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June 14, 2010 |
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Monday
Please sign Grocery Workers' Bill of Rights
The United Food and Commercial Workers Local
21 is urging union members and community supporters to sign a Grocery
Workers' Bill of Rights listing the basic principles upon which negotiations
for a new Puget Sound-area grocery store workers' contract are based. Please
read it and sign it!
► In Saturday's (Everett) Herald -- Grocery workers deserve a better deal (column by union members) -- Every three years we negotiate a new contract with the big national grocery store chains that own most of the stores in our region -- Fred Meyer, Albertson’s, Safeway and QFC. Right now we are in our third month of negotiations to get a fair contract. But negotiations have been difficult. For the first two months the companies’ proposals have been to freeze our wages, cut our holiday and nighttime pay, and raise the costs of our health plan. So when things are difficult, we have learned that you need to stand up and take action. As working moms, we have learned that again and again. That is how we get through the week.
Jobs Bill news:
► In The Hill -- Road to economic recovery is paved with jobs, jobs, jobs (by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka) -- The House could only pass a shamefully weakened version of the Jobs Bill. Even so, it extended unemployment insurance, funded summer jobs and infrastructure, and closed the hedge fund and leveraged buyout tax loophole. The Senate must take up that bill and make it real by restoring health care for the unemployed and aid to our states and cities.
► In today's
Olympian -- D.C.
needs to do the right thing, give Washington its anticipated funds
(editorial) -- Washington is one of 30
states -- with both Democrat and Republican state legislatures -- that
assumed the additional federal Medicaid funding when it balanced its budget.
Supporters hope to have approval in both legislative
chambers this week and send the measure to President Barack Obama for his
signature into law. Washington state, its employees and residents have a lot
riding on the outcome. Let’s hope Congress does the right thing and
approves the additional funding.
► From AP -- Obama warns of massive layoffs of "teachers, police and firefighters" -- The president sent a letter to congressional leaders of both parties asking for nearly $50 billion in emergency aid to state and local governments to fend off "massive layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters" and to prevent a possible double-dip recession.
► In today's Washington Post -- Too close to another economic cliff (E.J. Dionne column) -- It is mystifying that a Democratic Congress is having so much trouble passing the most elementary forms of economic stimulus. Assisting the states with extra Medicaid money and helping them avoid massive teacher layoffs could save or add at least 300,000 jobs. Do Democrats honestly think that nickel-and-diming on stimulus now will have a substantial impact on the long-term deficit or be of greater help to them in November than more robust growth?
Local news:
► In the (Longview) Daily News --
Crowd
stands up for local labor at lake gathering --
More than 120 union supporters rallied at Lake
Sacajawea for elected officials to hire more local construction workers,
especially at the privately funded, $200 million grain terminal at the Port
of Longview. Over the past few months, union members
have seen vehicles with out-of-town license plates, some as far away as
Texas, in lots where grain terminal workers park their vehicles. Those jobs
could have gone to laborers, union or not, in Cowlitz County, where the
unemployment rate is around 12%, Butch Willman, business manager of Laborers
Local 791, which has about half of its 250 members out of work and looking
for jobs.
► In today's Bellingham Herald -- WWU will cut $4.3 million, some jobs from 2010-11 budget -- The adopted 2010-11 operating budget will affect about 38 positions across the university. Vacant positions will be left open and about 10 filled positions will be eliminated out of about 2,200 university employees. Last year, budget cuts resulted in 164 fewer positions across campus.
► In the (Everett) Herald -- Tea party activists show preference for Didier over Rossi -- While Dino Rossi earned a polite reception, a group at a conservative rally seemed happier with Clint Didier.
Boeing news:
► From AP -- Boeing Machinists vote to strike in St. Louis -- Members voted 1,548-532 to reject a company offer that would have replaced a contract that expires Sunday, and voted 1,619-459 to strike. Boeing’s four-and-a-half year proposal included a $5,000 lump-sum payment and 3% raises in future years, but also would increase health care costs for workers. The union said the biggest problem with Boeing's offer is that workers hired after January 2012 would be in a retirement plan based on company contributions instead of a traditional pension.
