saying
collective bargaining helps spread prosperity across the economy.

The new Gallup poll shows that overall, Americans seem to feel the same way--that unions are good for the economy, and good for America.

We Are All Pirates Now

Ahoy, mateys. Welcome aboard the airtight entrepreneurial vessel that is Jim McTague’s version of America. Did you know that you’re probably a buccaneer at heart? And one willing to work for peanuts? Of course you are—you’d prefer it! At least, that’s what he claims in his odd opposition piece to Employee Free Choice:

My guess is that the decline of union membership in the private sector, from about 35% of workers in 1954 to 8% today, according to Epstein's numbers, owes more to a hearty embrace of entrepreneurship than to union-bashing: Most of us are buccaneers at heart. Who wouldn't want to work for relative peanuts and stock options for a visionary like Bill Gates, instead of for a steady paycheck and predictable, small-percentage annual pay increase at the local electric utility?

Yes, who indeed? It’s unclear who McTague is insulting more: working Americans with families, struggling to be responsible providers; entrepreneurs who demand more than just “relative peanuts"; or old-time buccaneers, who were in it for the adventure, sure—but mostly for the treasure and blood.

But after you stop laughing, you kind of have to wonder—is this how the business world really sees workers? As some kind of adventurer just working for the sheer fun of it, with no need for hard currency? Do they think workers who want those “predictable” jobs are lazy or unimaginative?

Or is McTague inadvertantly revealing more than he means to about the kind of workers who have, until recently, been most celebrated in today's corporate America: the ones who acted like pirates and stole the hard-earned savings of honest Americans? Should we all be Bernie Madoffs? But of course, Bernie wasn't exactly adventuring for peanuts, either.

America was build by adventurous spirits, no doubt. But after the adventuring is done, there are mouths to feed and bills to pay. All workers deserve good union jobs, with retirement security, a living wage, and affordable, quality health care. Big business wishes that ship had already sailed—but we’re going to make sure it stays anchored right here by passing the Employee Free Choice Act.

Center for Union "Facts" Pedaling Fiction on Employee Free Choice--Again

The anti-worker, pro-big business Center for Union Facts has decided to be super efficient today and accomplish two goals: bash a union and attack the Employee Free Choice Act.

Unfortunately, today's argument today sort of negates the one they've been using for months now--you know, "Big bad labor's trying to get rid of secret ballots!!!!!! Aaaaah!!!"

Oh, and the argument's also completely false.

CUF, in trying to distract from the real issue at hand, is arguing that secret ballots exist in name only today--and that evil unions like the UFCW use "deception" (their word, not mine) to get worker to sign up for unions all the time without elections. Out of the Trojan horse's mouth:

The UFCW has been at the forefront of using EFCA-style Card Check/Neutrality campaigns to organize new workers. In those campaign, the union card is the only method of gauging an employee’s interest in joining the union. If the company agrees (which the union see to), then the union is certified. Basically, the card is the vote.

So if that's the case, then what's all this fuss about getting rid of secret ballots? It looks like the big bad UFCW already got rid of them, anyway, according to CUF's blog, which refers mockingly to a UFCW union card reading, "Filling out and signing this card is a demonstration of your interest to be represented by UFCW Local 324. Doing so does NOT automatically make you a member."

"…except when it does," say the folks at the CUF, no doubt feeling snarky and clever. For folks claiming to be experts when it comes to labor, maybe they should learn a little about how union membership works.

You see, you don't become a dues-paying member of a union when you sign an authorization card--even during majority sign up. Membership (and dues withdrawal) begins only when workers ratify a contract.

But CUF probably already knows this. Just like the corporations they work for, they're petrified that the Employee Free Choice Act will help level the playing field for workers--and they're throwing everything against the wall when it comes to Employee Free Choice, hoping something will stick. So if they seem to jump from false argument to false argument ("They'll take away our secret ballots!" "They've already taken away our secret ballots!") don't worry if you're left feeling a bit baffled.

After all, as Harry Truman once said, "If you can't convince them, confuse them."

Scholarship Deadline Extended: Now April 15!

The UFCW Scholarship program has extended the deadline for 2009!

Your union is about more than your paycheck and benefits. The UFCW is about workers coming together to build better lives for ourselves. It's about creating opportunity.

