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News and Updates
Issues
September 2, 2013
Give Workers More to Celebrate this Labor Day
Labor Day constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. Unfortunately, today’s workers are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet.
This Labor Day, it is time for Congress to start doing their part to give more workers access to the American Dream.
Raising the federal minimum wage and passing comprehensive immigration reform are two things that are long overdue.
The value of the minimum wage has been declining for more than four decades. President Obama, backed by widespread public support, has made it clear that raising our country’s federal minimum wage to $9 from the current rate of $7.25 is one of his top priorities. Unfortunately, House Republicans are choosing the profits of big business over working people and have opposed all attempts to raise the minimum wage.
Along with providing workers a living wage, America deserves a common sense immigration system that is fair and just.
How we treat new immigrants reflects our commitment to the values that define us as Americans.
Our current immigration system is broken and it penalizes too many people whose only crime is securing a better life for themselves and their families.
The Senate passed immigration reform which includes a path to citizenship for 11 million aspiring Americans and strong protections for immigrant workers. It is time for the House to act.
UFCW members are working nonstop to ensure comprehensive immigration reform is signed into law this year.
Labor Day is dedicated to the achievements of American workers. It is time for Congress to honor these workers by taking much needed steps to advance social and economic justice.
August 7, 2013
OUR Walmart Statement on OSHA Settlement with Walmart
Washington, DC– Today, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced that it has reached a settlement with Walmart on a large number of repeated and serious worker safety violations including a lack of proper training on handling of hazardous chemicals and dangerous conditions related to poorly maintained equipment. In response, OUR Walmart members issued the following statement:
“The national settlement reached today between OSHA and Walmart resolves the highest penalties any individual Walmart store has ever faced as a result of health and safety violations – over $350,000. The problems detailed in the settlement are issues we have been raising for years, but it’s clear that the company has consistently failed to listen to our concerns, let alone address them.
“This is just the latest indication of Walmart’s malfeasance throughout the supply chain, and these serious problems represent a major danger to workers, the environment, and the company’s future. As workers we routinely face inadequate fire safety measures, including blocked fire exits, and do not receive proper training on how to safely handle hazardous chemicals. Poorly maintained equipment, including balers and compactors, represent another hazard, made worse because these machines often lack appropriate mechanisms to ensure worker safety.
“We like our jobs and want what’s best for the company. We hope that today’s settlement sends a message to Walmart that cutting corners on safety comes at great costs, not just to employees, but also to the company. Moreover, Walmart needs to go beyond the settlement, start listening to its workers, and investigate its stores throughout the country to see if these violations are widespread and where they find violations, fix them. These issues are about the very basic right employees have to work in safe environments.”
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LEGAL DISCLAIMER: UFCW and OUR Walmart have the purpose of helping Wal-Mart employees as individuals or groups in their dealings with Wal-Mart over labor rights and standards and their efforts to have Wal-Mart publically commit to adhering to labor rights and standards. UFCW and OUR Walmart have no intent to have Walmart recognize or bargain with UFCW or OUR Walmart as the representative of Walmart employees.
STATEMENT FROM STACY MITCHELL ON OSHA SETTLEMENT WITH WALMART
In response to today’s settlement, Institute for Local Self Reliance senior researcher Stacy Mitchell issued the following statement:
“Walmart’s negligence in managing hazardous chemicals is yet another illustration of its disregard for the environment and the health of workers and communities. While Walmart publicizes its solar installations, behind the scenes, the company is continuing to cut corners and harm the environment throughout its operations and supply chain.”
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July 31, 2013
NLRB Nominees Confirmed by Senate
For the first time in a decade, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has a full slate of confirmed board members.
The five members are current NLRB Chairman Mark Pearce; Nancy Schiffer, a former AFL-CIO associate general counsel; and NLRB attorney Kent Hirozawa, currently the chief counsel to Pearce; and attorneys Philip Miscimarra and Harry Johnson, who have represented management in labor disputes.
This is welcome news for workers everywhere. With the NLRB at full strength, workers will be able to stick together and speak up for fair wages, good benefits, and safe working conditions without fear of employer intimidation or harassment.
Without the NLRB, employees who have been cheated or treated unfairly would have little recourse for wrongs committed against them.
Senate Republicans agreed to hold up-or-down votes on the NLRB nominees as part of a deal with Democrats to avoid rule changes that would limit the ability of the minority party to filibuster executive branch nominees.
These confirmations are a pleasant change from the obstructionist tactics Senate Republicans have become known for.
Hopefully this marks the beginning of a more functional U.S. Senate that is more responsive to the needs of working families.
July 18, 2013
UFCW Praises Confirmation of Tom Perez as Labor Secretary
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The following statement was released today by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) after the Senate confirmed Tom Perez as Secretary of Labor.
