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News and Updates
Issues
September 20, 2012
Mr. Picketman is at it Again!
Exciting news! As promised, Phil Meza, a.k.a. Mr. Picketman, has just released his new song for Obama 2012!
Some may not be familiar with Mr. Picketman, but as a member of Local 1428, his contributions to the fight for working families are an inspiration, not only because of the time and effort he puts forth to the cause, but his musical talents as well. Meza has created several hip-hop songs dedicated to various causes in the labor movement, including the 2008 Obama campaign, and this year’s Wisconsin recall effort of Governor Scott Walker. Additionally, he has worked with OUR Walmart to create songs that highlight Walmart’s anti-worker agenda.
And now, Meza adds to his list of labor-inspired works with “Obama 2012”. Just as catchy as his previous beats, the song is a strong call to all of our brothers and sister to vote in this election for President Obama.
“The choice is evident, it’s time to re-elect the president,” Meza raps on the song. His message may be simple, but it could not be more important: President Obama is the candidate we need in the white house next year, because he will “stand with the working class”.
Check out the Mr. Picketman’s song here!
September 18, 2012
Leaked Video Reveals What Romney Really Thinks of America’s Working Families
In a video obtained by Mother Jones, Republican candidate Mitt Romney revealed exactly what he thinks of those who he deems as Obama supporters—including hard working men and women and seniors—at a private fundraiser on May 17 in Boca Raton, Fla.
Photo credit: Elections Meter
There are 47 percent who are with him,” Romney said of Obama supporters in the video, “who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. These are people who pay no income tax.”
As a candidate for president, it’s amazing that Romney would write off half the American people as “victims” and declare at the same fundraiser that his job “is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
In the weeks leading up to the election, Romney and his running mate, Representative Paul Ryan, will continue to pay lip service to America’s workers and the middle class. This video underscores what they really think of America’s workers—the cornerstone of the middle class—who pay payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare and our seniors who depend on these programs for their health and well-being. Check it out:
September 17, 2012
Things Could be Looking up for Labor after Judge Strikes Down Wisconsin’s Act 10
Big news for labor came out of Wisconsin on Friday, when a judge struck down Scott Walker’s controversial anti-collective bargaining law. Although the governor has said he is sure his state will successfully appeal the judge’s decision about Act 10, we certainly are not. If anything, this news could be just the fuel people need to keep up the fight for labor rights, and do what’s right, especially when this decision comes so near to the November Presidential election.
In a Washington Post article about the ruling, a few possible outcomes of this news are detailed, most of which bode well for the state’s- and the nation’s- labor movement:
Firstly, the decision, although perhaps only temporary, is a big motivator for all those involved in this year’s earlier anti-walker protests. After investing countless resources into the movement to stop his anti-worker legislation from passing, and recall the governor, it was disheartening to lose the battle. Working families see that our efforts were not in vain.
Another point made in the article suggests that now, political polarization and opinion on the issue is not going to fade away, and will only be rejuvenated. Because of the Friday decision, Democrats and Republicans are less likely to compromise on their beliefs regarding right-to-work legislation, essentially giving the labor movement a second wind. Collective bargaining is now back in the spotlight, front and center. The debate is not over.
This is good news folks. Even if the judge’s ruling doesn’t stand up, we know that the fight will not be over.
September 10, 2012
What Will Romney do for…Energy?
Big oil companies already benefit from generous tax cuts, so why does Mitt Romney’s plan stand to give them even more benefits? After taking into account all of the tax breaks for the top five oil companies, Romney’s plan would potentially benefit them by $4 billion a year.
Here’s why these companies do NOT need more tax cuts, and why Romney’s energy plan is not good for America:
- According to the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Big Oil earned a combined $137 billion in 2011, or $261,000 per minute.
- Big Oil advocates claim that they need the existing tax breaks to create jobs and increase oil production. But even with these tax breaks, some of these companies have produced less oil and laid off thousands of workers over the past six years. In fact, an analysis by the House Natural Resources Committee Democrats found that “ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP combined to reduce their U.S. workforces by 17,500 jobs between 2005 and 2010.”
- Big Oil and gas companies, their lobbying arm the American Petroleum Institute, and various oil-funded nonprofits have already spent more than $20 million on paid advertising to oppose President Obama’s proposal to eliminate the Big Oil tax breaks, and generate public support for oil drilling off protected coasts and other oil issues too.
- His plan, following the lead of the Ryan budget, would force huge cuts to critical programs including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Gov. Romney is apparently willing to increase the deficit to continue tax breaks for Big Oil companies and cut their taxes even further.
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| credit: Center for American Progress Action Fund |
The continuation of tax subsidies for Big Oil reflects the industry’s longstanding political influence.
America needs to pay close attention to the specific plans Romney has in mind for our country if he were to win the 2012 election. The facts show that President Obama’s actions while in office, as well as his plans for the future, are what’s best for young Americans, working families, and the middle class.
June 21, 2012
HANSEN: ROMNEY IMMIGRATION PLAN MORE OF THE SAME
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 Mitt Romney’s speech before the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO).
