UFCW President Hansen on Huffington Post, On Good Jobs

President Hansen has a Labor Day message for all Americans--a message about why we need to make sure the jobs of the future are good jobs. A new poll by Lake Research, sponsored by the UFCW, shows that Americans are concerned about the jobs of the future, and want to make sure that those jobs are the kind of jobs that can support a family and make America's economy strong and competitive.

It's up to all of us, workers, shoppers, community members, and political leaders, to ensure that economic policies provide the opportunity to make all retail jobs good, career jobs. According to the Lake poll, a majority of voters believe job growth must be good job growth. In a number of polls Lake Research has found that a key economic frame for Americans is to have good-paying job no matter what the sector. To make that happen we must actively engage in the policy decisions that guide economic growth and job creation, and we must correct the current wage gap so that as worker productivity increases paychecks also increase.

Read the oped--and preview of the poll results, which will be released soon--at the Huffington Post today. And Happy Labor Day to you and your families!

UFCW Local 23 Members Make a Music Video

Seriously, this is awesome. Check out the video Local 23 members made to show their pride in their work at Giant Eagle grocery stores.

Great video from UFCW Local 23!

Giant Eagle Workers Rally for Good Jobs! (w/video)

Last week, Giant Eagle workers in Pittsburgh showed the company they deserve to share the success with the company, asking for good health care benefits and better wages as they go into contract negotiations. Workers and supporters rallied by the hundreds, singing and chanting and watching video and making speeches and just generally having a great time with their UFCW brothers and sisters, feeling the solidarity.

But we don't want to describe the rally--that's just no good. Let us show you what we mean.

UFCW Local 23 members rallied on Tuesday for good jobs in their community. This rally was all about showing solidarity and pride in being a member of their union--the UFCW.

Support Shaw's Warehouse Workers!

Shaw's warehouse workers and Local 791 members in Massachusetts need your support! These Shaw's employees work hard to make their company successful, and they deserve a fair contract.

But Shaw's wants to make health care unaffordable for these workers and their families. That's just not right. Forcing workers to pay so much toward health care would be devestating to working families right here in Methuen, at a time when health care costs are soaring and money is already tight.

Please show Shaw's that this community supports Shaw's warehouse workers and Methuen's working families! Sign the petition today and let these workers know you support them.

UFCW STATEMENT ON PROPOSED SALE OF PENN TRAFFIC

Washington, DC - Early this morning, Penn Traffic filed a motion in federal bankruptcy court to approve a sale of the company's assets to Tops Markets. The motion is subject to court approval and any higher and better offers. The following is a joint statement of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, UFCW Local 1, UFCW Local 23, and UFCW Local 1776, which collectively represent approximately 4,800 Penn Traffic employees:

"Today represents a significant milestone in the renewal of a company with deep roots in New York and Pennsylvania. Consumers, political leaders, and grocery workers came together to produce an agreement that will benefit the entire community. The proposed sale would preserve thousands of good jobs and keep open dozens of stores in our neighborhoods. UFCW members have a long-standing relationship with Tops Market, and we look forward to serving as partners in this chapter of the company's growth."

Powering Up the NYC Economy With Good Grocery Jobs

Last night local retail employers, policy experts, community and union leaders debated the issues faced by grocery store employees and grocery store operators in a recovering economy. The discussion was moderated by Mimi Rosenberg of WBAI's Building Bridges, and tackled the ways in which successful grocery businesses can also be community-leading employers.

Retail jobs are the fastest growing industry in the country. To enable the growing numbers employed in retail to achieve the American Dream, workers and customers alike are beginning to push back against the Walmart business model that’s driven down wages, benefits and standards of living for workers and communities nationwide.

Upper East Side market Agata & Valentina employees shared how they are struggling to attain the American Dream. Agata & Valentina worker Alfredo Pena said, “For me, a union means a voice for workers on the job. It means we don’t have to ask the boss for things like a raise individually, because we can stand together and have more power to improve our jobs that way.”

Pathmark employee and United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1500 member Ann Marie Griffin spoke about the benefits of having a union at her workplace. “If it were not for the health insurance I receive as a union member,” she said, “I would not have been able to have two c-sections that I needed. And because I am a union member my salary has increased over the years. I know that others at non-union stores who are doing the same work I do, for the same amount of years, they may not even come close to what I make.”

Business leaders at the roundtable discussed how the union-employer partnership works well to improve their business. Charles Farfaglia, Fairway Market LLC, Vice President of Human Resources, said that having the UFCW working with his company helps with problem-solving, creates lower turnover rates, and gives employees a sense of security and stability that helps them better perform their jobs.

“When employees are given an unfettered choice, they view working in a union store as desirable,” he said. “That actually helps in recruiting new people. Fairway opened a store in Paramus, NJ, last March. We conducted seven job fairs…and many people asked if the store was going to be union. All who asked wanted to work in a union store.”

Also on the panel were: Rene Flores, Gristedes Foods, Executive Director of Human Resources and Asset Management; Dr. Nicholas Freudenberg, City University of New York, Distinguished Professor of Public Health; UFCW Local 1500 Field Director Rob Newell; and Paul Sonn, National Employment Law Project, Legal Co-Director.

