November 21, 2013

UFCW President Hansen Statement on Change to Senate Rules

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 voted to change its filibuster rules for certain executive branch nominees.

“I applaud the Senate for passing long overdue rules reform. We simply cannot allow a minority of Senators to grind democracy to a halt. The filibuster, once a legislative tool, has been turned into a weapon by those who favor gridlock over progress. The American people, including the hard working members of the UFCW, have had enough. This is not the nuclear option. It is a common sense change that will allow the Senate to do its job. I hope Leader Reid will consider further reforms—beyond just nominees—in the future. Nonetheless, today is an important step towards restoring sanity in the Senate.”

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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.

November 4, 2013

Congratulations Scholarship Winners!

Every year the UFCW International offers scholarships to union members or their immediate family who want to further their education and demonstrate a commitment to their communities and to UFCW values. Below are this year’s winners. Congratulations to each of these hard-working individuals. We know that they will go far in their education and continue to be valuable members of their community!

Not Pictured: Elizabeth Gore and Nicholas Chun

October 23, 2013

Congressional Leaders Join Calls For Walmart to Stop Draining Public Resources and Improve Working Conditions, Support Economy

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, addressing previously unreported comments from Walmart CEO Bill Simon, which demonstrated that as many as 825,000 Walmart workers make less than $25,000 a year, members of Congress and Walmart workers called on the mega-retailer to improve working conditions and end the company’s reliance on taxpayer dollars to support its workforce.

“I support OUR Walmart workers who are simply asking Walmart, a corporation with nearly $17 billion in profits, to pay livable wages,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). “These workers deserve safe workplaces and the right to speak out for their workplace rights without risking retaliation or being fired. It’s time that Walmart listen to their workers who are here to demand what all Americans want: fair pay, fair rules and fair treatment.”

Walmart workers and supporters have been calling for Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, to improve working conditions, stop retaliation against those who speak out, and increase hours to ensure workers earn a minimum of $25,000 a year for full-time work.  In doing so, it would allow workers the ability to cover the basics and help contribute to the economy.

The members of Congress were joined by three of the 825,000 Walmart workers earning less than $25,000 a year.

“I work hard, and I want to be able to support my family and earn enough so I don’t have to rely on public assistance to survive,” said Anthony Goytia, a Walmart worker from California. Goytia, who works full-time, has worked at Walmart for one year and makes less than $16,000 a year.  As a result, he relies on SNAP and Medical to keep the family afloat.

In a rare release of information about the company’s wages and benefits, Walmart US CEO Bill Simon discussed details about workers’ annual income in a recent presentation at Goldman Sachs annual retail conference.  In the presentation, Simon notes that 475,000 associates earn more than $25,000 a year.  With 1.3 million associates in the country, this means that somewhere around 825,000 associates earn less than that amount.

Currently, Walmart is making $17 billion in profits annually and the company’s controlling family, the Waltons, have a net worth of more than $144.7 billion.  Meanwhile, workers are making low wages and not getting enough hours, forcing many to rely on public programs to support their families even though they work for the country’s largest private employer.

Earlier this year, a Congressional report calculated that Walmart workers are forced to rely on $900,000 in taxpayer funded supports, including food stamps and healthcare, at just one of the company’s 4,000 stores.  This number is expected to increase as more workers apply for healthcare through Medicaid because they are ineligible for Walmart healthcare plans.

“Wal-Mart is the nation’s largest private-sector employer, yet they pay such low wages that many of its workers are unable to provide for their families. This is wrong. When workers win, their families win, and we all win. If big corporations like Wal-Mart paid their workers higher wages, families could live better. And federal taxpayers would not have to foot the bill to help them keep their heads above water,” said Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.).

At the forum, Catherine Ruetschlin, a policy analyst from Demos, outlined the economic impact of Walmart increasing annual salaries to $25,000 a year from her report,  Retail’s Hidden Potential: How Raising Wages Would Benefit Workers, the Industry and the Overall Economy. The report shows a wage floor equivalent of $25,000 per year for a full-time, year-round employee for retailers with more than 1000 employees would lift 1.5 million retail workers and their families out of poverty or near poverty, add to economic growth, increase retail sales and create more than 100,000 new jobs.

“Putting money in the pockets of Walmart workers is good for the store, good for the economy and good for families,” said Ruetschlin.  “We know that when low-wage workers have money to spend, they do.  In the case of Walmart workers, that means more spending at the stores they work, more profits for Walmart.  It also means more jobs could be created and fewer workers would be forced to rely on public assistance.”