► In today's St. Louis P-D -- Boeing Machinists reject contract; vote to strike -- Union officials said June 23 is the earliest a strike would begin. Tom Gianino, a 27-year Boeing employee, said he voted to strike because of the loss of pension benefits for new employees. "I'm not going to be here, but I want to leave a legacy that we left this in better shape than when we found it."
National news:
► At AFL-CIO Now -- Building
Star can create 185,000 green jobs this year -- Contact
your U.S. Senators and Representatives and urge them to support Building
Star -- H.R. 5476 and S. 3079. The legislation would provide building owners
rebates and low-cost financing options for energy-efficient renovations in
existing buildings. According to the Sheet Metal Workers' union, it
"would mobilize building owners, construction firms, the building
trades and manufacturers and distributors of building supplies to create
jobs NOW in 2010, not later. Building Star will put sheet metal workers back
to work retrofitting existing buildings, and would do so fast."
► In today's NY Times -- New rules on changes to benefits -- The White House will issue new rules that strongly discourage employers from cutting health insurance benefits or increasing the costs of coverage to employees. The rules limit the changes that employers can make if they want to be exempt from certain provisions of the health care law passed by Congress in March.
► In today's LA Times -- Trade numbers rise sharply at ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach -- The increase indicates that retailers are restocking store shelves in anticipation of more consumer spending and is another sign that the economy is picking up steam, analysts say.
► From AP -- As pilots strike, Spirit cancels flights through Tuesday -- Spirit pilots walked off the job Saturday amid a contract dispute that has lasted more than three years. Spirit pilots have said their pay lags behind that at competitors like AirTran Airways and JetBlue.
► In today's NY Times -- In China, unlikely labor leader just wanted a middle-class life -- Last month, an hour into his shift at a Honda factory in the southern city of Foshan, 23-year-old Tan Guocheng pressed an emergency button that shut down his production line. “Let’s go out on strike!” he shouted. Within minutes, hundreds of workers were abandoning their posts.
MONDAY,
JUNE 14, 2010
Sign the grocery workers bill of rights
Read the following Grocery Workers'
Bill of Rights, prepared by the United Food and Commercial Workers Local
21, and "sign it" at the bottom. Also, visit www.ufcw21.org
along with much more information about the Puget Sound-area grocery contract negotiations:
who
work in
neighborhood grocery stores across the Puget Sound.
Our work is part of the system that feeds and nourishes our communities, and we help ensure that our food supply is safe, healthy and sustainable. We stock shelves; trim and sort produce; cut and wrap meat and seafood; work in the deli and bakery; unload trucks; check out and bag groceries.
It is becoming tougher to make ends meet, because our jobs are becoming more and more part-time -- with unpredictable schedules, reduced hours, and low wages. Meanwhile, the big corporate grocery chains are increasingly successful and their CEOs take home salaries in the millions.
By acting and speaking together, we are powerful enough to reclaim the promise of America: if you work hard and play by the rules, you should have a chance to get ahead.
that supporting grocery store workers means standing up for fairness and demanding a simple Bill of Rights:
Article 1:
We have a right to fair pay so we can afford food, clothing, a place to live, and the other necessities we need to live our lives and support our families.Article 2:
We have a right to a life outside of work including two dependable days a week for ourselves, our families, our places of worship, and our communities.Article 3:
We have a right to an affordable health plan that helps us stay well and takes care of us when we are ill.Article 4:
We have a right to a dependable pension so we can retire with dignity.Article 5:
We have a right to paid sick days when we are sick so we can stay at home, get well and contribute to a healthy food supply.Article 6:
We have a right to protection against unjust firing or demotion, and unfair discipline.Article 7:
We have a right to decent and safe working conditions. This includes basic humane treatment including rest breaks and worker safety protections.Article 8:
We have a right to a voice in the workplace when we choose to have a union, without any interference by our employers.Article 9:
Grocery workers and our customers have a right to safe and healthy food in the stores where we work and shop.
Add your name to the Grocery Store Workers Bill of Rights!
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Grocery store workers: click here to add your name to this Grocery Store Workers Bill of Rights.
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Community members: click here to add your name to this Grocery Store Workers Bill of Rights.
Copyright © 2010 -- Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO