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News and Updates
Issues
August 26, 2019
Local 152 Supports Good-Paying New Jersey Jobs in Cannabis
Staff members from UFCW Local 152 recently attended a Middle Township Committee meeting in Middle Township, N.J., in support of a proposal for a medical cannabis facility in the area.
UFCW Local 152 Union Representative and Organizer Hugh Giordano spoke in support of the plan to build a new facility to grow and sell medical cannabis products, saying that it would bring good, high-paying jobs to the Middle Township area. UFCW Local 152’s support of the medical cannabis facility helped to influence the Middle Township Committee to unanimously approve issuing a letter of support for the proposal. The committee meeting and Giordano’s remarks were covered by the The Press of Atlantic City.
UFCW Local 152’s support of the medical cannabis facility in Middle Township is part of their Cannabis Campaign—a larger effort to build a successful cannabis industry and grow our union family wherever cannabis is legalized.
UFCW Local 152 is committed to standing with cannabis workers to not only create good jobs, but to also represent them so that their employers provide the good wages and benefits they have earned, and the fair treatment in a safe work environment they deserve. You can learn more about UFCW Local 152’s effort to support cannabis workers in their area here.
June 3, 2019
UFCW Members Call on California Legislators to Pass Pro-Worker Agenda
On May 21, members of UFCW Locals 5, 8, 135, 324, 648, 770 and 1167 traveled from across California to Sacramento for their annual lobby day to rally support for policies that strengthen workers and help them and their families succeed. The lobby day was coordinated by the UFCW Western States Council and members visited legislators that represent California’s diverse geography, economy and people. In these meetings, our members shared their firsthand experiences as grocery workers, pharmacists, and workers in California’s burgeoning cannabis industry. They urged lawmakers to support legislation that would:
• Ensure workers who are on strike or locked out by their employers are eligible to collect unemployment insurance benefits, so employees can stand up for justice without fear or losing their homes or having their car repossessed (AB 1066).
• Establish basic safety standards for grocery delivery services, so consumers don’t lose protection from food-borne illnesses when their food leaves the grocery store (AB 1360).
• Protect Californians from unlicensed cannabis businesses, increase transparency in the industry, and lift up legitimate cannabis businesses that abide by safety and labor laws (AB 1417 and SB 581).
• Develop a certification program for produce clerks, service deli clerks and nutrition clerks, providing a pathway to success for workers in a changing grocery industry (AB 1459).
“Having the opportunity to speak directly to my elected legislators helped me understand the difference workers make through our union,” said Marc Zavala, who is a member of UFCW Local 324. “I was encouraged to see that our elected representatives are eager to hear from the working people who are the backbone of California’s economy and are willing to partner with us to enact policies that make real change in workers’ lives.”
UFCW members in California have been hard at work making their voices heard. Earlier in May, members of UFCW Local 1428 joined the growing number of workers speaking out in favor of these bills that put workers and consumers first.
May 20, 2019
Congress Acts to Protect Workers and Families From Discrimination
On May 17, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act of 2019 (H.R. 5), which strengthens protections for workers and families across the country and helps to end discrimination that has impacted so many communities.
UFCW OUTreach chair Michele Kessler praised the action by Congress to pass the bipartisan bill, which was endorsed by the UFCW OUTreach board on March 19.
“Today’s passage of the Equality Act by the House is a powerful step toward a future where millions of LGBTQ Americans and their families no longer have to worry about facing discrimination at work or in their communities,” Kessler said. “Too many Americans live in states with outdated laws that leave our LGBTQ neighbors, friends, and family vulnerable to discrimination.”
Despite major advances in equality, the majority of states still do not have explicit LGBTQ nondiscrimination protection laws. The Equality Act of 2019 would ensure full federal nondiscrimination equality by adding sexual orientation and gender identity to other protected classes, such as race or religion, in existing federal laws.
“Everyone deserves equal access to the employment, housing, and education they need to provide for their families and build a better life,” Kessler added. “We are proud to stand with Americans across the country in support of the Equality Act and urge the Senate to do the right thing and pass this bill immediately.”
May 20, 2019
UFCW Urges Passage of PRO Act to Strengthen Worker Rights
UFCW International President Marc Perrone urged Congress to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act ahead of the House Education and Labor Committee hearing on May 8. This legislation expands protections for workers to exercise their right to join a union and bargain for better wages and working conditions. These protections include:
• Increasing transparency by requiring employers to post a notice in the workplace of workers’ rights and responsibilities under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
• Authorizing civil monetary penalties to deter violations of the NLRA.
• Improving remedies for workers who are retaliated against for exercising their right to join a union or engage in protected activities—including swift temporary reinstatement, liquidated damages, and the ability to bring cases directly to federal court.
• Expanding coverage of who is deemed an employee under the NLRA to prevent the misclassification of workers as independent contractors.