“During the Republican presidential primaries, there was no one more radical on the issue of immigration than Mitt Romney. He promised to veto the DREAM Act and encouraged undocumented immigrants to self-deport. Last week, he criticized President Obama’s historic immigration order as temporary, even though it would prevent the deportation of nearly a million young, patriotic immigrants who work hard and play by the rules. Today, in front of the nation’s Latino leaders, Romney offered more of the same, pledging to replace the President’s order with something more permanent. That something is likely to be in the mold of Arizona’s restrictive and inhumane immigration law, an approach Romney strongly supported. Mitt Romney may be a flip-flopper, but when it comes to immigration, his extreme position is crystal clear.”
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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.
May 30, 2012
Staying Informed and Updated on Your Plant’s Ammonia Safety Program
Several of our UFCW members who work in meatpacking, poultry and food processing plants spend their days working around refrigeration systems that use ammonia – a Highly Hazardous chemical. It is easy and important for stewards to find out if their company is complying with OSHA’s standards about how to operate safely with Highly Hazardous chemicals. The main standard is Process Safety Management (PSM). PSM gives workers and their representatives the right to ask for information about the ammonia system.
OSHA’s PSM Standard applies to most meat packing, poultry, and food processing plants. One PSM requirement is that the company must conduct an audit of their compliance every three years. Stewards can request to see the recommendations from the past two audits and find out what actions have been taken. By looking at the audit results and the follow-up stewards can see if the company is taking their PSM seriously.
“When I was sent out for training, I received a lot of information about PSM that I realized could be helpful to not only me, but also my co-workers at the plant,” said Jim Oldenburg, a steward at JBS and a member of UFCW Local 1473 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Even though every worker at the plant cannot receive specialized PSM training, workers do have the right to stay informed about their plant’s PSM program and come to their stewards with questions or concerns. To help his co-workers at the plant, Oldenburg submitted a list of PSM questions and responses to the company. These questions were developed by the Industrial Refrigeration Consortium at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
“People look to me to help them and I’m doing everything that I can for them every day. Having this information available is just one of them,” said Oldenburg.
Here are the ten questions Jim submitted to management. According to the PSM standard your company must respond adequately to your concerns. Their responses to these questions can give you a sense of the condition of your plant’s ammonia safety program. If you need help evaluating the company’s response you can email the UFCW Health and Safety Representative for Process Safety Management at bthielen@ufcw.org.
1. When was our last compliance audit?
2. Can you show me the closeout of recommendations from the last compliance audit?
3. Can you provide me a copy of the most recent incident report and documentation that shows how we closed out recommendations/from the incident report?
4. When was our last Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) conducted and can you show me documentation that closes out the recommendations from the last PHA?
5. How often do we certify our plant’s written operating procedures for the covered process?
6. What training program do we have for our operators and what are the means used to verify they have understood the training?
7. How often do we do refresher training?
8. Based on our plant’s mechanical integrity program, what is the next piece of equipment scheduled for retirement and when is it scheduled to come out of service?
9. What criteria do we use to evaluate contractors that work on our covered process?
10. What was the last change made to our system and can you show me the documentation for that change?
May 10, 2012
FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS PRESIDENT SUPPORTS PRESIDENT OBAMA
WASHINGTON, D.C. Joe Hansen, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), today released the following statement:
I commend President Obama for his support of marriage equality, and Im proud to support him as he takes this historic stand.
Marriage equality is an economic justice issue, and a social justice issue and that makes it a union issue. In the UFCW, we have a long, proud history of standing up for fair and equal treatment for all workers regardless of what they look like, where they come from, what language they speak, or who they love. These values are heartfelt. We work every day to fight discrimination and unfair treatment against LGBT people on the job. Thats why our union is a strong supporter of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) which would ensure justice in the workplace for LGBT workers. UFCW members have been negotiating equal health care coverage for same-sex couples into their union contracts all over the country for years. Its the right thing to do, and the fair thing to do. Im proud that the UFCWs advocacy on behalf of families includes all families.
May 8, 2012
Market Basket Enforcement Shows OSHA is on the Right Track
WASHINGTON – The almost $600,000 settlement announced Monday between the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and DeMoulas Super Markets Inc., commonly known as Market Basket, is a step forward for the safety of retail workers everywhere. The settlement requires safety fixes at all of the companys more than 60 stores across Massachusetts and New Hampshire, along with real safety programs for workers going forward.
Its critical that OSHA continues to take company-wide actions like these to protect workers, said Jackie Nowell, Director of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Occupational Safety and Health Office. Rather than addressing problems with employers like Market Basket piecemeal and leaving workers at risk OSHA can make real changes to systematic problems that occur across an entire company.
The enforcement action came after repeat safety violations by the company including two serious injuries to Market Basket workers in almost-identical falls from unguarded storage areas in two different stores. Workers at Market Basket dont have a union at their work, making it harder to stand up for safer stores.
This new enforcement program clearly shows that when OSHA finally gets tough with bad-actor employers, workers get better protection far faster than waiting on empty promises by corporate executives to comply with our basic safety laws, said Nowell. We hope the Obama Administration will continue using these new tools to give all workers especially the many retail workers who dont yet have a union a safe place to work.
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.”