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News and Updates
March 11, 2010
UFCW Statement on DoJ/USDA Inquiry into Agribusiness Consolidation
Ankeny, IA – The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union represents more than 250,000 men and women who work in the food processing and packing industries, each of whom has a stake in industry consolidation as both a worker and a consumer.
UFCW members and senior officials will be available for comment on Thursday and Friday, before and after the public meetings and workshops. The following is the statement of Mark Lauritsen, International Vice President and Director of the Food Processing, Packing, and Manufacturing Division of the UFCW.
“When done properly, consolidation can stabilize the marketplace, make food cheaper, and raise standards across the industry. But when workers and communities aren’t part of the equation, it’s families and local economies that suffer.
“The diverse group of voices brought to the table by the Obama administration can speak not only to how agribusiness is consolidating, but also why. Big box retailers like Walmart are making record profits on the backs of small businesses by asking suppliers to make more with less. When family farmers and packers can’t meet those unrealistic demands, they’re forced to consolidate.
“We’re long overdue for a system that considers the long-term economic implications of downward pressure from retailers and the consolidation that it causes.”
March 11, 2010
UFCW Members Celebrate New Contract with Stop & Shop
(BOSTON, MA) – On March 7, thousands of Stop & Shop supermarket workers from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut ratified new contracts with Ahold, the Dutch-owned parent company. Highlights of the agreements between the members of the United Food and Commercial Workers and Stop & Shop include:
- Immediate bonus pay and hourly raises over the three-year contract;
- increased access to affordable health benefits for part-time workers; and
- strengthening of retirement security for all workers.
Ratification of the contracts stands to benefit Stop & Shop, the workers that have made the company a market-leading success, and communities around New England. When UFCW members unanimously authorized a strike in the event an agreement could not be reached, communities around the region spoke out to keep middle-class jobs in their neighborhoods. While negotiations of this size and complexity are rarely quick or easy, the resulting agreements have secured the future of thousands of New England families as well as the region’s leading grocer.
Stop & Shop workers are represented by UFCW Locals 328, 371, 919, 1459, and 1445.
March 4, 2010
Whole Foods Shareholders Taking Action on Major Corporate Governance Overhaul
(Washington, D.C.) – When Whole Foods shareholders meet on March 8, 2010, investors will consider actions that would bring greater accountability from Board members. The actions, supported by the most influential investor advisory group, Risk Metrics/ISS, also include a proposal to require a majority vote for shareholder proposals, rather than the current supermajority.
Investors have lost 30% or more by investing in Whole Foods over the last five years. It’s time for a change. The hard work of Whole Foods’ front line workers has been continually undermined by a CEO who is out of touch with customers and is unaccountable to investors. It’s time to reform how Whole Foods is managed and supporting shareholder proposals 3-6, as recommended by Risk Metrics/ISS, will help restore confidence in this troubled company.
Whole Foods sales are lagging in part due to the antics of its CEO who, in the past year, denounced President Obama’s health care reform efforts and publicly denied the science of climate change.
If Whole Foods’ CEO John Mackey spent a little less time antagonizing his best customers and more time growing the company, all of Whole Foods’ stakeholders would be better off. The company nearly doubled the number of part-time workers this year. Why is Mackey reducing full-time workers, the very people who add value to the shopping experience.
The proposals supported by the world’s largest shareholder advisory company include proposals to require a majority vote for shareholder proposals, rather than the current supermajority and the reversal of bylaw changes which the Board passed to make it harder for shareholders to hold Board members accountable.
Proposals 3-6 would establish much needed board accountability. The path forward for Whole Foods must involve all its stakeholders, most importantly its customers, investors and associates. Passing these proposals at the March 8th shareholder will move management in a more accountable direction, and that’s what’s needed to help turn around this troubled management.
February 24, 2010
Progressive Groups Launch Massive Health Care Push: Congress To Receive A Million Messages Today Urging Action On Health
The nation’s leading progressive organizations are joining forces today for “”A Virtual March on Washington”” to send Congress one million messages urging action on health care reform. This will be the single largest day of action yet in the health care fight.
“”The Virtual March on Washington: A Million Voices for Change”” campaign is bringing together some of the largest progressive organizations in the nation including, MoveOn.org Political Action, Progressive Congress Action Fund, Health Care for America Now (HCAN), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Campaign for America’s Future, Democracy for America (DFA), TrueMajority, USAction, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), EQUAL, MomsRising.org and FixItandPassIt.com.
The virtual march will happen a day before the White House health care summit and on the same day Melanie’s March will be arriving in DC from Philadelphia and holding a rally on Capitol Hill.
The organizations released the following joint statement:
“”As Washington plays politics as usual instead of fixing our broken system, people are dying. Americans simply cannot wait for comprehensive health care reform – it’s time for Congress to stand up to Big Insurance and their conservative allies, and get reform done right. During the Virtual March for Real Health Care Reform, we’ll send a million messages to Congress to make sure they know that voters want them to get to work and get health care done. Our message is simple: It’s time for Washington to stop stalling. Pass real health care reform now.””
Congress will receive messages today via phone, fax, email, Facebook, Twitter and petition.
For more information, please visit: http://pol.moveon.org/virtualmarch10/action.html ###
February 1, 2010
UFCW Members Celebrate New Contract with Nestle
CRETE, NE – Yesterday, hundreds of workers at the Nestlé Purina PetCare facility in Crete, Nebraska ratified a new contract with their employer. Highlights of the four-year agreement between the 320 members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 271 and the Nestlé Purina PetCare Company include:
* raises of more than $2/hour over the life of the contract
* maintenance of affordable health benefits
* an increase of 15% in employer contributions to the pension fund.
“”We were proud to vote for a contract that will help working people in Crete support their families,”” said Eric Reeder, who has worked at the Nestlé-Purina facility in Crete for six years. “”We work hard every day at the plant, and we worked hard at the bargaining table to negotiate a strong and fair agreement. This contract is good for workers here, but its also a demonstration of what other workers at other plants can accomplish by standing together.””
Ratification of the contract stands to benefit Nestlé-Purina, workers at the plant, and the community of Crete.
“”This contract represents a win-win scenario for Nestlé-Purina and working Nebraskans,”” said Brian Schwisow, president of UFCW Local 271, which represents workers at the Crete plant. “”By investing in its workforce, the company has committed itself to a long-term, productive relationship with the people of Nebraska. By standing together to negotiate a strong contract, workers have secured the economic futures of their families and their communities.””
January 29, 2010
Scholarship available for UFCW members
The UFCW Scholarship Application will be available until April 15, 2010.
Go to www.ufcw.org/scholarship to for more information on how to apply.
January 25, 2010
Walmart Sam
(Washington, DC) – The following is a statement from Wake Up Walmart:
Walmart launched another assault on living and working standards in communities across the country yesterday, by laying off more than ten thousand Sam’s Club employees. The company is outsourcing jobs, many of them part-time, to a company based in Arkansas.
Workers report that Walmart called them into mass meetings where they were offered boxes of tissues and told they were no longer needed by the nation’s largest private employer.
The mass layoffs raise serious questions such as whether or not older and more senior workers were targeted for lay off. Why hasn’t Walmart made a clearer path to employment with Shopper Events for these 11,000 associates – which they clearly have the power to do? And for workers hired by the outsourced company, what kind of jobs will Shoppers Events provide to the new applicants? Why is Walmart telling workers they must agree not to pursue age discrimination claims in order to qualify for severance pay?
Walmart and Sams Club workers seeking additional assistance and answers are encouraged to contact Walmart Workers for Change at 866-587-2299 or log on to http://www.walmartworkersforchange.org/.
January 8, 2010
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.””
December 30, 2009
WAGE BILL
PITTSBURGH, PA—Yesterday the Pittsburgh City Council voted unanimously to enact a prevailing-wage law for service and retail jobs in publicly subsidized development. The passage of this legislation was due to a strong coalition of faith, environmental, community and labor organizations, including United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 23. Workers in building and food service, grocery store and hotel industries will benefit from this bill, including thousands of UFCW members working in those industries.
The Pittsburgh Prevailing Wage bill will make sure that collectively-bargained wage and benefit standards for workers in those industries are maintained in publicly-subsidized development. Wage standards assure pay of between $10 and $14/hr plus health insurance and other benefits to all jobs created by subsidies of over $100,000 in projects of over 25,000 square feet.
“This is a major victory for working families in Pittsburgh,” said Tony Helfer, President of UFCW Local 23. “It means developers who take our money must promise to maintain the standard wages—and that’s good for everyone: workers, business, and our community. Service and retail industry jobs like these are the jobs of the future, and yesterday the City Council voted to make sure those jobs will pay enough to raise a family and benefit our community.”
Over the past five months, the Pittsburgh UNITED coalition of labor, faith, environmental, and community groups worked tirelessly to help formulate and pass this legislation, which will have a positive impact on the city’s economic future. They knocked on doors, called their council members, gathered petition signatures, and attended numerous council hearings.
“If my tax money is going to be used to build a grocery store,” said Marc Mancini, a UFCW member and local grocery worker who worked to get the law passed, “I don’t want it used to create minimum-wage jobs that would undercut what I make and create competition that could hurt my employer while not actually helping any Pittsburghers earn a good living.”
December 22, 2009
JBS, UFCW aim to keep local students warm
JBS, UFCW aim to keep local students warm, Central Iowa Times-Republican, Dec. 7, 2009