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For photos and more information about the 825,000 Walmart workers trying to get by on less than $25,000 a year, visit changewalmart.org.

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.

October 1, 2013

October Immigration Materials

Actions in support of comprehensive immigration reform are being held across the country on Saturday, October 5. These will lead up to a large march in Washington D.C. on Monday, October 8.

Here are tools that can be used as you prepare for these actions.

Sample Call to Action
Digital Toolkit
Sample Flyer
Sample Letter to the Editor
Messaging Guide

September 27, 2013

UFCW Locals Help Push California’s Minimum Wage to Highest in the Nation

Earlier this month, with support from UFCW locals across the Golden State, California’s legislature voted to increase the state’s minimum wage to $10 per hour.

This week, California Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill into law. This means that California will soon have the highest minimum wage in the country.

California’s minimum wage had been stuck at $8 since 2008.

Had California’s 1968 minimum wage been indexed to inflation, it would now be $11.08.

UFCW locals in California saw that an increase was long overdue so they stepped up and took action.

This isn’t the first time UFCW’s California locals have helped to secure a minimum wage increase. They were also recently involved with passing living wage ordinances in San Jose and Long Beach.

Securing a wage increase for the entire state of California was a much greater undertaking though and required a concerted effort by all of UFCW’s California locals.

To help give the bill the aggressive push it deserved, five lobby days were held at the State Capitol in Sacramento. This gave UFCW members the opportunity to appeal directly to State Senators, Assemblymembers, and the Governor about how raising the minimum wage would impact their lives.

As the minimum wage bill headed towards passage, UFCW members willed it over the finish line by making direct phone calls to uncommitted legislators.

At the signing of the bill, Governor Brown’s remarks made it clear he heard their message loud and clear.

“Our society is experiencing a growing gap between those at the top and those at the
Raising California’s minimum wage was a great effort and a great success. More than 2.3 million California workers will be affected by the wage increase. It will go a long ways towards ensuring hard work provides both dignity and a livable wage. bottom,” he said. “Our social fabric is being ripped apart. Today, we sew that fabric a little tighter together, as we raise the wages of those who labor at the bottom.”

August 2, 2013

UFCW Members Remain Committed to Rebuilding Haiti

On January 12, 2010, a massive earthquake struck Haiti, causing catastrophic damage in and around the capital city of Port-au-Prince. In total, the earthquake affected more than 3.5 million people, killing 220,000, injuring 300,000 and destroying or badly damaging 293,383 homes.  As a result of the earthquake, 1.5 million Haitians became homeless almost overnight.

Since that time, UFCW local unions from around the country have remained committed to helping the people of Haiti rebuild their communities. The UFCW Charity Foundation distributed more than $450,000 to bring food, water and technology to Haitian children and their families and partnered with several local foundations to provide earthquake relief.  The foundations include Reviving Haiti, which funds clean water access to Haitian families; Hope for Haiti and High Hopes for Haiti, which are working to build computer labs and libraries at St. Francois de Sales school and James Stine College; and God to Haiti, which provides hot meals for children and families.

A great deal of work remains to be done in Haiti—a country of origin for many UFCW members—and the UFCW remains committed to helping our Haitian brothers and sisters recover from this tragedy .

June 25, 2013

UFCW Statement on Voting Rights Act Decision

WASHINGTON, D.C. —The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) today released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s decision striking down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

“Over the past two years, 34 states have implemented or introduced laws designed to disenfranchise American voters. Yet the Supreme Court today made the incomprehensible decision to gut the Voting Rights Act. The right to vote is a cornerstone of our democracy and we should be making access to the ballot easier, not harder. Congress must remedy this disastrous decision by swiftly passing legislation to restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act.”

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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.

June 24, 2013

With a Union, You’re Not Alone

A recent piece in the New York Times called “Young and Isolated” takes a look at what has unfortunately become a reality for many young workers. For young members of the working class, deindustrialization and declining blue collar jobs have caused many dreams of college and living well-rounded, fulfilling lives to be replaced with a reality of disillusionment, loneliness, and hardship.

More and more, hardworking people from working class families have found that completing college, or being able to live up to their aspirations once they graduate, is impossible. Crippling student debt, lack of support in times of personal crisis, and a scant job market are all major players for the twenty-somethings interviewed in the article, as well as for thousands like them, who work for gas stations, fast food restaurants, retail, or temp agencies, or who are struggling to make ends meet while attending community college.

