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News and Updates
Industry News
November 7, 2011
NATIONAL BEEF WORKERS CHOOSE UNITED FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS FOR A UNION VOICE ON THE JOB
(Dodge City, Kan.) – A majority of the 2,500 workers at National Beef’s Dodge City, Kansas beef slaughter and processing facility voted to join UFCW District Local 2, in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board, on Thursday and Friday, November 3 and 4, 2011.
The workers’ campaign began when several National Beef workers contacted the UFCW seeking a union voice on the job. At that time, National Beef and the UFCW agreed on a fair and balanced process that allowed employees to vote on whether or not they wanted union representation. UFCW represents the workers at a neighboring Cargill beef slaughter and processing plant in Dodge City.
“Helping to organize my co-workers into a union was a life changing journey,” said Rebecca McGary, a worker in the fabrication department at National Beef.
“We know that workers at Cargill, just down the street from National Beef, have had a contract with Local 2 for many years – and that means they have always had a say in their wages, benefits and working conditions,” said Ramon Prieto who works on the kill floor at National Beef and who took a leading role in organizing his co-workers. “That’s why I voted to join the UFCW, so that we all will have a chance to negotiate benefits and salaries, job security, and a better life for our families.”
The National Beef workers are the latest in a series of meatpacking workers to join the UFCW at locations across the country. On October 19, approximately 1,000 workers at a JBS beef kill facility in Plainwell, Michigan joined UFCW Local 951. On October 25, 125 workers at a Farmland Foods facility in Carroll, Iowa joined UFCW Local 440. And in late September, 300 workers at Nebraska Prime in Hastings, Nebraska joined UFCW Local 293.
October 27, 2011
Workers at Carroll, Iowa, Packing Plant Vote to Join UFCW Local 440
More than 125 workers at the Farmland Food meatpacking plant in Carroll, Iowa, voted Tuesday for a voice on the job with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 440. The vote adds the Farmland workers in Carroll to the Farmland Denison workers already represented by UFCW Local 440.
“Im proud that my coworkers stood together to get a long-awaited voice on the job here in Carroll,” said Gary Schaefer, a mechanic in the plant. “We won our union voice by using worksite solidarity among workers from all parts of the world. Our cross-cultural unity was key to bringing everyone together.”
Saul Trevino, a receiving dock employee, said, “Together, we talked to each other about organizing and how together wed be able to advocate for better working conditions for everyone in the plant. Im glad were now UFCW Local 440 just like the Farmland workers in Denison.”
UFCW Local 440 represents 1200 workers in western Iowa in the meatpacking and food processing industry.
October 26, 2011
FARMLAND FOOD WORKERS SAY UFCW YES!
(Denison, Iowa) – More than 125 workers at the Farmland Food meatpacking plant in Carroll, Iowa, voted yesterday for a voice on the job with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 440.
Yesterday’s vote adds the Farmland workers in Carroll to the Farmland Denison workers already represented by UFCW Local 440.
“”Im proud that my coworkers stood together to get a long-awaited voice on the job here in Carroll,”” said Gary Schaefer, a mechanic in the plant. “”We won our union voice by using worksite solidarity among workers from all parts of the world. Our cross-cultural unity was key to bringing everyone together.””
Saul Trevino, a receiving dock employee, said, “”Together, we talked to each other about organizing and how together wed be able to advocate for better working conditions for everyone in the plant. Im glad were now UFCW Local 440 just like the Farmland workers in Denison.””
UFCW Local 440 represents 1200 workers in western Iowa in the meatpacking and food processing industry.
October 21, 2011
JBS Workers in Michigan Vote Overwhelmingly to Join the UFCW
On October 19, 1000 an overwhelming majority of workers at the JBS slaughterhouse and production facility in Plainwell, Mich., voted to join UFCW Local 951. Workers said they wanted a union voice on the job in order to address unjust terminations, unsafe working conditions, and an unfair compensation system where new employees were earning more than workers with more than 15 years of service to the company.
“This win feels great,” said Troy Schlotterback, a JBS employee and a part of the organizing committee. “I come from a union family and I have worked in a union plant in the past. I have seen, first hand, what a union can do for the middle class.”
“I am surprised and happy by the win,” said Li Lin Thang, who has worked for JBS for three years. The bad working conditions and discrimination will finally be gone, I feel free now.”
JBS is the world’s largest processor of fresh beef and pork, with more than US$30 billion in annual sales as of 2010. JBS acquired this Packerland plant in 2008. During the workers’ campaign, JBS allowed a free and fair process for workers to decide whether they wanted union representation. The campaign was similar to previous JBS campaigns in Hyrum, Utah and Souderton, Penn.
