Governor Signs Worker Protection Bill Championed by UFCW 3000 Grocery Store Workers into Law

OLYMPIA, WA – This morning, Governor Inslee signed into law Senate Bill 6007, a bill intended to protect grocery store workers and communities from the negative impacts of corporate megamergers in the grocery industry. Drafted in response to the news that grocery giants Kroger (owner of Fred Meyer and QFC) and Albertsons/Safeway are threatening to merge into one huge company, ESSB 6007 saw enormous support from local Washington grocery store workers and community allies, who advocated throughout the legislative session for its passage. 

“As I explained to legislators, we’ve already learned the hard way through past grocery chain mergers about the upheaval it causes for workers and shoppers when these chains merge and close or sell off neighborhood grocery stores,” said Yasmin Ashur, a UFCW 3000 member and checker at the Port Orchard Albertsons who testified in support of the bill and was on hand to see the governor sign it today. “We saw it in Port Orchard with the Albertsons/Safeway merger not that long ago. I am so proud to say I stood up with my fellow workers and helped pass legislation that will help protect our jobs.” 

This new legislation puts in place basic guidelines for large grocery stores when they change hands, like in an acquisition or merger, to ensure that essential food workers’ lives and our communities’ access to food and household necessities are not thrown into chaos. It requires public notice of new ownership, a period of job protection or re-hire for eligible current employees, protection of current working conditions and collective bargaining agreements, and mandatory engagement with local government if a merger would cause the closure of a store in an existing food desert. 

“The difference between unemployment caused by a pandemic and job loss caused by corporate buyouts is that the potential harm of a merger is foreseeable,” said Britt Leggett, a UFCW 3000 member and deli clerk at the Fred Meyer in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle who also testified in support of the bill and attended the bill signing today. “That’s what this legislation seeks to remediate: to help workers keep their jobs and seniority when their stores changes owners. The law also ensures that constituents will be served by grocery workers who they know well, who have the skills to do their jobs, and follow the health rules to keep food safe.” 

Hundreds of grocery store workers with UFCW 3000 across the state sent messages to lawmakers encouraging the passage of SB 6007, and some traveled to Olympia to meet lawmakers in person.  

“It’s a big sacrifice for everyday working people to take time out of their busy lives to try and engage with the local political process,” said Joe Mizrahi, Secretary Treasurer of UFCW 3000. “But being in a union means we can share the load, work together, and make real change that impacts entire industries.” 

UFCW 21 Legislative Agenda

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The 2019 legislative session begins on January 14 in Olympia and our lawmakers will once again face important decisions that affect our workplaces. In order to make progress on our priority issues this year, our elected leaders need to hear from us, hear our stories, and hear why these issues matter to us.

As the legislative session continues we will keep you updated on how we plan to keep up the pressure in order to make progress on these issues.

Workers across Washington are standing up for safer working conditions, fair wages, healthier workplaces, and the right to organize. In contract bargains, at the ballot box, and in cities across the state, workers are winning. It is time that state law makers put the needs of Washington workers above corporate greed. We believe that when workers are respected for their labor with fair wages, benefits and working conditions, those workers and the people they serve are all better off. With action by the 2019 legislature, we can make progress to achieving this.

Initiative Filed for Paid Sick Leave and Higher Minimum Wage

Ariana Davis (shown here), a UFCW 21 grocery member from Safeway and Jane Teske, a UFCW 21 health care member from Providence both spoke at the kick off press conference this morning in the Washington Secretary of State's office after the initiative was officially filed.

Today, your union, UFCW 21, along with a coalition of labor, faith, and community organizations introduced a people's initiative with the Secretary of State's office to raise up working standards for all Washingtonians.

The proposed initiative gives workers up to seven earned sick days and phases in a minimum wage up to $13.50.

