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News and Updates
April 20, 2012
UFCW APPLAUDS USDA FOR EXTENDING COMMENT PERIOD ON POULTRY INSPECTION RULE
WASHINGTON, D.C.–Joe Hansen, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), released the following statement regarding the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) decision to extend the comment period on its proposed poultry inspection rule.
“The UFCW applauds Secretary Tom Vilsack’s decision to extend the comment period on USDA’s proposed poultry inspection rule in order to further study its impact on worker safety. We have said all along that this rule should be halted until it is proven that increased line speeds are safe for workers. The UFCW will use this 30-day extension to work directly with USDA, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Obama Administration to determine a course of action to study the probable effects of increased line speeds on worker health and safety. Today is a victory for all poultry workers who can rest assured that their safety on the job is being taken seriously.”
April 18, 2012
Statement from UFCW International President Joe Hansen on Final NLRB Election Rule
(Washington, D.C.) — Joe Hansen, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Union, today released the following statement after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) approved a final rule to modernize the union election process.
“”This NLRB rule is a modest but important first step toward ensuring a level playing field for workers in the union election process. Preventing unnecessary delays and frivolous litigation means less time for employers to intimidate, harass, and in some cases fire pro-union employees. Every worker has the right to decide whether he or she wants a union, free of interference.
“Now it is time for the Senate to confirm President Obama’s nominees to the NLRB. Leaving the Board short of a quorum in 2012 is unacceptable.”
April 17, 2012
UFCW PRESIDENT JOE HANSEN ON THE BUFFETT RULE
WASHINGTON, D.C.-Joe Hansen, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) and Chair of Change to Win, today released the following statement after the Senate defeated the Buffett Rule to ensure millionaires pay at least 30 percent in income taxes.
“Congress hit a new level of dysfunction today by failing to pass the Buffett Rule. Hamstrung by the Senate’s arcane rules, Democrats were unable to get the votes needed to overcome a procedural hurdle. Nonetheless, they should be commended for trying. The overwhelming majority of Senate and House Republicans, on the other hand, have no interest in tax fairness. Their policies have widened the gap between the rich and the poor and bankrupted our country. Mitt Romney has proposed to take these failed policies even further, advocating a 7 percent tax cut for the superrich. The Buffett Rule is common sense. It’s too bad Congressional Republicans and their standard bearer don’t have any.”
April 17, 2012
Concerned over Walmart’s performance, shareholder associates file new resolution on executive pay
Concerned over the consistent underperformance of Walmart, four Walmart Associates who are shareholders have filed a resolution that will be voted on by all shareholders calling on the Wal-Mart board to review executive performance pay goals to ensure they are not creating incentives that undermine shareholder value. Today Wal-Mart Stores, Inc released its annual proxy statement to investors disclosing the annual salary paid to senior executives. According to the filing CEO Mike Duke was paid $18.1million, a slight decrease from the $18.7 million he was paid last year. Duke’s incentive compensation is largely tied to Walmart’s Return on Investment (ROI), which has been declining over the past several years. His 2012 payout would have been smaller last year had the board not lowered the target ROI, the fifth consecutive year it has done so.
Walmart shares have underperformed those of other retailers. For the three-year period ending April 12 2012, the S&P 500 Retailing index was up over 88%, while the price of Walmart shares had grown by less than 17%. Critical indicators such as same-store sales have also lagged behind other retailers, while ROI has declined for 5 years in a row. In 2011, after growing market share consistently since its founding in the 1960s, Walmart lost market share in the US for the second year in a row.
Concerns about executive pay at Walmart were raised last year when The New York Times reported that the company’s compensation committee had altered performance metrics used to award long-term incentive compensation. Specifically, by removing same-store sales from executives’ bonus formula and replacing that metric with total sales growth, The Times stated Walmart was “shifting the goal posts” on compensation policy, resulting in higher pay for CEO Mike Duke.
Shareholders will have an opportunity to weigh in on executive pay at the company this year when they cast their ballots on a new proposal which calls on the Walmart board to review executive performance pay goals to ensure they are not creating incentives that undermine shareholder value.
Mary Tifft, a 24-year Walmart employee in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and one of the shareholders who petitioned to place Proposal #6 on the ballot, said she hoped the proposal would bring more scrutiny to executive pay at Walmart. Tifft started buying Walmart shares through the company’s share purchase program in 1992, and currently owns 1,008 shares of Walmart stock.
“I’ve been a Walmart shareholder for 20 years, and an associate for even longer,” said Tifft. “Walmart used to be a good company, one that I was proud to work for, but I’m afraid the company has lost its way. We think this proposal is an important step in getting the company back on track.”
Along with Tifft, Proposal #6 is co-sponsored by Jackie Goebel, Girshriela Green and Carlton Smith, all of whom are current Walmart associates, with, collectively, over 60 years of experience with the company.