Workers at the West Michigan plant will join with 28,000 other JBS workers who already enjoy the benefits of UFCW union representation on the job.
October 21, 2011
Statement by UFCW President Joe Hansen on Walmart
(Washington, D.C.) — The following is a statement from UFCW International President Joseph T. Hansen on Walmart’s plan to roll back health care coverage for part time workers:
“”Walmart’s plan to roll back health care coverage for part-time workers and raise premiums for full-time employees should set off alarm bells for American workers. This lowering of working standards will have repercussions throughout the retail industry—particularly for part-time workers.
“”Retail jobs are the jobs of the future. In fact, retail is one of the only sectors of our economy that’s growing. Many of those jobs will be part-time. Much like manufacturing once did, retail jobs will define how it is to live and work in America in the 21st Century. It’s critically important that retail employers compensate their workers with pay and benefits that allow them to live in the middle class.
“”That’s why retail workers have been sticking together in their union for decades. Together in the UFCW, they’ve bargained good health care coverage for more part-timers than any other union. In doing so, they’ve brought up the economic standards for hundreds of thousands of workers, their families, and communities.
“”Yet today, many retail workers are forced to work two or more jobs to make ends meet, partly due to the fact that companies are moving to a part-time model. Outside of companies where workers have a union voice on the job, most retail part-time jobs do not come with the benefits that workers need to take care of their families. So, despite working multiple jobs, many workers must rely on government health care or go without.
“”As the largest retail employer in the country, Walmart could – and should – lead the way in making sure that retail jobs are good jobs—the kind that come with good benefits and wages for all workers. That’s why for years, the UFCW has fought to change companies like Walmart and push them to be more responsible employers. A few years ago, when the public learned that many of its workers were on Medicaid because they could not afford the company’s health care plan or did not qualify to be on it, the UFCW and our community partners pressured Walmart to make a commitment to expand their health care coverage for part time workers.
“”But it looks like Walmart is once again succumbing to corporate greed, and putting profits ahead of people. The Waltons are one of the wealthiest families in the country; they own the largest corporation in America, and that means they have a responsibility to provide good jobs and help shore up our middle class – not take advantage of the economic crisis. We at the UFCW call on the Waltons and Walmart to provide good jobs with affordable health care benefits for part-timers and full-timers alike. It’s the right thing to do for the future of our economy, our country, and our communities.””
October 7, 2011
UFCW STANDS WITH MEDICAL CANNABIS RETAIL WORKERS
(Washington, D.C.) – The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the nation’s largest retail worker organization, demands an immediate end to the U.S. Attorney’s misguided prosecution of operators of small dispensaries of legal medical cannabis in California.
In the past year, thousands of hardworking and taxpaying medical cannabis industry workers have joined together with the UFCW in various states in order to protect their jobs in this emerging industry. In today’s economy, hourly wage jobs like these that pay good wages with decent benefits are vital to keeping our economy afloat and families out of poverty.
At a time when the unemployment rate hovers around 9 percent, our economy requires bold action from our government to create good family-sustaining jobs. The steps taken by the four California U.S. attorneys to send letters Wednesday and Thursday notifying at least 16 medical dispensaries and their landlords that they are violating federal drug laws would do just the opposite.
“I have a good middle class American Job with good health benefits and a pension that I can look forward to,” said Larry Richards, a UFCW Local 5 member and a manager at the Blue Sky Dispensary in Oakland, California. “Because of our industry and our union I am able to be a productive breadwinner and, as a person living with HIV since 1983, I have fought and struggled not to be a drain on society. I want to work, I want to be productive but now, they want to take my job and put me back on the rolls of Social Security.”
UFCW proudly stands with our members in the Humboldt Growers Association, the Citizens for Safer Neighborhoods Committee of Colorado, the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association, and our coalition partners in MendoGrown, the Patients Care Alliance, the National Cannabis Industry Association, and the Citizens Coalition for Patient Care.
Medical cannabis is a safe and effective treatment option for many serious medical conditions including cancer, and patients should not be forced to purchase their medicine from criminals, drug dealers, and thugs. If the federal government closes commercial dispensaries and collectives in California, patients will have no safe access to their medication. In addition, thousands of workers will be forced from their jobs in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
UFCW and our members are dedicated to a dignified, controlled, taxed, regulated, compliant, unionized medical cannabis industry. We stand in solidarity with the workers and patients of the unionized medical cannabis industry.
