Friday, June 15, 2007
Tell the Senate to Pass EFCA!
On June 19, working people from across America will be coming together in Washington, DC to demand that the U.S. Senate pass the Employee Free Choice Act and support the American Dream.
Even if you can't be there in person, you can be a part of the rally: sign our petition supporting the rally and show the Senate that Americans are ready to restore the American Dream!
Take Action: Sign the petition supporting the Employee Free Choice Act
One of the cornerstones of the American Dream is the right of working people to join together in unions. Unfortunately, as we all know, corporate interests have spent decades and untold sums to chip away at this right.
The Employee Free Choice Act is important legislation currently before the Senate that would reverse this trend. By ensuring that workers who wish to join together can do so free of intimidation, it would open the way for millions of workers to join together and achieve the American Dream.
By signing this support petition, you are standing with those who will march on June 19 in support of the Employee Free Choice Act and the American Dream. Sign today and show the Senate that workers across the country are united in restoring the American Dream!
Monday, April 09, 2007
A Win for Workers in New Mexico
Albertsons meat department employees at two Las Cruces stores have achieved victory and a fair contract with the company, negotiated by UFCW Local 1564. One hundred percent of workers voted to accept the three-year contract at a meeting on March 29.
Read more about the contract at www.groceryworkersunited.org.
When the Las Cruces, New Mexico Albertsons stores finally sold in June of last year to Cerberus LLC, workers were optimistic that the new Albertsons would do the right thing for their employees. And after some tough negotiations, Albertsons employees finally have a fair contract.
Albertsons workers will finally have the secure retirement they've worked so hard for, and access to quality, affordable health care as well. "These Albertsons employees have worked hard to make their company successful," said Greg Frazier, UFCW Local 1564 Organizing Director.
"They deserve affordable health care, a secure retirement, and wages that pay the bills -- and with their Union contract, they finally have all of those things." For more on this victory and other UFCW grocery bargaining news, check http://www.groceryworkersunited.org/.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Stop & Shop Workers Ratify Contract
This past weekend, Stop & Shop workers represented by five United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local Unions in New England achieved a solid victory when they ratified a three-year contract agreement securing affordable, quality health care with access for all Stop & Shop workers.
Coordinated action with supporters and customers was key to the workers' success. Community members and grocery workers sent emails of support, called store managers and Stop & Shop's CEO, wrote letters to the editors of local newspapers, and signed petitions promising not to shop at Stop & Shop if workers were forced to strike.
The coordinated effort in New England is part of a nationwide bargaining unity program among UFCW grocery workers. Over 400,000 UFCW grocery workers across the country and in Canada are negotiating new contracts throughout 2007.
Earlier this year, 15,000 UFCW grocery workers from six locals in Southern California approved a three-year contract with regional supermarket chain Stater Bros. that eliminates the two tier wage, raises wages, and significantly increases Health and Pension trust fund contributions by the company. This agreement is proof that companies--especially national chains--can well afford a fair contract that respects grocery workers. Stater Bros. CEO Jack Brown even said that the contract "does not put Stater Bros. into any financial jeopardy... We believe it's a fair contact. We believe we can live within the contract."
Many UFCW grocery workers across the country are currently in contract negotiations or will be in negotiations this year. By supporting each other regionally and nationally, as well as engaging customers and community members in their struggle, grocery workers can improve grocery industry jobs for themselves and their communities.
Click Here to listen to a UFCW radio spot in Southern California that applauds the contract agreement with Stater Bros.
For more information on the grocery workers' campaign, go to: www.groceryworkersunited.org
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Your Union is About More than Your Paycheck and Benefits
The UFCW is about workers coming together to build better lives for ourselves. It's about creating opportunity.
That's why each year the UFCW awards several scholarships of up to $8,000 each
to UFCW members or their unmarried dependents.
The UFCW Scholarship application is available online now through March 15, 2007.