“Tom Perez is a passionate advocate for workers and will make a great Secretary of Labor. Whether on the picket line, through his efforts to pass a living wage ordinance, or in the coalitions he built among immigrant and workers’ rights organizations, UFCW members have experienced his advocacy firsthand. We look forward to working with him to level the playing field for low-wage workers, improve workplace safety, and make comprehensive immigration reform the law of the land.”
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The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, visit www.ufcw.org, or join our online community at www.facebook.com/UFCWinternational and www.twitter.com/ufcw.
July 16, 2013
UFCW President Hansen on Senate Rules Agreement
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Joe Hansen, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), today released the following statement after the Senate reached an agreement on nominations to the Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and other key posts.
“When it comes to the Senate, this is the best day for workers and their families in years, if not longer. Today a path was created to confirm a Secretary of Labor with a track record of standing up for workers’ rights, a fully functioning NLRB that can carry out its important mission of promoting collective bargaining and protecting the right to organize, and the first director of the CFPB so everyday consumers have an advocate to defend them from the predatory practices of big banks.
“Today would not have been possible without the voices of millions of Americans—including many UFCW members—who have demanded that the Senate end the gridlock and give nominees to important posts an up or down vote. While a change in rules did not occur, today’s agreement is a direct result of those pushing for a more functional Senate. I sincerely hope this marks the beginning, not the end, of a process where executive branch nominees are considered in a fair and timely fashion.”
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The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, visit www.ufcw.org, or join our online community at www.facebook.com/UFCWinternational and www.twitter.com/ufcw.
July 10, 2013
Joint Statement by Richard L. Trumka (AFL-CIO) and Joe Hansen (ChangetoWin) on the Walmart and GAP Bangladesh Safety Alliance: Weak and Worthless
The so-called Global Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, announced today by Walmart, Gap and the Bipartisan Policy Center, was developed without consultation with workers or their representatives and is yet another “voluntary” scheme with no meaningful enforcement mechanisms. Companies that sign onto the alliance but fail to meet a commitment face no adverse consequences beyond expulsion from the scheme. Instead, workers will continue to pay.
In stark contrast, more than 75 corporations from 15 countries, including the United States, have signed the binding Accord on Fire and Building Safety negotiated with Bangladeshi and international unions. The Accord has rules to make real improvements in the safety of garment workers. Workers, unions and worker rights organizations negotiated this agreement with employers and integrated worker safety efforts by governments and the International Labor Organization (ILO). The AFL-CIO and Change to Win, along with global unions IndustriAll and UNI and numerous organizations representing Bangladeshi workers, also endorse it. The AFL-CIO and Change to Win reject the Walmart/GAP plan as a way to avoid accountability, limit costs and silence workers and their representatives.
Rather than sign the binding Accord, Walmart and Gap are pushing a weak and worthless plan that avoids enforceable commitments. The Bipartisan Policy Center, which has clear financial and political connections to Walmart, is releasing the document, which is the product of a closed process and has been signed only by the same corporations that produced it.
The Accord departs from the broken system of voluntary corporate responsibility in supply chains that has so often failed to protect workers. It makes a clear commitment to worker safety and rights, and to transparency. It expresses values that most countries uphold.
The Accord has been endorsed by the United Nations, the ILO, the government of Bangladesh, both the parliament and commission of the European Union, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Members and leaders in both houses of the U.S. Congress have also endorsed the Accord.
In the last eight years, more than 1,800 Bangladeshi garment workers have been killed in preventable factory fires and building collapses while producing mostly for European and U.S. markets. This tragic loss of life requires more than a wink and a nod from two of the richest corporations in the world. It means taking responsibility for the safety of workers by entering into a legitimate, binding process that will save lives. Seventy-five brands have taken that important step. It is time for Walmart and GAP to join them, rather than trying to undermine those efforts and maintain a system that has a long and bloody record of failure.
Statement online here: http://www.aflcio.org/Press-Room/Press-Releases/Joint-Statement-by-Richard-L.-Trumka-AFL-CIO-and-Joe-Hansen-ChangetoWin-on-the-Walmart-and-GAP-Bangladesh-Safety-Alliance-Weak-and-Worthless
For the latest udates, follow @AFLCIO and @RichardTrumka on Twitter.
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July 10, 2013
Joint Statement by Richard L. Trumka (AFL-CIO) and Joe Hansen (Change to Win) on the Walmart and GAP Bangladesh Safety Alliance: Weak and Worthless
The so-called Global Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, announced today by Walmart, Gap and the Bipartisan Policy Center, was developed without consultation with workers or their representatives and is yet another “voluntary” scheme with no meaningful enforcement mechanisms. Companies that sign onto the alliance but fail to meet a commitment face no adverse consequences beyond expulsion from the scheme. Instead, workers will continue to pay.