Apply by April 15, 2009 for your opportunity to be awarded one of the several scholarships of up to $8,000 that will be awarded to UFCW members and their dependents. Recipients will be notified June 19, 2009.

To find out more, or to apply online, visit UFCW.org/Scholarship.

If you are unable to apply online, you may request an application by writing to:
UFCW International Union, Attn: Scholarship Program, 1775 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20006
If you need the scholarship rules or application in another language,
please contact us (1-800-551-4010) and we will obtain assistance for you.

UFCW Members Speak Out for Employee Free Choice

Dozens of UFCW members from UFCW Locals 1994, 27, and 400 were at the Capitol today as theEmployee Free Choice Act was introduced in the House and Senate. Members traveled toWashington to appear at a Senate Health,Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing entitled Rebuilding Economic Security: Empowering Workers to Restore the Middle Class.

After the hearing, Senator Harkin (D-IA) and Representative Miller (D-CA) introduced the bill in each chamber of Congress. UFCW members and members from other unions were there to show their support for Employee Free Choice as one important way to restore prosperityfor American workers in the economic downturn.

"I want Employee Free Choice to pass so that other workers can enjoy the benefits that I have,” said Jim Sanders, a Local 27 member at Shoppers Food Warehouse. “Even though the economy is bad right now, my wife and I are doing okay because we are both union members.”

“UFCW members and working families across the nation are standing firmly in support of thislegislation,” said UFCW International President Joe Hansen. “We will not let corporate America drown out reasonable debate on this issue with lies and exaggerations about the process by which workers can choose a union.”

In the coming weeks, UFCW members from all over the country will be traveling to Washington,D.C. to speak to their members of Congress and urge them to support Employee Free Choice.

UFCW President Joe Hansen to Appear at White House Forum on Health Reform

At the invitation of President Barack Obama, UFCW President Joe Hansen is set to appear this afternoon at the White House Forum on Health Reform.

The full proceedings of the summit, which begins at 1:00 p.m. EST, can be observed live at www.WhiteHouse.gov.

President Hansen has been a consistent voice for quality, affordable health care. For nearly three decades, Hansen has played a key role in the negotiation of contracts covering hundreds of thousands of workers in the retail and food manufacturing industries.

An original member of the Citizens’ Health Care Working Group, President Hansen served as the sole worker representative in that congressionally chartered body. The group facilitated a groundbreaking national dialogue that resulted in a bipartisan consensus on the need for affordable, quality care for all Americans.

At the forum, President Hansen will focus on how workers and unions can play an important role in reforming a health care system paralyzed by insurance companies and entrenched special interests--a critical step in the effort to rebuild the American middle class.

Obama Sees Labor as "Part of the Solution"

Isn't it nice to have a president who doesn't demonize labor and treat unions and their members as the scary "other?" We kind of think so.

And it's not just lip service with President Obama and Vice President Biden. Over and over again, they've assured union members that we'll have a place at the table when it comes to important decisions about the economy.

President Obama truly believes that labor is not the "other"--and that unions are essential to our economy. He said so again when addressing the AFL-CIO yesterday:

I want to repeat something that those of you who joined us for the Task Force announcement heard me say: I do not view the labor movement as part of the problem. To me, and to my administration, labor unions are a big part of the solution. We need to level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests – because we cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement.

In his remarks, the President also outlined briefly what his adminstration had already done in a just a brief time to advance the rights of working families in this country. He spoke of signing the Lily Ledbetter Act into law, to ensure equal pay for equal work, and of signing a bill expanding SCHIP for children's health care coverage. The President also restated his commitment to health care for all and passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.

And President Obama also spoke of some important appointments which will prove invaluable to union members and working Americans in the coming months:

I’m also pleased to have nominated Hilda Solis, a daughter of union members and a lifelong champion for working families, to be my Secretary of Labor – and that Vice President Joe Biden has agreed to lead my administration’s Task Force on Middle Class Working Families. This Task Force will work hand in hand with my cabinet and White House agencies – as well as with all of you – to focus on growing and sustaining the middle class.

UFCW members and union members across the nation worked tirelessly to elect President Obama, because we knew he'd be an advocate for the hardworking men and women that make our country run. And we continue to see nothing but positive developments coming out of the White House in regards to unions and to the interests of working families nationwide. As the President made clear yesterday, unions "will always have a seat at the table."

Click here to read the President's full remarks yesterday on unions.