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News and Updates
October 30, 2008
UFCW STATEMENT ON IMMIGRATION REFORM
Washington DC—Immigrant rights are worker rights.
Hundreds of thousands of people are in the streets today demanding rational and comprehensive reform of U.S. immigration policy.
The UFCW has been fighting to organize, represent, and improve wages and working conditions for immigrant workers for decades. Meatpacking and food processing were among the first to utilize immigrant labor. In fact, the UFCW has been fighting this battle for more than a hundred years.
We are an immigrant movement. A hundred years ago, Polish, Italian, and Southern European immigrants poured into the nation’s packing plants. Today, immigrants from Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Africa work the processing lines of the packing industry.
The U.S. has no national immigration policy. In reality, immigration policy has been privatized. Private employers import and exploit immigrant workers at will with little or no regard for federal law or federal enforcement agencies.
Immigration issues in the U.S. are part of a larger, global trend‑‑‑the systematic exploitation of labor. Corporations export jobs in search of the most exploitable labor pool‑‑‑and they import workers to create a domestic pool of exploitable labor.
Because U.S. trade policy fails to include strong, enforceable labor standards, it has created a vast international labor pool that lives and works without rights or hope for the future. It is a pool of workers that can be recruited, imported, exploited, and disposed of.
To criminalize immigrants in the U.S.—as H.R. 4437 would do—for the failure of U.S. policy is hypocritical and immoral.
Immigration reform must be comprehensive. A constructive immigration policy would respect and provide a legalization process for the millions of immigrant workers already contributing to our economy and society, while protecting wages and workplace protections for all workers. Anything less hurts all of us.
October 30, 2008
Trabajadores de Smithfield de Iowa Ratifican un Buen Contrato
Washington, DC—Casi un mil de trabajadores representados por la Unión de Trabajadores Comerciales y de Alimentos (UFCW) Local 1142 votaron en favor de la ratificación de un nuevo contrato con la compañía de Smithfield Foods en su planta de John Morrell en Sioux City, Iowa. El acuerdo de cuatro años y medio promete aumentos de salario que van a mantener los trabajadores como unos de los mejores pagados de la industria.
“”Nosotros hemos estado negociando desde el octubre pasado,”” dijo el presidente de UFCW Local 1142, Warren Baker. “”Las negociaciones fueron bastantes contenciosas. Siempre hay toma y daca, pero, al final, llegamos a un compromiso justo.””
El nuevo contrato:
–Establece aumentos de salario, incluyendo un aumentos de $1.50/hr del salario base durante la vigencia del contrato para los trabajadores de producción y $1/65/hr del salario base para los trabajadores de mantenimiento.
–Mantiene seguro médico asequible, sin un aumento de prima de seguro durante la primera y última mitad del contrato. Aumentos semanales de $1.50 para cada individuo y $3 para la cubertura familiar ocurrirán el segundo, tercer y cuarto año del contrato.
–Mantiene la seguridad de las pensiones
–Aumenta el pago por concepto de licencia por enfermedad
–Mejora las condiciones de trabajo
“”El contrato es muy bueno con respecto al seguro médico,”” dijo Gary Petz, quien ha trabajado en la planta por 23 años. “”En conjunto, los buenos aumentos de salario y beneficios son el resultado de la unificación de todos los trabajadores por un contrato que asegura la seguridad de nuestras familias.””
October 30, 2008
Iowa Smithfield Workers Ratify Strong New Contract
Sioux City, Iowa– Nearly a thousand workers represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 1142 voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new contract with Smithfield Foods at the company’s John Morrell Plant in Sioux City, Iowa. The four- and a half-year agreement delivers wage increases that keep plant workers at the top of the industry standard and maintains affordable health care.
“We’ve been at the bargaining table since last October,” said UFCW Local 1142 President Warren Baker. ”The negotiations were contentious. There’s always give and take, but, in the end, we arrived at a fair settlement.””
The new contract establishes:
–Wage increases including $1.50/hr. base wage increase over the life of the contract for production workers and $1.65/hr. base wage increase for maintenance workers.
–Maintains affordable health care, with no co-premium increases in the first or last half year of the contract. Weekly increases of $1.50 for individual and $3 for family coverage are triggered in years two, three, and four of the contract.
–Maintains pension security
–Increases sick pay
–Improves working conditions
“The contract is really good in terms of the health insurance,” said Gary Petz, who has worked at the plant for 23 years. “Overall, the good wage increases and benefits are a result of everyone sticking together for a contract that provides security for our families.”
October 29, 2008
Joint Statement of Smithfield and UFCW
The parties have reached a settlement of the lawsuit pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division. The essential elements of the settlement are as follows:
1. Smithfield and the UFCW have agreed on what both parties believe to be a fair election process by which the employees at Smithfield’s Tar Heel plant can choose whether or not to be represented by the UFCW.