In stark contrast, more than 75 corporations from 15 countries, including the United States, have signed the binding Accord on Fire and Building Safety negotiated with Bangladeshi and international unions. The Accord has rules to make real improvements in the safety of garment workers. Workers, unions and worker rights organizations negotiated this agreement with employers and integrated worker safety efforts by governments and the International Labor Organization (ILO). The AFL-CIO and Change to Win, along with global unions IndustriAll and UNI and numerous organizations representing Bangladeshi workers, also endorse it. The AFL-CIO and Change to Win reject the Walmart/GAP plan as a way to avoid accountability, limit costs and silence workers and their representatives.
Rather than sign the binding Accord, Walmart and Gap are pushing a weak and worthless plan that avoids enforceable commitments. The Bipartisan Policy Center, which has clear financial and political connections to Walmart, is releasing the document, which is the product of a closed process and has been signed only by the same corporations that produced it.
The Accord departs from the broken system of voluntary corporate responsibility in supply chains that has so often failed to protect workers. It makes a clear commitment to worker safety and rights, and to transparency. It expresses values that most countries uphold.
The Accord has been endorsed by the United Nations, the ILO, the government of Bangladesh, both the parliament and commission of the European Union, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Members and leaders in both houses of the U.S. Congress have also endorsed the Accord.
In the last eight years, more than 1,800 Bangladeshi garment workers have been killed in preventable factory fires and building collapses while producing mostly for European and U.S. markets. This tragic loss of life requires more than a wink and a nod from two of the richest corporations in the world. It means taking responsibility for the safety of workers by entering into a legitimate, binding process that will save lives. Seventy-five brands have taken that important step. It is time for Walmart and GAP to join them, rather than trying to undermine those efforts and maintain a system that has a long and bloody record of failure.
July 3, 2013
United Food and Commercial Workers Statement on the Delayed Implementation of Employer Mandates in the Affordable Care Act
(Washington, D.C.) – The following statement was released today by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), one of the largest private sector unions in the U.S. and the representative of 1.3 million workers in the grocery, retail and food manufacturing industries:
“Employer responsibility has been a cornerstone principle of the UFCW’s health care reform position for decades. The Administration’s announcement is disconcerting as it releases employers from the financial penalty from cutting its workers’ health insurance.
“The Administration’s decision to delay employer health care requirements appears to be a significant hand-out to employers.
“However, the fact that the Administration appears open to changing the rules encourages us to continue to advocate on behalf of Taft-Hartley health care plans that provide affordable, quality insurance to tens of millions of working families.”
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The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, visit www.ufcw.org, or join our online community at www.facebook.com/UFCWinternational and www.twitter.com/ufcw.
June 27, 2013
UFCW Praises Senate Passage of Comprehensive Immigration Reform That Includes Roadmap to Citizenship
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Joe Hansen, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), today released the following statement after the Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
“I commend the Senate for taking a major bipartisan step toward making comprehensive immigration reform the law of the land. This bill includes many of the UFCW’s principles including a roadmap to citizenship for those already here, strong labor protections for immigrant workers, and a modernized system for allocating employment-based visas based on hard data, not politics.
”For decades, the UFCW has been a staunch advocate for fixing a flawed immigration system that punishes working men and women, tears families apart, and fails workers, families, communities and businesses alike. We have been proud to be part of a national movement that has led the way in changing the narrative–so that at this point in time a majority of Americans support comprehensive immigration reform.
“Let me be clear. This is a compromise bill. The ‘border surge’ provision added earlier this week is bad public policy at a high price and the UFCW will do everything in its power to mitigate its impact while making clear no further concessions are acceptable. But we cannot allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. Senate passage of comprehensive immigration reform with a roadmap to citizenship sends a clear message that America will no longer penalize aspiring citizens just for trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. It is now time for the House to finish the job.”
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The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, visit www.ufcw.org, or join our online community at www.facebook.com/UFCWinternational and www.twitter.com/ufcw.
June 26, 2013
UFCW Statement on Defense of Marriage Act Decision
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Joe Hansen, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), today released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
“Today the Supreme Court put DOMA in the trash bin of history with separate but equal and other discriminatory laws. The Defense of Marriage Act actually defended nothing at all. Instead it was a direct assault on married same-sex couples who were denied more than 1,100 federal benefits and protections by the government’s refusal to recognize their relationship. The UFCW strongly supports full equality for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community. That means equal rights in employment, immigration, and yes—marriage. The momentum for marriage equality is growing every day. The Supreme Court today restored it in California, Minnesota recently became the 12th state to recognize same-sex unions, and more are on the way. It is not a matter of if but when all Americans will have the freedom to marry. The UFCW looks forward to that day.”
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The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, visit www.ufcw.org, or join our online community at www.facebook.com/UFCWinternational and www.twitter.com/ufcw.