Nothing At All 'Fine' About 'Fine Foods' Company

How would you like to make $8 an hour and have no health care benefits, but rub shoulders with the super-rich?

The Upper East Side in New York City, UES to Manhattanites, is one of the most expensive places to live in the country. $1,200 per square foot is about what it's going to cost someone to buy space in the neighborhood, and renting a one-bedroom apartment runs about $2,200 per month.

One zip code in the UES gives more money to political candidates than any other zip code in the nation. Average income in that area is about $176,000.

This is where Bravo's Real Housewives of New York City live.

You would think that an uber-gourmet grocery store that serves this neighborhood--the kind that charges an arm and a leg for special pepper spread from some place none of us have ever heard of--would be willing to pay their employees a decent wage.

Think again.

Agata and Valentina, the fine food grocery where foodie icon Rachael Ray got her start, fired Roberto De La Cruz in March because he had begun organizing to unionize the grocery. De La Cruz, who worked at Agata and Valentina for six years, knew that some employees only made $8 an hour and that many worked without health care benefits. So he contacted the UFCW, the grocery workers' union. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500, to be exact.

De La Cruz said he believes he was let go for one reason: "I was called into the office and fired. They told me it was because I supported a union."

Hundreds of community supporters, concerned shoppers, and UFCW members are rallying this afternoon to call attention to the way Agata & Valentina unfairly treats their employees.

If you are in New York, please show up today at 3:30 on the corner of 1st Ave and E 79th St. for a rally to call on Agata and Valentina to rescind their immoral and unlawful termination of De La Cruz. The rally, 'Nothing 'Fine' About It," will help highlight the irresponsible behavior of this so-called "fine foods" company.

All workers should have the right to organize free from harassment and intimidation. But Agata and Valentina seems to think it's more important to have the best cheeses in the world than it is to treat their workers with dignity and respect. And there's nothing "fine" about that.

Unified Action Hitting Grocery Stores Across the Country

Grocery workers are standing up to protect good jobs with affordable health care at supermarkets across the country today. Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union in multiple cities are outside of major supermarkets communicating with customers in support of the 26,000 Safeway and Ahold workers in Baltimore, Md., and Washington, D.C., who may be forced on strike because the companies refuse to offer a fair contract that reflects their success.

Supermarket giants Safeway and Ahold, owner of Giant Foods in the metro Washington, D.C. area, are refusing to provide access to affordable health care and living wages their employees have earned. This race to the bottom hurts communities who often have to bear the impact from greedy corporations that force hard-working families onto social services for basic needs.

Workers are taking action and reaching out to customers at Safeway and Ahold-owned stores coast-to-coast today, from Southern California and the Puget Sound to Chicago and along the East Coast.

UFCW members at Safeway-owned stores, Dominick’s and Genaurdi’s, and Ahold-owned Stop & Shop stores are concerned about the companies’ bargaining agenda and how it could hurt the industry.

“Safeway and the other big grocery chains already reached agreements with workers in other parts of the country that provide affordable health care and decent wages. It’s really important that these companies treat all of its employees fairly,” says Melissa Champion, UFCW Local 21 member and Seattle Safeway employee.

Caitlin Lawson, UFCW Local 328, works at Ahold-owned Stop & Shop in Massachusetts. She said, “When we were fighting for health care and decent wages for part-timers, the workers in Baltimore and Washington took a stand with us. Now I’m proud to let my company know that I’m still in this fight for a fair contract for all supermarket workers.”

The contract covering workers in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore expires on March 29, 2008. Over the past 18 months, UFCW members have mobilized in unified actions to support supermarket bargaining. The central website, www.groceryworkersunited.com, has been a focal point for solidarity actions and coast-to-coast UFCW member solidarity.

Just this week, a grocery worker from Chicago posted a message to UFCW members on the East Coast encouraging solidarity. Jeff, a UFCW Local 1546 member, wrote, “Remember you are fighting not only for your contract talks, but for the rest of them across the nation. We will be watching here in Chicago because we will be starting grocery talks with Safeway near the end of the year.”

The actions today are the latest steps in the national unity bargaining movement among UFCW members working in the grocery industry. The UFCW represents 1.3 million workers, with nearly one million in the grocery industry.

Support is Key for Local 400 and 27 Contract Talks

The contract between UFCW Local 400 and Giant and Safeway stores expires in little more than a week, and Safeway is already running an ad for temporary employees "in preparation for a possible labor dispute."

Union officials say the talks have been slow, with the grocery companies insisting on give backs the union considers unacceptable. You can read more about the issues in today's Washington Post.

Members of local 400 and 27 have distributed stickers for all of their members to wear, displaying their unity and strength. And they've put together a video explaining the sticker program and the importance of signaling their unity.

There are several other ways to show support for the Local 400 members, including downloading and printing cards of support to hand to your local grocery workers, volunteering to pass leaflets outside your neighborhood store or writing a letter to the management of the store where you shop. Many people have already signed up to help. Sign up here to show community support.