For many young workers, the negative experiences they have had while trying to make a living–ranging from medical emergencies, scams, overwhelming loan debt, and low-paying jobs–make it hard for them to trust others, or have the means to allow other people into their lives.  Having romantic relationships, raising a family, or having the means or time for extra-curricular activities is often unobtainable or something that many young people just aren’t comfortable with, since many can barely provide enough income to meet their own needs.

The article introduces many young people who have become “increasingly disconnected from institutions of work, family and community”  who “grow up by learning that counting on others will only hurt them in the end. Adulthood is not simply being delayed but dramatically reimagined along lines of trust, dignity and connection and obligation to others.”

No one should have to feel like they have no options in life, or that they are utterly alone.  A job should not be something that offers nothing in return for hard work except a paycheck that forces someone to choose between food or medical needs.  That’s why unions exist.

Unions not only raise the economic quality of life for workers, but can also offset the “difficult-to-measure social costs borne by working-class youths as they struggle to forge stable and meaningful adult lives.”

When someone joins a union, they are joining a family–a group of brothers and sisters who go through the same things they do, who will stand with each other when the inevitable bumps in the road do occur. And together, union members have a strong voice that fights for good jobs, which in turn leads to more opportunities for a fulfilling personal life as well.

Through collective bargaining and and the support unions provide, union members are more likely to enjoy stable jobs, rather than having to bounce around from one temporary job to the next. Higher wages and medical coverage can be the difference in being able to raise children. A regular schedule can allow for more availability to go on dates or hang out with friends–something that young workers shouldn’t have to sacrifice just because they are from the working class.

Jennifer M. Silva, the author of the Times piece, hits the mark in her conclusion, when she says:

“We don’t want to go back to the 1950s, when economic stability and social solidarity came at the cost of exclusion for many Americans. But nor can we afford the social costs of going forward on our present path of isolation. The social and economic decline of the American working class will only be exacerbated as its youngest members make a virtue out of self-blame, distrust and disconnection. In order to tell a different kind of coming-of-age story, we need to provide these young men and women with the skills and support to navigate the road to adulthood. Our future depends on it.”

That’s why unions are still more important than ever. Many of the UFCW’s 1.3 million members are young people. In fact, UFCW has the largest percentage of young workers of any union. UFCW brothers and sisters know that being union isn’t all about hours and wages–it’s about solidarity and being there for each other, especially in times of need. Being union is about being family, and never having to go it alone.

June 10, 2013

Summer of Uncertainty for NLRB

“For the first time in (its) history there is a possibility of no board.” Those words were spoken last week by Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon, the top prosecutor and investigator at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

President Obama has nominated five well-qualified candidates to the NLRB and Senate Republicans are threatening a filibuster to prevent any of the candidates from being confirmed.

To put it plainly, a sizeable group of Senate Republicans are actively attempting to shut down the NLRB.

How did we get here?

Over 75 years ago, Congress enacted the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), guaranteeing American workers the right to form and join a union so that they may bargain for a better life. The law provides essential protections for both union and non-union workers. It gives workers the right to stick together and speak up for fair wages, good benefits, and safe working conditions. These rights ensure that people who do the real work in this country see the benefits when our economy grows.

The NLRB is the guardian of these rights. Workers themselves cannot enforce the NLRA – the NLRB is the only place workers can go if they have been treated unfairly and denied basic protections that the law provides.

Over the past decade, the Board has secured reinstatement for 22,544 employees who were unfairly fired and recovered more than $1 billion on behalf of workers whose rights were violated. They’ve also helped numerous businesses resolve disputes efficiently.

In that same decade, the Board has never once had a full slate of five Senate-confirmed members.

In 2011, when the NLRB needed new Board members to satisfy its quorum requirements (three of five spots must be filled), numerous Senate Republicans announced their intention to block any nomination to the NLRB, effectively causing the NLRB to cease functioning. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina summed up the intent of this obstruction saying, “The NLRB as inoperable could be considered progress.”

President Obama had no choice but to make recess appointments to the NLRB in January 2012. These recess appointments ensured that the NLRB would continue functioning, but have spent the year under a shadow of legal scrutiny.

This summer, the NLRB will once again face the very real threat of losing its quorum. NLRB member and Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce’s term will expire in August – crippling the board’s ability to decide hundreds of cases that come before it each year.

It’s time for the uncertainty surrounding the NLRB to end. Filibustering to prevent the NLRB from having a full quorum and being able to function has real consequences for real people.

The NLRB is simply doing its job. It’s time for the Senate to rise above petty politics and do its job of having an up or down vote on President Obama’s NLRB nominees.