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News and Updates
June 17, 2011
Food & Commercial Workers Denounce Slashing of Federal Food Safety Budget
WASHINGTON, DC—The following is a statement from the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union:
“Yesterday, Republicans in the House of Representatives slashed millions of dollars from the budget of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food safety programs. This bill, which not one Democrat voted for, put’s the safety of American families and food supply at risk by slashing funding for food inspections and safety.
“Americans have faced a veritable deluge of food safety problems over the last decade in products as varied as peanuts, spinach and tomatoes. The Obama administration led the charge to ensure for adequate inspection and regulation to keep our dinner table safe, but House Republicans are undoing that hard work by gutting the funding for a safer food supply. Around 48,000,000 Americans get sick from their food every year, yet House Republicans don’t see food safety as an issue worth funding.
“We work across the food industry – in meat, poultry, food processing, canning and produce – but we’re especially concerned that the new bill may cause furloughs for meat and poultry inspectors. These inspectors play a vital role in the functioning of one of America’s largest export industries. Our workers in the processing and packing industries depend on their involvement to insure a safe product for their customers. Lax inspections could also have a negative effect on American food exports at a time when our economy is already struggling. We need to fully fund the food safety bill and ensure a food supply that Americans can count on for the future.”
June 17, 2011
The UFCW, Smithfield and Food Network
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – (June 17, 2011) – Delighted to join TODAY’s 10th annual “Lend a Hand” campaign with Al Roker, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) and Smithfield delivered 120,000 servings of protein to benefit Covenant House of West Virginia and other local charitable agencies at Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences, 300 Leon Sullivan Way, at 7:00 a.m.
Covenant House, the final stop on the “Lend a Hand” philanthropic tour, is a multi-faceted, nonprofit organization that offers a variety of assistance services to the Charleston community. In addition to a food pantry that provides nearly 5,000 meals annually, Covenant House services include a day shelter, community housing, housing assistance and community resource education.
“Feeding the Hungry” is a joint program of the UFCW and Smithfield to donate and help deliver 20 million servings of protein over three years to assistance organizations around the country. The partnership is designed to bring much needed assistance to the growing number of people facing hunger and food insecurity in our communities.
“Last year we fed over 6 million people and as we take our nationwide Feeding the Hungry Tour on the road for the second year, the UFCW is committed to ensuring that families across the country have the relief and the opportunities they need to weather the current economic crises,” said Joe Hansen, UFCW international president. “All across the country, UFCW members are on the frontlines of efforts to improve and strengthen their communities, and this partnership reflects their unwavering commitment to protect and advocate for families during tough times.”
“Smithfield is proud to continue the second year of our hunger relief tour. We’re well on our way to feeding 20 million people,” said Dennis Pittman, public affairs director, Smithfield. “We hope to continue increasing awareness and encourage individuals and companies to donate to their local food banks.”
June 16, 2011
Making Change at Walmart Stands with Walmart Associates in Bentonville, Arkansas
Washington, DC-Today, nearly 100 Walmart Associates who are part of a new associate-led organization traveled to Bentonville, Arkansas to speak out directly to company executives to ask for partnership in making change in stores across the country. The Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) provides Walmart Associates an opportunity to join together to improve working conditions, their company, their own lives and most importantly, to gain more respect on the job.
“”The Walmart Associates who traveled to Arkansas today showed tremendous courage and sent a clear message that their concerns will no longer be silenced,” said Dan Schlademan, Director of Making Change at Walmart. “”These Associates are leaders for their company and an inspiration for others who want to make change at Walmart.””
“”Making Change at Walmart is proud to stand with these Associates who care about their company and their co-workers enough to come together and try to make it better. How Walmart treats Associates has a ripple effect on the rest of the retail industry and the economy as a whole. We will stand with these Associates until we make real change at Walmart. That change will improve their lives and their company, the working conditions for the retail and grocery industry, and the future for all working people.””
June 14, 2011
STATEMENT BY UFCW PRESIDENT JOSEPH T. HANSEN REGARDING THE JOBS COUNCIL MEETING
Washington, D.C. – The following remarks were delivered by United Food and Commercial Workers International Union President Joseph T. Hansen at the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness meeting in Durham, N.C. on June 13:
“I look at the work of this council as an effort to look at primarily non-legislative approaches to address the plight of the millions of unemployed or underemployed workers in this country.
“I believe we need to play to our country’s strengths. While not as sexy as some things you will hear today, one of our country’s strengths is agriculture—directly employing over 2 million Americans. And when you add related processing, distribution and retail jobs, that number grows to almost 4 million.