September 27, 2011
Nebraska Prime Group Workers Say Union Yes with UFCW Local 293
Two hundred and sixty conventional and kosher beef slaughter workers at Nebraska Prime Group in Hastings, Neb., have exercised their right to join UFCW Local 293. Nebraska Prime Group recognized the workers’ choice for a real voice on the job after an overwhelming majority of workers at the beef processing plant signed cards to show their desire for UFCW representation.
“Our victory is important for me and my family,” said David Pettit, a plant employee and father of three children. “We can work for better benefi ts at my plant and that means I can take better care of my three kids and cover them on my insurance. I’m so glad that Nebraska Prime let us choose a card check process. It speaks a lot for their character and it makes me have more respect for where I work.”
Key issues for bargaining will include Sunday work due to the kosher work schedule, benefits and wages.
September 19, 2011
UFCW MEMBERS REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT WITH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GROCERS
(Los Angeles, Calif.) – Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union working at Ralphs (Kroger), Vons (Safeway) and Albertsons (Supervalu) in Southern California reached a tentative agreement today with the companies.
The tentative agreement was reached after 8 months of negotiating and strong involvement and activism by the 62,000 grocery workers and widespread support of customers and allies across the region. The UFCW is grateful to Scot Beckenbaugh, Deputy Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services, for his guidance through the bargaining process.
UFCW members will vote on the proposals in meetings over the coming week. The agreement increases wages, protects health care and pension benefits throughout the life of the 3-year contract.
The new contract, once ratified, will cover 62,000 UFCW grocery workers, the largest bargaining unit in the UFCW. An additional 28,000 grocery workers at regional chains like Stater Brothers, Food 4 Less, Gelson’s Market and other markets are covered by the successful resolution of the Southern California contract. The contract covering 45,000 grocery workers in Northern California expires in October.
September 19, 2011
Workers Settle Lawsuit With Tyson Foods
WASHINGTON, D.C. – More than 17,000 Tyson poultry workers in 41 plants in 12 states settled a $32 million dollar lawsuit in a 12-year struggle to get paid for work already performed. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), as the leading union for meatpacking and food processing workers, initiated the suit against Tyson and played a critical role in obtaining justice for Tyson poultry workers and thousands of UFCW members affected by the suit. On Thursday, the United States District Court in Georgia approved the settlement.
“Every American deserves to get paid for the work they do,” said Joe Hansen, UFCW International President. “We’re changing the way meatpackers do business and making them pay thousands of workers correctly.”
The lawsuit charged Tyson with violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Meatpacking and food processing workers wear specialized protective gear while they work to protect both themselves and the food we eat. Before these UFCW-initiated lawsuits began, meatpacking companies didn’t pay workers for time spent taking the gear on and off, adding up to thousands of dollars of lost pay over years of work.
“We’ve already made a change in the way meatpackers pay their workers,” said Hansen. “While this settlement is long overdue, our efforts have ensured that thousands of workers have been paid correctly for years now.”
The lawsuit will result in payments, averaging around $1,000 per worker, to current and former Tyson workers across the country. These payments will inject much-needed money into America’s rural economy and reward a hard-working and dedicated group of poultry workers. The affected Tyson poultry workers work at plants in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.
This lawsuit and the new pay practices in the meatpacking industry are just one way union workers raise standards for every worker in their industry, regardless of their union status.
September 15, 2011
New Four-Year Contract for UFCW Members at Hormel Preserves Past Gains, Sets New Standards for Workers in Meatpacking and Food Processing Industries
Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union who work at Hormel Foods Corporation in five states, including Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Georgia, voted this past Tuesday to accept a new four-year contract with the company.
The new collective bargaining agreement provides for, among many other significant gains, a substantial base wage increase of $1.50 over the term of the agreement, significant improvements in health care including 100 percent coverage for transplants and an increased allowance for hearing aids, improved retirement security including a 401(k) match increase from $300 to $500 and a pension increase to $27.
“The strong contract that we secured with Hormel is a pretty big deal,” said Dick Schuster, who has worked at the company’s Fremont, Neb. facility for the past 38 years. “At a time when pensions are under attack nationwide, we were able to bargain for significant improvements to our retirement security. Our contract is a testament to why sticking together and speaking with one voice benefits all workers.”
“Our communities need good jobs with pay and benefits that can support a family,” said Vincent Perry, a four-year veteran at the Hormel plant in Algona, Iowa. “Good union contracts like ours help build more stable and secure communities.”
Nationwide, the UFCW represents 8,000 Hormel workers. The current agreement covers about 4,000 workers at the company’s facilities in Austin, Minn.; Algona, Iowa; Fremont, Neb.; Beloit, Wis.; and Atlanta, Ga.