Important disclosure: The UFCW and OUR Walmart have provided technical assistance to the four shareholder sponsors of Proposal #6, and we continue to support their efforts to campaign on its behalf.
April 11, 2012
UFCW OPPOSES BIG POULTRY-DRIVEN INSPECTION RULE
WASHINGTON, DC—The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) today announced its opposition to a Big Poultry-driven inspection process being considered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The proposed rule, which would increase the speed that birds are processed from 70-91 a minute to a maximum of 175 a minute, could put workers at poultry plants in increased danger.
“Increased line speeds means increased bottom lines for Big Poultry,” said Mark Laurtisen, UFCW International Vice President and Director of the Food Processing, Packing and Manufacturing Division. “For workers, it means more danger on the job.”
By increasing line speed so dramatically, workers will be at heightened risk of repetitive motion related injuries. In fact, a recent study by Wake Forest University showed that 59 percent of poultry workers had definite or possible carpal tunnel syndrome at current line speeds. Despite these alarming statistics, no comprehensive effort has been made to determine the impact this proposed system will have on the health and safety of workers.
“Quite frankly, it is no surprise that Big Poultry wants to rush this new system into operation,” Lauritsen said. “That’s why USDA—as the responsible regulator—must slow this process down until it can guarantee that workers are protected.”
The UFCW is calling on USDA to halt this rule until the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducts comprehensive studies on the impact it would have on the health and safety of workers in poultry plants. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) must then use that information to develop a standard that would adequately protect workers.
Many UFCW members have already submitted their opposition to USDA in advance of the April 26 comment deadline. The UFCW will continue its push for worker safety into the summer and beyond.
March 28, 2012
UFCW PRESIDENT JOE HANSEN CALLS FOR CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION INTO NLRB LEAKS
WASHINGTON, DC—Joe Hansen, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) and Chair of Change to Win, today released the following statement in response to the Inspector General’s report showing that National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Member Terence Flynn engaged repeatedly in improper conduct when he was chief counsel to Member Brian Hayes.
“These are serious allegations and I urge the appropriate Congressional Committees to launch a full investigation. The NLRB must carry out its important mission of ensuring union elections are conducted freely and fairly. Regrettably, this independent agency has consistently come under political attack from Members of Congress and candidates for President who want to make it harder for workers to organize. The fact that this effort was reportedly being orchestrated by a high-profile employee of the Board is completely unacceptable. NLRB members and staff should serve as referees, striving for the fairest possible outcome and ensuring rules are followed and enforced. This Inspector General’s report suggests Member Flynn used his prior position to choose sides, bolstering big business at the expense of workers and their fundamental rights. Congress should get to the bottom of this and hold all wrongdoers fully accountable.”
March 26, 2012
Retail Employees Work Towards a Better Economy and a Better Life
Today’s post is the first in what will be an ongoing series on the retail industry, its impact on our economy, and the opportunities and challenges its workers face.
A recent article in Good Magazine focused on telling the stories of workers in the service industry that anyone who works in the sector is all too familiar with. The piece is filled with examples of workers who are overworked, underpaid and do not have any job security or benefits. The fear of not being able to pay the bills, getting sick or getting fired at any moment is plaguing workers in an industry that will become the backbone of the American economy.
Retail jobs are growing, and they’re poised to become as important to the 21st Century American economy as manufacturing jobs once were. Yet, despite the growing demand of the service industry, retail jobs don’t always come with a path to the middle class, and instead leave workers struggling to meet their basic needs. If we want to have a middle class in America, it is crucial that millions of American retail workers have good jobs with solid work schedules, and a paycheck and benefits that pay the bills.
Make no mistake, retailers actively work to make these jobs “bad” jobs. Driven by the bottom line of profit, and emboldened by a struggling economy and a plethora of applicants, they’ve purposely created a broken system and negative working environment for workers. With the exception of a few responsible retailers whose workers have a union voice, most retail employers don’t pay a living wage. They depend on high turnover. They’re stingy with schedules in order to avoid paying overtime and providing benefits.
Retailers trap their workers in a cycle of inconsistent schedules and wages that leave them struggling to make ends meet and support their families. Many workers have to balance two or three different jobs at a time in order to make a 40 hour work week possible. The middle class cannot survive or prosper if its foundation of workers is scrambling between several jobs just to pay the bills or put food on the table.
Retailers and other service industry employers do this to send a clear message to workers: you don’t deserve good jobs. In surprising, stark contrast to the way we felt about manufacturing jobs, Americans are starting to believe retail jobs – the very foundation of our new economy – shouldn’t be decent, dependable, middle class jobs. Many workers are just grateful to have a job at all, and they expect low wages and benefits because it is part of the system that has been ingrained in them.
These workers will play a significant role in the American economy. It’s shocking to think about the consequences of a generation of workers whose primary job opportunities offer them no path to the middle class.