“The UFCW represents over 300,000 workers in food manufacturing—mainly in meat and poultry processing. The U.S. meat and poultry industry directly employs 1.8 million people and pays $45.5 billion in wages and benefits. An estimated 580,000 people have jobs in distribution of meat and poultry products, and over 1 million more retail jobs depend on the sale of meat and poultry products to the public. The meat and poultry industry is a growing industry with growing employment.
“Exports are a significant—and increasingly important driver—of this job growth.
- For every $1 billion in beef exports, over 12,000 jobs are created.
- For every $1 billion in pork exports, over 13,000 jobs are created.
- For every $1 billion in poultry exports, over 11,000 jobs are created.
“Industry economists believe that a focused governmental effort to address barriers to United States’ meat exports to Asian countries has the potential to add thousands of jobs in the U.S. Secretary Vilsack and Ambassador Kirk have done important work in this area. We have already begun to see results. China has started to recognize that it is in their self-interest to address their domestic food situation by cracking open their import door to U.S. meat. As a result, food exports to China are growing strongly.
“Right now, we have additional opportunities with Russia. Since Russia is looking to join the World Trade Organization, it is important to get their commitment to drop their various methods of blocking U.S. meat imports. I know Ambassador Kirk and his team are aware of these issues, but I wanted to take this opportunity to stress the impact these issues have on U.S. jobs.
“Along with meat exports, I wanted to take this opportunity to stress another issue—the importance of traditional defined benefit pensions in the economic health of this country. Virtually all economists agree that the U.S. economy needs to be rebalanced:
- We need more national saving, investment, and new business formation; and
- We need less debt fueled consumption.
“The continuance of defined benefit pension plans needs to be part of that rebalancing. In 2007, public and private defined benefit pension plans had nearly $9 trillion in assets and, in the aggregate, these plans were almost fully funded. The downturn in financial markets reduced many of the plans’ funding. There is a consensus among labor and employers that there is a need for relief – not to change the requirement to fully fund pensions, but to extend the time frame for achieving such funding.
“Defined benefit plans have made significant investments in infrastructure in support of job generation in the U.S. We cannot afford to lose this source of funds which help create jobs. A well-thought out program of federal government guarantees and other financial incentives directed at pension investors could encourage such plans to invest even greater allocations to rebuilding America’s infrastructure. We hope that the Administration and Congress can work to achieve these goals.
“Finally, Mr. President, I want to thank you for keeping America’s unemployed at the top of your Administration’s priorities. I look forward to working with the council to help you continue to create job opportunities for American workers. Thank you.”
June 3, 2011
Advisory: Bangladeshi Labor Leader to Present New York City Pension Fund Proposal at Walmart Shareholder Meeting
WHO: Kalpona Akter, a Bangladeshi labor leader and former garment worker
WHAT: Akter will deliver NYC Pension Funds’ shareholder proposal on behalf of New York City Comptroller John C. Liu at Friday’s shareholders meeting, calling on the company to require reports on suppliers’ compliance with international human and workers rights standards. Press availability on-site / Photo Opportunity.
WHEN: Friday, June 3, after Akter’s presentation
WHERE: Walmart Shareholders Meeting
Bentonville, AR
CONTACT:
Ryan Vanderbilt at 202.285.8227 / rvanderbilt@asgk.com
Jennifer Stapleton at 202.466.1576 / jstapleton@ufcw.org
Matthew Sweeney, Office of NYC Comptroller John C. Liu, 212-669-3747, msweeney@comptroller.nyc.gov
Bentonville, AR–Kalpona Akter, the executive director of the Bangladeshi Center for Worker Solidarity, will deliver a proposal at Walmart’s shareholders meeting Friday, calling on the nation’s largest retailer to require its suppliers around the globe to publish reports on their compliance with international standards of human and workers rights.
The proposal, put forth by New York City Controller John C. Liu and the New York City Pension Funds, will be voted on by Walmart shareholders on Friday. NYC Pension Funds hold Walmart shares valued at more than $300 million.
Akter faces years in prison or even a potential death sentence on unsubstantiated criminal charges of fomenting garment worker unrest in Bangladesh. In 2010, Bangladeshi factory owners, including a Walmart subcontractor, filed a false criminal complaint against Akter, which resulted in her being arrested, imprisoned for 30 days, and tortured.
Factory workers in the country have organized to raise the minimum wage — from 12 cents an hour to 35 cents — but have been met with backlash. Eighteen members of Congress have sent letters on Akter’s behalf to Walmart, five other U.S. retailers, and to the U.S. Trade Representative.