• Facilitating dispute resolutions by requiring mediation and arbitration procedures to help unions and employers conclude a first agreement.
• Strengthening the right of workers to strike for basic workplace improvements.
• Ensuring that the National Labor Relations Board’s orders are enforced in a timely manner.
• Protecting the right of workers, whether in a union or not, to engage in collective actions, such as employment-related class action litigation.
Perrone’s statement reads as follows:
“As corporations and billionaires continue to thrive, stagnant wages and anti-worker policies around the country are leaving millions of American workers behind.
“We need to rebuild the middle class and reverse decades of income inequality and that starts with unions. For generations, unions have helped hard-working Americans stand together for higher wages, affordable health care, and a secure retirement. The time is now for Congress to pass the PRO Act to protect the rights of workers to join a union and negotiate for the better life they have earned and deserve.”
May 13, 2019
Strengthening Workplace Safety for Our Members in Health Care
Our union has a proud history of keeping members safe and healthy at work. As we build on this legacy, the International’s Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Office is working with locals that represent members in the health care sector to further strengthen workplace safety.
Health care workers make incredible sacrifices every day to provide care for those in need and are more likely than other workers to face violence in the workplace. As more workers in the health care sector join our union family, protecting these hard-working women and men at work is a key priority.
Robyn Robbins, the director of the OSH Office, recently met with UFCW Local 1625 members who work at Lakeland Regional Medical Center in Lakeland, Fla., to help strengthen their workplace safety policies and procedures.
After meeting with workers and listening to their concerns, Robbins made recommendations to build on existing protections and find additional ways to keep our members safe. She recommended creating a joint labor-management workplace safety committee that includes workers and representatives from the local. She also suggested that the center review all its training policies and procedures to strengthen workplace safety and evaluate them for effectiveness.
UFCW Local 1625 President Ed Chambers put these recommendations into action and achieved positive results, including better training and education, improved reporting procedures, and improved communication by the hospital to the public about the importance of creating a safe work environment for caregivers, hospital staff, and the patients and families they serve.
“The reaction from our health care membership has been incredible since we took the lead in workplace safety,” said Chambers. “I’d like to thank the OSH Office for their help and direction. We knew the issues, and Robyn helped us design a remedy and our membership took the ball and ran with it. Now, we have posters throughout the hospital emphasizing the importance of a safe workplace with the UFCW logo on it.”
In addition to helping locals improve or create workplace violence prevention policies and programs, the OSH Office is also supporting the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 1309), which was introduced by Representative Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) to protect workers from violence on the job. This legislation would require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue a clear standard for workplace safety and violence prevention, requiring employers in the health care and social service sectors to develop and implement a plan to protect their employees and keep them safe. For more information, contact Robyn Robbins at rrobbins@ufcw.org or Fernando Tapia at ftapia@ufcw.org.
May 13, 2019
Local 1428 Calls on California Lawmakers to Support Pro-Worker Policies
UFCW Local 1428 members recently lobbied California lawmakers in the state capitol in support of legislation that protects good jobs and helps workers. Our members urged legislators to support a wide range of bills, including:
• AB 1066 – Protects unemployment insurance for striking and locked-out workers;
• AB 1459 – Creates certification programs for grocery workers for jobs of the future;
• AB 1360 – Ensures that food delivery drivers are properly trained in food handling requirements that meet grocery store regulations to protect consumers; and
• SB 581 – Strengthens transparency in the cannabis licensing process.
California lawmakers who met with Local 1428 members and staff include State Senators Connie M. Leyva, Maria Elena Durazo and Bobby Archuleta, as well as Assembly Members James C. Ramos, Cottie Petri-Norris, Eloise Reyes, Blanca Rubio, Wendy Carrillo, Ian Calderon, Chris Holden, Miguel Santiago and Freddie Rodriguez.
“Our members help to get lawmakers elected, so when they travel to the state capitol to lobby for work-friendly legislation, those lawmakers take notice and listen since they usually just see corporate lobbyists,” said UFCW Local 1428 President Mark Ramos. “Our members are powerful advocates and messengers for good legislation.”
May 13, 2019
UFCW Helps to Stamp Out Hunger in Communities Across the Country
On May 11, UFCW locals turned out in full force to collect non-perishable food made by union members for local food banks as part of the 27th annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. This is the fourth year that the UFCW has partnered with the National Association of Letter Carriers to sponsor this campaign, which is the largest single-day food drive in the country.
In the last 25 years with support from UFCW and other organizations, the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive has collected 1.5 billion pounds of food that was donated to local food banks and other organizations, helping to feed the more than 46 million Americans who struggle with hunger.
The Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive has been an inspiring way for our union family to make a positive difference in the lives of our friends, neighbors and the communities we serve.
