UFCW 21 - A Voice for Working America

In this issue:

» The Big Picture: Under Attack and Pushing Back

» The Inside Story: Active Members Improve Laws

» Standing Up for Your Rights

» Making Change at Walmart

» Building Stewards, Building Our Power

» Reclaiming the American Dream: What's Your View?

» Free Tax Filing & 3 Ways to get what the IRS owes you

The Big Picture:

Under Attack and Pushing Back: How Our Union is Making History

For as long as unions have been around, we have been under attack by businesses and politicians. Surely not all businesses and elected officials want to abolish unions, but the attack is growing. It is not just about money. The issue is if an organization big enough to compete with corporate power will remain or not, and if working people will have some control over their lives and retain our fundamental right to stick together and have a voice at work.

We’ve found out that when we stick together, stand up and take action, we can win better wages and protect our health care and retirement. We can win better laws that protect the safety and well-being of our community.

In 2012, thousands of UFCW 21 members at Macy’s, Sacred Heart Medical Center and dozens of smaller employers will bargain for new contracts. In the past two years, thousands of grocery store and health care workers in UFCW 21 have taken strike votes that helped push an end to long and hard fought contract negotiations.  By standing together, even in a tough economy, workers showed they could get a fair deal. We showed we can achieve balanced agreements with large and wealthy corporations instead of them just getting their way.

Meanwhile, greedy bankers and Wall Street speculators who put our economy in the ditch continue to blame workers for not getting us out. These are some of the same villains who would like to take away the rights of workers in Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana. The November 2011 election results in Ohio were inspiring as UFCW members joined with millions of others and soundly repealed an unjust law that had taken away the rights of workers and said no to corporate politicians. 

Here locally, UFCW 21 is at the leading edge of change. Last summer’s struggle for Paid Sick Days in Seattle is a great example. The basic question was whether someone who is sick (or whose child is sick) can stay home without fear of losing a day’s pay or being disciplined. But it was also about basic human dignity. We won in Seattle and will battle ahead for all workers across the state. 

A union like ours is very important for the future, a future where we reclaim the American Dream. Democracy is part of that dream and our membership elects not only the top officers, but the large Executive Board who are workers themselves from the very same types of workplaces as the membership as a whole. Members make up the bargaining teams that negotiate contracts. Over 1,000 stewards are the frontline in the workplace to enforce our contracts and provide an on-site person for any member to go to for help. Members not only have a voice, they are the voice.

As UFCW 21 is building a movement for the 21st century we are connecting more workers together; young and old, male and female, gay and straight, American-born and recent immigrant, conservative and liberal, those making $10 and $30 an hour, and those who are union with those who are not-yet union. It’s when we are united that we are strong enough to re-balance the system and stand up to the forces of corporate wealth and power that would love to control it all. By sticking together, we will not let them gain that control. We will push back and we will re-balance the system that has been out of balance for far too long.

The Inside Story:

Active Members Improve Laws for Workers in Our Communities

Standing Up for Paid Sick Days

Speaking Out for Marriage Equality  “This is a civil right. It is about equality. Supporting it was a no-brainer.” UFCW 21 Executive Board member Scott Shiflett, a Meat Cutter at Safeway who was quoted in a press release after the endorsement.

Some of the lowest paid workers across our state got a raise in January because our state’s minimum wage went to the highest in the nation: $9.04. Why? Not because employers or Wall St. wanted it to, but because it’s the law. Our state’s Minimum Wage Initiative, passed in 1988, goes up with the cost of living.

Thankfully, our union working with many others, got the Minimum Wage Initiative on the ballot and passed with overwhelming public support. When those with the lowest incomes earn more, we all benefit.

In September 2011, we were the biggest part of a group that won paid sick days for all workers in Seattle. The Paid Sick Days Law allows workers to stay at home when they are sick without losing pay or fear of discipline.

In February 2012, another proposal, the Marriage Equality Act, passed the legislature. This is a step toward greater equality for all. UFCW 21 was an early backer of the proposal and the first large union endorsing the legislation.

With crazy stories from the Presidential Primaries to our home town, you can get cynical and think politics don’t matter. But if we accept that, we lose. By keeping active and demanding more from politicians (or replacing them), we can still win on policies like Uninterrupted Meal and Rest Breaks for all hospital workers and Paid Sick Days for all workers in the state.

Standing Up for Your Rights...