Many people see their retail jobs as temporary or as a stepping stone to other careers, so they don’t want to invest a lot in a position they believe will not serve them in the long run. But the fact is that many will end up staying in their service industry jobs because those will be the only opportunities available to them. That’s why retail workers need to unite and take action now to fight against the industry’s push to make retail jobs “bad jobs.”
Workers in retail can be empowered by coming together on the job, recognizing that they are a critical part of the national workforce, and demanding to share the success with profitable national and international retailers. Union workers at retailers like Macys, H&M, Modells, and Bloomingdales already know that having a union voice on the job means they’ll be compensated and treated in a way that reflects their hard work. They’re able to bargain the middle class wages and health care benefits they earn and deserve.
With a union on the job, empowered retail workers can bolster the growing service industry and re-create the modern middle class that workers had in the past, and what we certainly need now.
March 13, 2012
WISCONSIN: Voter ID Law Stricken Down by Judge
Click here for original article by Tim Mak on Politico.com
The move, which comes just days after another judge temporarily halted the law, will have consequences for the upcoming April 3 presidential primary in Wisconsin, which state officials had hoped to apply the law to.
“A government that undermines the very foundation of its existence — the people’s inherent, pre-constitutional right to vote — imperils its legitimacy as a government by the people, for the people, and especially of the people,” Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess wrote in issuing the permanent injunction, according to the wire service.
“Voter fraud is no more poisonous to our democracy than voter suppression,” he added in his eight-page ruling.
In Niess’s view, the law would have eliminated the right to vote for certain eligible voters who lack sufficient resources to obtain valid identification.
The voter ID law would have required voters to show photo ID, such as a driver’s license or other state-issued identification, in order to vote.
There are currently four lawsuits that are involved with challenging Wisconsin’s law, part of the ongoing national battle on whether voter ID laws are appropriate.
Currently, 15 states have voted ID laws, and pending legislation in 31 states propose to introduce or strengthen voter ID requirements, reports the AP.
Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has said he will appeal the injunction.
March 5, 2012
UFCW Releases Congressional Scorecard
WASHINGTON, DC-The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) today released its Congressional Scorecard for the 1st session of the 112th Congress.
Whether it was jobs or workers’ rights, each member of Congress was judged on their commitment to America’s working families. The bills that were scored each had or would have had a real-life impact on the 1.3 million members the UFCW represents in retail, grocery, and meatpacking.
“By and large, the first session of the 112th Congress was a disappointment,” said UFCW International President Joe Hansen. “House Republicans focused on anti-worker politics instead of jobs. And the Senate, while rightly blocking many of the extreme measures passed by the House, was too gridlocked by its own archaic rules to do much more. This scorecard shows in the clearest of terms which members of Congress stood with workers and which members stood in our way.”
UFCW positively scored votes supporting the American Jobs Act, extending Trade Adjustment Assistance, and protecting the right of workers to organize. On the other hand, it penalized members who voted to dismantle workers’ rights and pass the most extreme budget in generations.
The breakdown of grades is as follows:
Senate Breakdown House Breakdown
| 40 | A’s | 176 | |
| 11 | B’s | 8 | |
| 2 | C’s | 3 | |
| 0 | D’s | 6 | |
| 47 | F’s | 240 | |
“The release of this scorecard serves to remind the entire Congress that they will be held accountable for their actions,” Hansen said. “Simply put, there are too many F’s here. We need our elected representatives to stand with workers, not corporations. We hope that in 2012 Congress shifts away from petty partisan politics and toward creating more jobs and opportunity.”
To search interactively for a member’s score by zip code, click here.
For a pdf of the full scorecard, click here.
March 1, 2012
UFCW Local 1473 Endorses Kathleen Falk for Wisconsin Governor
“The end is near for Scott Walker,” said UFCW Local 1473 President John Eiden. “He has abused his office in ways that defy comprehension—inflicting pain and hardship on Wisconsin working families to line the pockets of his corporate buddies. He’s been both a statewide disaster and a national disgrace.”
Eiden said he feels confident the people of Wisconsin will remove Walker from office but stressed that a recall is not enough. “Replacing Governor Walker with a champion for workers is the most important thing we can do,” he said. “Kathleen Falk is the right person for the job.”
As Dane County Executive, Falk used the collective bargaining process to achieve both fiscal responsibility and fairness for workers. She saved taxpayers $11 million dollars by negotiating contracts that included wage and benefit concessions without taking away workers’ rights. Falk has led the charge against Walker’s war on workers and provides the perfect contrast to his extreme policies. She is running on a platform of good jobs, successful schools, and affordable health care.
A poll released Tuesday showed Falk leading Walker in a hypothetical matchup. “UFCW Local 1473 will be working day and night to make Kathleen Falk our next Governor,” Eiden said. “One year of Scott Walker has been one year too many. It is time to fix this terrible mistake and return our great state back to someone who will make us proud.”