2. Smithfield and the UFCW have agreed to establish a Feed the Hungry Program to be jointly funded and administered by the UFCW and Smithfield.
3. The UFCW agrees to end its public campaign against Smithfield.
4. The parties have agreed there shall be no further public statement about this settlement until the election referenced in paragraph one above has been concluded.
September 29, 2008
UNITED INDIANA GROCERY WORKERS ACHIEVE HIGHER LIVING STANDARDS
(Indianapolis, IN) Workers in Indiana’s grocery industry now have better jobs and a stronger voice at the bargaining table, thanks to a new agreement between UFCW Local 700 and the Kroger Company.
The contract covers 1100 Kroger/Sav-On workers in central Indiana, and includes:
- Early and significant wage increases and bonuses;
- Major improvements to health and welfare, with employer contribution increases;
- Increases in paid holidays, vacations, and personal days.
“I am thrilled,” said Jennifer Keating, Local 700 member and Kroger Sav-On employee. “I’ve only been with the company a little over a year, and with this contract I’m going to get $2.65 in raises in just one year. And I’ve also gained another week’s paid vacation.”
Marcia Sisson, a pharmacy tech at Kroger Sav-On and UFCW 700 member, agreed. “It’s a great deal,” she said of the agreement, which increases her pay $3 over the contract.
“UFCW Local 700 is part of the Grocery Workers United program, which is leading a nationwide effort to make grocery jobs good jobs,” said UFCW Local 700 President Joe Chorpenning. “The UFCW has settled good contracts, the kind that bring good jobs, in cities across the country—including right here in Indianapolis. By uniting workers to bargain better contracts,” he said, “we’re helping grocery workers throughout Indiana turn supermarket jobs into good, middle class jobs—the kind that come with affordable health care, a living wage, and a secure retirement, and that benefit workers and their communities.”
Members are keenly aware of the difference the contract will make to their standard of living. “Gaining this new prescription card will save me hundreds of dollars,” said Miranda Biddle, Local 700 member and Kroger Sav-On employee. “And I gain another $250,000 in coverage and free cleanings, vision and dental improvements, too. I love it!”
“Grocery store workers across Indiana are enjoying better lives because they are uniting to improve wages and benefits in the grocery industry,” said Chorpenning. “And we’re taking that message to every community in Indiana, from Evansville to Fort Wayne.”
September 26, 2008
DENISON FARMLAND WORKERS RATIFY NEW FOUR-YEAR CONTRACT
(Denison, Iowa) – The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 440 and Farmland are pleased to announce a new four-year contract covering the 1,400 workers at the Denison, Iowa, pork processing facility. The contract was ratified by UFCW Local 440 members during meetings yesterday in Denison.
The new contract includes wage increases that keep Denison workers among the highest paid in the pork industry and provides Farmland with new operating efficiencies. UFCW and Farmland also found solutions that provide quality, affordable health care coverage for workers and their families.
The bargaining process also produced innovative safety and health language that will keep the Denison Farmland plant one of the safest meatpacking plants in the nation.
Farmland is a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods.
September 25, 2008
UNITED FOOD AND COMMERICAL WORKERS URGES CONGRESS TO MAKE RETIREMENT SECURITY PART OF FINANCIAL RESCUE PACKAGE
Washington DC — The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is calling on Congress to include pension security as part of the financial rescue package expected to pass by day’s end tomorrow.
Current pension law provides that if a pension plan’s rating slips, benefits of retirees must be cut absent increases in funding. It would be grossly unfair to pensioners if their benefits were cut while a troubled financial institution receives bailout assistance.
The fair course to take would be to temporarily suspend the enforcement of the pension law until Congress develops a plan to allow pension portfolios to return to more normal levels.
This would benefit both union and non-union companies. It is crucial that any actions taken by Congress do not permanently reduce the pension benefits in an attempt to solve the temporary but serious financial crisis.
The retirement security for millions of workers and their families is on the line. Congress must be mindful of the long-term implications of the rescue package and how it relates to other regulatory laws that impact workers pensions. Failure to address the immediate adverse impact of the financial meltdown on pension plans would have disastrous consequences for ordinary working Americans who have an expectation of receiving adequate benefits at retirement.
September 24, 2008
DENISON FARMLAND WORKERS REACH TENATIVE AGREEMENT
(Denison, Iowa) – Farmland Foods and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 440 returned to the bargaining table this week and reached a tentative agreement that addresses the bargaining unit’s concerns about the previous offer and increases Farmland’s production capacity. Both parties look forward to a union ratification vote on September 25, 2008.
Farmland is a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods.
The UFCW is the voice for meatpacking and food processing workers, with more than 250,000 of the union’s 1.3 million members working in these industries.