Online press kit at: http://www.ufcw.org/makingchange/shareholder.cfm
May 31, 2011
Global Union Coalition says no free pass for Walmart as South African Competition Tribunal approves its buy of Massmart
A global trade union coalition today said the decision from the South African Competition Tribunal to approve the merger of global retail giant Walmart with local retailer Massmart is not a free pass for the world’s largest company.
The Tribunal should and could have gone much further in laying down merger conditions, said the coalition formed by UNI Global Union, the South Africa Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU) and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) of North America to contest the merger.
“When you are dealing with a heavyweight, you need more than flyweight conditions,” said UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings. “”Even though we did win concessions that the companies never would have made on their own. This is no free pass for Walmart. This is not the time for a Walmart lap of honour.”
SACCAWU, which represents thousands of workers at Massmart, has also expressed its strong disappointment with the decision.
“We reiterate our position to strongly challenge this decision,”” said SACCAWU General Secretary Bones Skulu.””We are opposed to the acquisition of Massmart by Walmart without compelling and tangible conditions.”
In its decision, the Tribunal said the retailer must give preference as positions become available to re-hiring 503 workers who lost their jobs in Massmart last year; cannot cut staff for two years; it must honour existing labour agreements with SACCAWU for the next three years; and after the merger, it will set up a fund of 100 million rand ($US 14 million, or about 0.003% of annual global sales) for a three-year program to develop local suppliers, with trade unions sitting on the committee.
“With the economic scale of Walmart’s global business, the Tribunal should have been more ambitious in its decision. One hundred million rand is pocket money for this company,” Jennings said.
UNI believes that the decision from the Tribunal should be a wake-up call to Walmart that it needs to actively engage with unions in South Africa and around the world.
“It’s time for Bentonville to globally engage with UNI and our unions,” Jennings said. “With its new corporate buyout shop in London to invade and conquer new markets, governments and people are on alert that Walmart could be on its way to their country. Walmart should learn its lesson from South Africa. The more the Tribunal heard from Walmart, the more apprehensive they became about the merger. In the end the company had no choice but change its position.”
“In North America we have witnessed first-hand Walmart’s approach to labour relations”, said Michael Bride, UFCW’s Deputy Organizing Director for Global Strategies. “We believe that this process in South Africa has effectively demonstrated to Walmart that it cannot hide from its labour record anywhere in the world, and for this reason we would echo UNI’s call that the company should sit down and negotiate a global settlement with unions from across its business.”
May 26, 2011
STATEMENT BY THE UFCW REGARDING THE SENATE
Washington, D.C. – The following is a statement issued by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union:
“”The UFCW commends the U.S. Senate for rejecting Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget plan yesterday. This reckless plan shows how disconnected Republicans in Congress are from hard working Americans by attempting to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and middle class, end Medicare as we know it, and cut Medicaid and other programs that serve the poor. To add insult to injury, this plan would lower tax rates on the rich and corporations and actually increase our national debt over the next ten years.
“”At a time when millions of Americans are still looking for work, home prices are falling, oil and food prices are rising and wages have stagnated, the Republican budget plan would lead to fewer jobs and jeopardize our country’s ability to recover from the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression. These cuts would also cause unnecessary suffering and further weaken Americans’ confidence in their government at a time when many believe they will never achieve the American dream of owning a home, sending their children to college or retiring comfortably.
“”The UFCW will continue to fight any action by lawmakers who want to protect the wealthy few at the expense of the poor and middle class. We urge President Obama and the Democratic Party to continue to fight for a budget that rebuilds our economy, creates good jobs, revives America’s middle class and protects our most vulnerable citizens.””
May 19, 2011
In big reversal, South African Competition Commission calls for conditions on Walmart entry
The South African Competition Tribunal hearings, which ended on Monday, offered enough proof to the South African Competition Commission that it reversed its earlier decision to recommend the Walmart deal for Massmart go through without conditions.
The Commission now says that if the merger is approved, a condition should be applied compelling Walmart to reinstate the 503 retrenched workers that Massmart cut in anticipation of the merger. It also recommends a condition stating that existing labour agreements with Massmart must be honoured for three years.
Explaining the turnaround, the Commission said there were many documents that it hadn’t seen when it made its original recommendation to the Tribunal that Walmart enter the market without conditions. After listening to the evidence and seeing various documents through the discovery process, it formed a new conclusion.
In the hearings, when questioned directly by the Competition Tribunal Chair, Massmart CEO Grant Pattison offered to sit down and discuss with the union the possibility of offering preferential re-employment on new terms and conditions. This is much weaker than the Competition Commission’s recommendation to reinstate the workers in their old jobs. Massmart could offer new jobs to the workers based on its own discretion and could walk away from talks if the union doesn’t accept their offer.