Enforcing Contracts Protects Rights

Management needs to follow rules just like the rest of us. That is part of what makes a union workplace different. Management at Spokane’s Sacred Heart Medical Center broke the rules when they selected three Radiology Techs for layoffs who were not the least senior. Long-time Radiology Steward and Technical Bargaining Team member Sherry Cornette fought back for those with seniority and for all of her coworkers. While she helped solve this problem she was also a leader on her Bargaining Team. Sherry and her fellow Stewards encouraged members to wear their union buttons to show solidarity. After some struggle, Management withdrew those layoff notices and has for the time being postponed the layoffs altogether. We can’t control everything, but by having a fair contract and standing up together to protect our rights, members show the value of sticking together.

Spreading the Word

When Garet Handy, a worker and UFCW 21 Steward at the Overlake Fred Meyer heard about the new Walmart to open in Bellevue he had concerns. But instead of just complaining, he took action. Working closely with UFCW 21 staff, he had a column published in the local Bellevue Reporter to raise those concerns to the broader public.

He started his column: “What is it about Walmart that makes them think people will believe things that are not true? I live and work in Bellevue. And I believe in the values of hard work, respect and fair pay. Unlike the Bellevue Reporter’s editorial, I don’t welcome Walmart to our community. Maybe I’d feel differently if Walmart’s actions showed they support these values of fairness and respect, but they don’t.” Read Garet's full article.

Knowing that Walmart’s poor values could affect his community, Garet Handy took action to stand up for his fellow workers and his community.
 

A Good Ending to a Long, Winding Road

Geri Graham worked at Harrison Medical Center for nearly 7 years doing transcription of medical records. In 2010, she was put under investigation and later suspended. After a year of suspension she was ultimately terminated, while the “Just Cause” grievance challenging this unfair treatment was still in process. With our union and her co-worker standing beside her, she was successful fighting back this unfair discipline. While she was found to have had minor violations of policy, the long-time suspension and termination were far out of balance. Early in 2012, the Arbitrator on her case ruled that Geri be reinstated to her work with a significant amount in back pay.
 

Don’t Mess With Her Shoes

When Evelyn Rojas’s manager at Southcenter Macy’s said her brown boots were not the dress code’s black, she understood. After all, it is a clear policy that Macy’s workers need to wear black shoes. So she went and bought a pair of black shoes and returned to work. But now things took a turn. Despite the fact that Evelyn’s shoes were now black as required (and by the way the same type of shoes that some of her co-workers wear), the manager still sent her home. She knew that wasn’t right. She called her Union Rep. and a formal grievance was filed. We all have rules to follow, but we also deserve fair treatment at work. Evelyn eventually got back pay for the hours she lost by having been sent home.
 

Is Your Pay Correct?

Expect employers to pay what they are supposed to? The fact is that workers lose out on millions each year because of incorrect pay. When Cindy Paquette, who works at the Des Moines Safeway, started to be responsible for scheduling and directing work within her Department, she wondered whether she should be getting higher pay. Cindy called her Union Rep., who pointed out the part of her Meat/Seafood contract that showed a higher rate of pay (Lead Service Counter) for this work. Cindy then took this to her Store Manager who agreed to pay her retro and keep paying her the lead rate as long as she did that work. By asking a question, having a union contract and getting the facts, Cindy got her fair pay.

Community and Workers Call for Making Change at Walmart

The largest employer in America is being challenged to change its ways. Walmart Associates (past and present) have formed OUR Walmart, a growing organization of thousands in over 30 states demanding respect at work, improved hours and pay, and health benefits. Unfortunately, Walmart executives are going the other way – having just announced at the end of last year that all part-time workers would no longer be eligible for health care coverage.

So as Walmart looks to expand into urban areas in Puget Sound, another force is joining OUR Walmart. A new group in Puget Sound just launched in January, with dozens of organizations as members. It is a local chapter of the national campaign Making Change at Walmart. In a newspaper ad in the Daily Journal of Commerce from January 2012 (see above) the coalition is standing arm-in-arm saying they believe in the values of respect and fairness. And when employers like Walmart come into our communities with empty promises that violate these values, we will oppose them. Learn more at MakingChangeatWalmart.org

Walmart’s low pay, part-time hours, and cutting health benefits not only effects Walmart workers, it has an impact on all workers in our region. This includes UFCW 21 members at Macy’s, Fred Meyer, Rite Aid and Bartell Drugstores, and tens of thousands at union grocery stores.

Building Stewards

Building Our Power

In 2011, we grew our Steward number to over 1,000. In 2012 we hope to grow our Steward number even bigger. Building more Stewards gives us the ability to be more powerful in the workplace, at the negotiating table, in the community and in the halls of government.

If you are interested in becoming a Steward, a new 45-minute Steward training (at your worksite) has been developed to give you the basics to get active as a Steward in less than an hour. Interested? Contact your Steward or Union Rep. at 1-800-732-1188.

On the front Cover:
Suzanne Mortensen is a Respiratory Therapist at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett and will be trained as a new Steward in 2012.