For years we have negotiated for wage increases and paid sick leave - on the first day you are sick and free from discipline. For years we have tried unsuccessfully to get statewide elected politicians to address these issues. Locally, we have pushed to address these issues in Seattle, Seatac, Tacoma, Bellingham, Spokane and Olympia and already won in some places. But we can't wait any longer for a statewide solution. 2016 is the year to win these for workers all across the state.

UFCW 21 members and workers around this state are rising up together for this change in the law. We are going to need all of us to come together to ensure that this initiative gets passed and the first step will be to gather enough signatures to qualify for the 2016 ballot.

Click on the button below to pledge to gather signatures from your friends, family and coworkers to help us pass a law to give all Washington workers paid sick leave and better wages. 

 

MORE BACKGROUND

PAID SICK AND SAFE LEAVE FOR ALL

The ability to take a paid day off to care for ourselves or a loved one shouldn't be negotiable, it should be a basic right. When we ensure working people across Washington aren't forced to choose between a pay check and a sick child, we can prevent the spread of disease and make our communities safer, healthier, and stronger.

HIGHER MINIMUM WAGE LIFTS US ALL

The promise of America should be for everyone, not just the wealthy few. Yet over the past four years, our economy has swung out of balance. While the richest one percent saw their incomes rise 31 percent and big corporations made record profits, working families have been left behind. We can fix this. Increasing Washington's minimum wage will lift hundreds of thousands of working families out of poverty, respecting people's real contributions with fair wages that help them afford food, a home, and a life for themselves and their kids. Since Seattle and SeaTac passed minimum wage increases, the unemployment rate has fallen, creating more opportunity and a fair shake for working families and putting more money into local small businesses which helps our economy thrive. Everyone across the state deserves this opportunity.

New District Elections Brings New Opportunity to Shape City Hall: Candidate Endorsements Mostly New Faces with Strong Community Ties

This year, UFCW 21 did an early endorsement for Mike O’Brien (District 6) and Kshama Sawant (District 3). Today, UFCW 21 is announcing the rest of our endorsements for Seattle City Council.

With both Congress and the State Legislature tied-up in knots and mostly stalled in partisan gridlock, many active organizations across the nation are finding that city halls can be the best chance for creating change. Local Seattle examples from Paid Sick Days to a higher minimum wage have not only passed, but helped contribute to a nationwide movement for change. As a result, local Seattle City Council races are more important than ever.

In addition to the early endorsement (5/6/15) of O’Brien and Sawant, and our endorsement of Bruce Harrell (District 2), UFCW 21 Seattle City Council Endorsements include these new candidates for City Hall:

Lorena González: Position 9, City Wide

Jon Grant: Position 8, City Wide

Rob Johnson: District 4

Dual Primary Endorsement: Sandy Brown and Halei Watkins: District 5

The new labor standards we have passed in Seattle in the last four years are great, but workers still face many struggles that require legislative solutions, like affordable housing, transportations, hours and scheduling, police accountability, and environmental protections.
— Sarah Cherin, Political and Public Policy Director of UFCW 21.

Lisa Herbold: District 1


With every city council position open this year, 2015 provides a real opportunity for a set of values in city hall and local expertise on issues that matter most to our members and the communities we all live in:

Mike O’Brien
(Champion for labor, environment, accountability and our community benefits)

Kshama Sawant
(Leader on Higher Wages, better labor enforcement)

Jon Grant
(Housing)

 Rob Johnson
(Transportation)

Lorena González
(Employment rights and labor enforcement)

Sandy Brown
(Social Services)

Halei Watkins
(Civil Rights)

Lisa Herbold
(People’s knowledge of City Hall, strong progressive)

Bruce Harrell
(Ban the Box, Minimum Wage, Worker Scheduling)

Fall 2015 Newsletter

Fall 2015 Newsletter

Features:

Members Stand Up for Their Rights
Our 2015 Legislative Agenda 
Concerns Raised About Non-Profit Hospitals’ Debt Collection
Providence United – 5,000 Strong and Growing
Central Co-op Leads Nation on Progressive Wages  
MORE...

 

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