Walmart Workers for Change

Walmart workers from across the nation are converging today on Capitol Hill for a National Organizing Meeting to brief Senators about wages, benefits and the Employee Free Choice Act. Nearly 100 Walmart workers from 17 states are participating in the event. As part of their campaign for a union voice on the job, they're urging lawmakers to level the playing field for working people by supporting the Employee Free Choice Act.

"I made the trip into Washington DC to stand with my fellow Walmart workers and to urge my Senators to pass the Employee Free Choice Act," said Dominique Sloan a Dallas, Texas, Walmart worker:

We need change in this country. All you have to do is look at how all the money goes to CEOs. But when it comes to workers, its always the same, no health care or health care thats too expensive and low wages. We need to change that.

The National Organizing Committee is made up of Walmart workers from Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

Despite Walmart's well-documented history of anti-working-family activities, workers say they are excited by the election of Barack Obama, excited that the President says it's not too much to ask Walmart to pay decent wages and provide good health care, and excited that the Employee Free Choice Act can help bring the change that helps workers and makes Walmart live up to its responsibilities.

"I have three boys, and I had to get Florida Kids Care to cover their medical", says Cheryl Guzman, a Walmart worker from Miami:

It's either you eat, or you have medical coverage, and that's not right. That's why I'm part of Walmart Workers for Change.

Ten workers recently shared their stories in a new video, released earlier this week. Workers from the National Organizing Committee will be available to the press today after a Capitol Hill briefing at 10 a.m., in 328 Russell Senate Office Building.

Walmart Workers for Change is a new campaign made up of thousands of Walmart workers joining together to form a union and negotiate better benefits, higher wages, and more opportunity for a better future. The campaign is a project of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). The UFCW represents 1.3 million workers nationwide, with nearly one million working in the supermarket industry, and with many members working at national retail stores such as Bloomingdales, Macys, H&M, Modells Sporting Goods, Saks Fifth Avenue, RiteAid, CVS, and Syms.

Cross-posted at http://uniongal.blogspot.com/

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Congress is starting to hold hearings on health care reform, and it's crucial they hear that you support efforts to win quality, affordable health care for all. Call your Members of Congress and ask them to sign on with Health Care for America Now and work for real reform!

Workers' Memorial Day

Today, April 28th, is recognized around the world as Workers' Memorial Day.
Each year, 6,000 workers loose their lives on the job. Today, the National Labor College is breaking ground for a memorial to these everyday heroes in recognition for the sacrifice they have made.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Workers' Memorial will be attended by the new Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, America's new Secretary of Labor who is committed to putting the needs of working people at the heart of her Department.

UFCW members, young and old, work around dangerous equipment and in hazardous conditions. Like many workers, we work under immense pressure to get the job done and may not always have enough help. As a result, injuries occur. Sometimes these injuries are minor, but all too often they may result in death or traumatic injuries, such as amputations. Learn more about how you can Stay Safe at work.

According to the International Labor Organization:

-Each year, more than two million women and men die as a result of work-related accidents and diseases
-Workers suffer approximately 270 million occupational accidents each year, and fall victim to some 160 million incidents of work-related illnesses
-Hazardous substances kill 440,000 workers annually – asbestos claims 100,000 lives
-One worker dies every 15 seconds worldwide. 6,000 workers die every day. Work kills more people than wars.

According to the AFL-CIO blog, two congressional hearings today will focus on strengthening the nation’s workplace safety and health protections. The House Education and Labor Committee’s hearing is “Are OSHA’s Penalties Adequate to Deter Health and Safety Violations?” and the Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Worker Safety’s hearing is “Introducing Meaningful Incentives for Safe Workplaces and Meaningful Roles for Victims and Their Families.” This is a significant change from the Bush administration. A report released April 1 revealed the Bush administration’s OSHA systematically failed to perform follow-up inspections for employers who put workers in serious danger. At 45 work sites where OSHA oversight was deficient, 58 workers subsequently were killed by job hazards. Click here to read the report. [pdf]

NEW VIDEO: Walmart Workers for Change

Walmart Workers for Change, a new campaign of thousands of Walmart’s 1.3 million associates across the country who are standing up and demanding a voice in the workplace, released a new video today that show the kind of anti-worker tactics they are facing from the world’s largest retailer. "The associates are afraid," said Cynthia Murray, a Walmart associate in Laurel, Maryland:

They’re intimidated, and they are afraid. My family and other families have paid the price for freedom. And when you tell me I can’t talk about a union, you’re taking my freedom from me.

Workers in more than 100 stores in 15 states across the country have joined together and signed union representation cards, citing a lack of respect from the company, as well as poverty-level wages and sub-par benefits as reasons they need a union voice on the job. Even though Walmart’s got a long and well-documented history of anti-worker activities, workers say they Obama's election has inspired them to take action, as has the introduction of the Employee Free Choice Act in Congress. The campaign comes at a time when workers find their wages have stagnated, even as Walmart and the Walton family continue to make record profits. Walmart’s recently released 2009 10K shows the company made $13.4 billion in profits last year. In the new video, which can be viewed at http://www.walmartworkersforchange.org/index.php/pages/articles/walmarts_war_on_workers, 10 workers from coast to coast detail the company’s response to their organizing efforts, including:

Dominique Sloane and Mark Moore, of Dallas, Texas, were told that their store would be closed if workers voted to organize. In Miami, Florida, Cheryl Guzman was interrogated by a manager about who among her colleagues supported a union. Linda Haluska, of Glendale, Illinois, was called into four mandatory meetings in one week, where she and her colleagues were shown anti-union, anti-Employee Free Choice videos.

Walmart Workers for Change is a new campaign made up of thousands of Walmart workers joining together to form a union and negotiate better benefits, higher wages, and more opportunity for a better future.

UFCW Member and West Wing Actors Speak Out for Employee Free Choice

Local 2008 member Joe Ann Fowler was on Capitol Hill to share her story about trying to form a union. Fowler was a featured speaker at a press event sponsored by American Rights at Work to unveil a new grassroots campaign, “Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act,” and made her case for Employee Free Choice alongside several members of Congress as well as Hollywood actors Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford and Richard Schiff of the popular television show The West Wing.

Fowler also urged Congressman Mike Ross (D-AR) to make passing Employee Free Choice Act a priority in the House. This is the second time in two weeks Fowler has met with her elected officials, including last week when she and UFCW International President Joe Hansen met with Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) to share her story.

She spoke about the hurdles workers face when they try to unionize under current labor laws. “Under the Employee Free Choice Act, it will be the workers’ free choice to organize,” said Fowler. “You won’t have to worry about the company threatening you.”

A Certified Nursing Assistant at Lake Village Health Care in Wilmot, Ark., Fowler, along with her co-workers, became concerned about changes made by new administrators that limited their voice in patient care and made working conditions unfair. According to Fowler, when they tried to organize, management threatened workers with layoffs and tried to bribe workers with raises if they would vote against the union. Fowler and her co-workers finally did get a union on the job.

UFCW members like Fowler and other workers across the country are writing letters, blogging, sending emails, calling their elected officials, and signing cards to urge passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Two Weeks Left to Apply for the Scholarship

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.