Here are a few images, including a video, from this year’s Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive:
May 6, 2019
Dallas UFCW Members Host Local Candidates for Kroger Tour
UFCW Local 1000 members recently hosted eight endorsed Dallas candidates for city council and mayor at local Kroger stores for tours and one-on-one discussions with workers ahead of the city’s May 4 election.
Each candidate spent an hour walking through a store and talking with UFCW Local 1000 members one-on-one about the issues affecting their lives. Candidates learned about the issues our members care about, as well as how critical our union is in representing those members at the workplace and why it’s so important to have a union grocery store in their communities. The events were a way to make sure that local elected officials heard directly from the workers they hope to represent.
Anthony Elmo, political and communications director for UFCW Local 1000, asked that any candidate seeking the union’s endorsement take the time to visit an area worksite so they could hear directly from their membership.
“Elected officials should campaign for votes where hard-working families bring home the bacon,” Elmo said. “They need to meet us on the shop floor and understand our issues.”
Chad West, who won the open seat in Dallas City Council District 1, left the visit with a deeper understanding of our union and the workers we represent.
“It was great getting to talk with people in my district who live and work in this community. The majority of the people in my district are working people and it’s good to know that they have a union like UFCW Local 1000 looking out for their best interests and engaging them in the political process,” West said. “I look forward to working with Local 1000 and representing your membership as a member of the Dallas City Council for years to come.”
One of the most important issues was the paid sick leave ordinance that the Dallas City Council passed by a 10 to 4 vote on April 24, which requires employers to credit their employees with one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours they work. Members at every stop let the candidates know how they felt about this important issue in advance of the election, and UFCW Local 1000 member Candice Oglesby, who works full-time as a florist at Kroger in Oak Cliff, was interviewed by ABC News 8 about the ordinance.
Local 1000 members played an integral role in pushing for the Dallas ordinance over the last year, working with coalition partners from local unions and community groups. The ordinance is likely to face legal challenges, as well as an attempt by the state legislature to nullify the law, but the hard-fought victory was a huge win for working people in Dallas.
“Paid sick time in Dallas is an amazing victory for grocery workers. Our members will directly benefit from this policy as the new floor for future contract negotiations,” said Elmo.
April 29, 2019
One Simple Way to Give Back to Your Community – Stamp Out Hunger
This year, the UFCW is once again partnering with the National Association of Letter Carriers to sponsor the 27th annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, which will take place on Saturday, May 11. This campaign, which is the largest single-day food drive in the country, is an opportunity for UFCW Locals to make a difference in the lives of millions of American families who are suffering from the effects of hunger.
Last year, our union helped to collect millions of pounds of union-made, non-perishable food for local food banks. This year, we are encouraging all UFCW Locals and their members to pitch in by collecting unopened, non-perishable food and placing it in a bag next to their mailbox before their letter carrier delivers their mail on Saturday, May 11.
Help us make this year’s campaign the biggest and most successful yet. You can get more information about the campaign here. You can also contact Amy Ritter for a UFCW Stamp Out Hunger toolkit at aritter@ufcw.org.
Together, we can help families struggling to put food on the table and make a positive difference in the communities we proudly serve and call home.
April 8, 2019
UFCW Urges Congress to Close the Gender Pay Gap
The UFCW has a proud history of negotiating strong contracts that protect workers from discrimination and help them obtain equal pay for equal work. Over the past few weeks, the International’s Legislative and Political Action Department has taken action on the federal level by urging members of Congress to narrow the gender pay gap by supporting and passing the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 7) so that all workers have an opportunity to advance in the workplace. On April 2, their hard work paid off when the House of Representatives passed this legislation, which was sponsored by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). This legislation will provide women with the necessary tools to challenge pay gaps and gender-based discrimination.
For women who don’t belong to a union, gender pay discrimination is a persistent problem in the workplace. Women are typically paid only 80 cents for every dollar paid to men, and the pay gaps are even larger for women of color. The Paycheck Fairness Act updates and strengthens the Equal Pay Act of 1963 by closing loopholes that have allowed employers to pay women less than men for the same work. It prohibits employers from relying on salary history in determining future pay and requires them to prove that pay disparities are based on factors other than gender. It also protects employees against retaliation for discussing salaries with colleagues and removes obstacles to participation in class action lawsuits regarding pay discrimination.
The passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act in the House of Representatives is an important step toward ending gender-based discrimination. While belonging to a union is still the surest way to guarantee equal pay on the job, with unionized women making approximately 27 percent more than their nonunion counterparts, the Paycheck Fairness Act would provide new and important tools to close the wage gap. The UFCW applauds the men and women of the House prioritizing the passage of this important bill and urges the Senate to pass this legislation immediately and ensure that women don’t go another day without making equal pay for equal work.
To learn more about what the Legislative and Political Action Department is doing to level the playing field for women and all workers, contact your region’s legislative point person in the department. If you are unsure about who your assigned representative is, reach out to Shannon Harris at sharris@ufcw.org.