To apply or for more information please visit: www.ufcw.org/scholarship.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Real Workers vs. Big Money
Three working people -- a North Carolina meatpacker, a California machine operator, and a Virginia customer service worker -- came to Washington, D.C. today to stand up for their fellow workers in front of Congress and endorse the Employee Free Choice Act. One more person was there with them. She opposed the Employee Free Choice Act. So who did the other side send? A high-paid anti-union consultant, that's who. Congress should listen to real workers, not big money: tell your Members of Congress to support the Employee Free Choice Act! A sure sign of a weak argument is having to pay people to make it. And the arguments against the Employee Free Choice Act are weak indeed. You could hear why in the moving testimony of the three real workers, who shared, sometimes fighting back tears, their experiences of injustice at work: - "On the days of our union elections, deputy sheriffs, dressed in battle gear with guns, lined the long driveway to the plant. It was an effort to intimidate the voters. Company management stood right there with the head of the sheriff's office."
- "We were told major lies [by management] about what the union would do. That's when we were told we would lose our jobs."
- "In group captive audience meetings and one-on-one talks, company officials and supervisors threatened that we could lose our pensions and other benefits if the union came in. They threatened that the plant would close. Do you think we would have had a free choice if we voted then?"
It's stories like these that make it clear just how urgently America needs the Employee Free Choice Act. Working people, not management, should make the decision about whether or not to join a union. The Employee Free Choice Act would give that power back to every American worker. That's why the big corporations sent their high-paid consultant -- who admitted, under questioning, to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from anti-worker corporations like Wal-Mart -- to try and convince Congress to vote against it. Let's make all that money they spent go to waste! Your Members of Congress need to hear from you that it's important that they support the Employee Free Choice Act. Use our easy online form to tell them to stand up for working people: Together, we can send a powerful message to Congress that it's time for the law to serve working people.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Change to Win Pushes for Real Action on Health Care
Health care for all is a key element of the American Dream. Change to Win unions believe everyone who works hard and plays by the rules deserves quality, affordable health care. Too many people are one major illness away from bankruptcy or face rising costs that keep them awake at night. No one should end up in poverty, disabled or die due to lack of access to health care, but it happens to thousands of people every day in America. That is why Change to Win supports reforms to the system that are comprehensive, rather than piecemeal, provide coverage for everyone, and strongly emphasize preventative care. Coverage should not depend on one’s job or on having a job. Individuals should play an active role in taking care of their health and in contributing towards their care, but they should not be burdened by unaffordable costs and by privatized high-deductible health plans that shift costs onto families while reducing their coverage and their peace of mind.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Have You Signed the Petition Yet?
In New Jersey, California, Ohio, Michigan, and everywhere in between, thousands of UFCW grocery workers across the nation have signed the Grocery Workers United Solidarity Petition. And excitement is building as we advance toward our goal of 10,000 signatures!
In fact, UFCW members are lining up to sign petitions of support for the Grocery Workers United campaign. In many stores, workers say they’ve been crowding around tables and bulletin boards in breakrooms, waiting for their turn to sign. And in Ohio, employees at a new Kroger store actually stood in lines at tables set up for workers to sign the petitions. SIGN THE PETITION! Go to www.groceryworkersunited.org/solidarity_petition.htm.
Sure, the petition is just a piece of paper. And true, it doesn’t require a lot of effort to sign your name on it.
But your signature on that piece of paper means much more—it means that you are standing with UFCW grocery workers nationwide in the fight for grocery jobs that come with affordable health care, good wages, and respect in the workplace.
SIGN THE PETITION! Go to www.groceryworkersunited.org/solidarity_petition.htm. Our goal is 10,000 signatures by January 31st—and we’re getting there! So far, over 6000 UFCW members have signed the petition. If you’re one of them—thank you for standing up for good jobs in the grocery industry.
If you haven’t signed the petition, go to the Grocery Workers United website and find out how you can do so.
Be sure to let your fellow grocery workers know about the petition, too—you can forward this email to them, and you can also download and print the petition on the website by clicking here or going to www.groceryworkersunited.org/solidarity_petition.htm.
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