“What Massmart has offered so far is an insult to South African workers,” said Bones Skulu, General Secretary of the South Africa Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU). “We won’t accept a shallow, noncommittal offer that only gives workers the possibility of being hired for new jobs without any guarantee of their former positions and working conditions. We expect the Tribunal will take this into account as it deliberates.”
Walmart has offered a few voluntary conditions on the deal that fall far short of what trade unions are calling for. The company has also threatened to walk away from the deal or take the Tribunal to court if it imposes stronger conditions.
“The Walmartization of Massmart has already begun,” said UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings. “Before the offer was finalized, Massmart was already changing its corporate behaviour to entice Walmart and it was workers who were hurt in the process. This deal should only go through if there is protection for local workers and the local economy.”
SACCAWU, UNI Global Union, and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) of North America, who have formed a global coalition to contest the merger, say that if the deal is approved, strong conditions are necessary to ensure that there’s not further bad news for South African workers. This is echoed by COSATU, FAWU and NUMSA who are in support in the application. COSATU has in advance filed a section 77 notice with NEDLAC in preparation for rolling mass action should the tribunal in its findings not include conditions as put forward by the Unions and the three Government Ministries.
“At the hearings Walmart unsuccessfully tried to run from its record in the USA and Canada,” said Michael Bride of the UFCW. “This should send a clear message to Walmart that our global union network will ensure that an assault by Walmart on workers’ rights in one country shall be known by those in all countries.”
The Competition Tribunal has day 10 days to issue a decision on whether it will approve the merger or not and, if so, what conditions it places on the deal.
May 16, 2011
Push for conditions on Walmart buy of Massmart
As the South African Competition Tribunal wound down hearings on the proposed merger of Walmart and Massmart on Monday, the country’s Competition Commission changed its recommendation on the deal. The Competition Commission said the merger should only go through if Walmart hires back 503 workers fired by Massmart as it prepared for Walmart’s offer.
The global coalition of trade unions contesting the merger have demanded that if the Tribunal approves Walmart’s entry it should only do so with strict, enforceable conditions that promote the interests of domestic suppliers and place the interests of Massmart workers at their core. Central to this are the reasonable demands for post-transaction group centralized bargaining, a closed shop and reinstatement for dismissed workers.
During the hearings, Walmart repeatedly refused to make any commitments on its post-merger behavior but on Monday it offered a few. The multinational said it wouldn’t cut staff for two years; it would honor labor agreements for a period assigned by the Tribunal, and after the merger it would volunteer 100 million rand ($US 14 million, or about 0.003% of annual sales) to develop a three-year program to develop local suppliers, with trade unions sitting on the committee.
“It’s a positive step that Walmart recognizes that it needs to accept conditions on the deal,” said Christy Hoffman, deputy general secretary of UNI Global Union, which is part of the global union coalition. “While welcoming the commission’s recommendation, we question how serious Walmart is when it puts an offer on the table that falls far short of what is needed to ensure local procurement and protection of union and workers’ rights.”
The South African Competition Tribunal heard the final arguments today as it considers whether or not to allow retail giant Walmart to buy local chain Massmart and enter the African market. If it allows the deal to go through, it can decide what conditions are necessary to protect the local economy.
Walmart said on Monday that it will appeal any conditions set by the Tribunal or walk away from the deal, according to media reports.
Throughout the weeklong hearing, a global coalition of trade unions is contesting the merger – South Africa Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU), UNI Global Union, and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) of North America— supported a call to block Walmart’s entry into South Africa. They presented testimony on Walmart’s anti-union and anti-worker policies in other parts of the world, most notably the USA, with the company attempting to explain these away by virtue of “”cultural norms.”
“Walmart cannot run from its history or current anti-worker behavior in many parts of the world,” said Michael Bride of UFCW. “What it is finding as it continues to try and expand business in urban centers in the US and other countries around the globe is that its anti-worker stance is not serving it well.”
The announcement from the Competition Commission was a notable reversal after it originally recommended the deal proceed without restriction.
“”We were heartened to discover that the Competition Commission, having weighed the evidence, changed its recommendation on the basis that it now agreed with the union’s consistent view that the retrenchment of workers prior to the merger was connected with the merger, contrary to the claims of Walmart and Massmart,” said Bones Skulu, SACCAWU General Secretary.
The coalition says that the Tribunal should not be bullied into accepting the deal. Their responsibility is to protect the local economy and to encourage Foreign Direct Investment that will develop the economy in a positive way for the benefit of all South Africans.