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For more information, contact Mark Kuemmerlein, Farmland Foods, 816-243-2854 or Jill Cashen, UFCW, 202-728-4797.
September 3, 2008
Restoring the American Dream
Washington DC—Martin Luther King Jr. once described Americans and our American way of life this way: “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”
That statement is as profound—and instructive—today as it was a half century ago when Dr. King wrote those words from a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama.
Labor Day traditionally kicks off the final sprint to Election Day. From now until November 4, Americans will engage in a national debate about who to entrust with the awesome responsibility of leading our nation. It is up to every single American to determine the tone and character of that debate. We have a choice. We can conduct this debate on the merits of each candidate, knowing that we are, all of us, tied in a single garment, endeavoring in the serious work of setting the future course for our children and grandchildren. Or we can use this national debate as a platform to breed division, conflict, and racial fears as some extremists are already doing in newspapers and over the airwaves.
We cannot solve the challenges before us unless we truly recognize that we must solve them together. Americans may come from different backgrounds and outlooks—but we share the same hope of achieving the American dream. All of us want to take part, and do our part, in a society that provides a better life for every American.
I believe Senator Barack Obama is the best candidate—the American dream candidate—not only for working people, but for all Americans. He believes in the promise of the American dream because he has lived it. He believes that, in America, if you work hard you ought to share in the success of your labor. In America, you ought to be able to earn wages and benefits that can raise a family.
From ending the war in Iraq to shoring up the economy, from ensuring health care for every American to solving our energy crisis, Barack Obama has thoughtful, well-formulated proposals designed to put America back on track—and make the American dream a real possibility again for working families. That’s why it is so gravely distressing to see the nefarious efforts of those who would turn back the clock in America by fueling racial fears and inciting racial conflicts around Senator Obama’s candidacy.
Americans need serious debate about how best to meet the challenges of our ailing economy. We need real, workable proposals on how to fix our health care system and make college more affordable for our kids. It’s critically important for the U.S. to regain its place as a leader on the world stage. Yet there are those who persist in distracting us with divisive and morally repugnant racial fear mongering.
In this election, working people have an incredible opportunity to turn our country around. We can reject the politics of division and conflict. We can say: “Not this time, not this election.” Union members know better than most, as Martin Luther King says, “Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.” We know that an injury to one is an injury to all. And grave injury is caused by those who would demean this election with racial rhetoric.
Let’s focus the debate on the prospects for a better tomorrow in which all workers will have their rights protected and their hard work respected; a tomorrow with affordable health care for all Americans, economic prosperity and national security. If we conduct a responsible national debate, we can elect a new president who will bring about positive economic change—a president who will not put corporate interests above those of working people. We have a clear choice on the November presidential ballot. Barack Obama offers change and hope—he brings a commitment to the cause of working people. With his leadership, we can change America, and restore the American dream.
July 29, 2008
UFCW Calls on OSHA to Issue a Combustible Dust Standard
Washington, D.C. – OSHA’s proposed fines of $8.7 million for violations at the Imperial Sugar plant near Savannah, Georgia, where an explosion killed 13 workers in February, and at another plant in Gramercy, Louisiana, magnify the gaps in current OSHA enforcement standards with regard to combustible dust, including a reliance on “general duty” citations and a patchwork of other standards which are limited in scope and do not address such critical considerations as design, maintenance, hazard review and explosion protection. This action also underscores OSHA’s reluctance to follow the recommendations of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) that may have prevented the tragedy in Georgia and other combustible dust explosions.
The fines also expose OSHA’s inability to monitor the actions of big businesses such as Imperial Sugar. The explosion in Georgia took place on February 7; however, OSHA inspectors found that the company had not taken immediate steps to mitigate another potential disaster when they inspected the plant in Louisiana a month later.
Earlier this year, the UFCW and the Teamsters called on OSHA to issue an emergency standard on combustible dust, and filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Labor demanding that OSHA follow the 2006 recommendations of the CSB, an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents.
In 2006, the CSB recommended that OSHA issue a rule that would have reduced the possibility of combustible dust explosions. That year, the CSB conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards, and noted that a quarter of the explosions that occureed between 1980 and 2005 that were identified, occurred at food industry facilities, including sugar refineries. In only one or two investigations were these incidents caused by mechanical mysteries that were either unforeseen or unpredicted.
Standards and codes have existed for years for OSHA to build upon and eliminate this type of explosion. In 1987, OSHA issued the Grain Handling Facilities Standard as the result of grain dust explosions in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This standard has effectively reduced the number and severity of combustible grain dust explosions in the grain handling industry, but stopped short of regulating combustible dust in industries outside of the grain industry.
The UFCW applauds the U.S. House of Representatives for passing legislation to force OSHA to set a combustible dust standard, and urges President Bush to reconsider his veto threat. OSHA must act now and follow the recommendations of the CSB before more workers are killed or horribly injured.