NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ISSUES
COMPLAINT AGAINST BASHAS’

After a lengthy investigation by the National Labor Relations Board’s Phoenix Regional Office, the agency recently issued a complaint — the administrative equivalent of a civil indictment — against the Bashas’ corporation.

The complaint contains more than 70 individual allegations of federal labor law violations. 

These allegations come on the heels of a recent finding by a federal administrative judge that Bashas’ broke the law by failing to recognize UFCW 99 as the representative of workers at nine Bashas’-owned stores.

There are 73 individual allegations of unfair labor practices, including allegations that Bashas’ Inc. supervisors:

• “Threatened its employees with contacting immigration authorities because they  engaged in union and other concerted activities;

• “Created an impression among its employees that their union activities were under surveillance;

• “Interrogated its employees about their union memberships, activities and    sympathies;

• “Threatened its employees with discharge because they engaged in union and other  concerted activities;

• “Threatened its employees with loss of employment because they engaged in union and other concerted activities.”

UNIONS REBOUNDING IN U.S.
Western states lead national gains in membership

After more than 25 straight years of decline, union membership is gaining in the United States.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that America’s unions added about 311,000 members last year, raising the unionized share of the workforce for the first time since the bureau started collecting membership data in 1983. Total membership is now estimated at 15.7 million.

Two-thirds of the increase occurred in California, where more than 200,000 workers oined unions in 2007.

“This is great news for working people across the country,”  said Local 99 President Jim McLaughlin. “When more workers organize, it makes our collective voice stronger and paves the way for positive changes.”

Nationwide, union jobs in the retail industry increased from 5 percent of the work force in 2006 to 5.2 percent in 2007.

LOCAL 99 MEMBER IN "PARADE" MAGAZINE

Patty Wytroval, an apprentice meat cutter at Safeway 1225 in Flagstaff, knows the value of union wages and benefits. 

She knows them so well that she has been selected to appear in the April 13 issue of Parade magazine in the “What People Earn” section.

“They pick three people from each state, so I’m one of 150 people,” Wytroval said.

“They asked a bunch of questions about earnings and politics, like what kind of pay and insurance I have, what I thought of the nation’s economy, what kind of workplace issues I have to deal with and things like that.”

She said that being part of the union since 2005 definitely influenced her answers.
“Health insurance is how the union has most influenced me,” she said. “My husband was paying $400 per month for his insurance before we got married because his job didn’t pay for it.”

Looking out for you

Wytroval recently married Tony Wytroval, who works at Grand Canyon Cars, a small, family-owned restoration shop behind the Route 66 Roadhouse in Belmont.
“He restores classic cars for a living, and some of the cars he worked on went to the Russo & Steele Collector Car Auction,” she said.
“Me, I’d rather play bingo, go camping and spend time with my grandkids,” she added.

Wytroval has four children and three grandchildren, with “one on the way.” 
“My oldest son finally decided to have a baby,” she said, laughing.
Asked if she has advice for union members, she said, “Join and back up the unionvery chance you get!”

Wytroval draws upon experience from her years working in the food service industry to make that statement.

“I was a waitress since I was 13 years old and I didn’t have any benefits or anyone to look out for me. Things are different now.”

UFCW ENDORSES OBAMA
Statement by Joe Hansen
President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union

Washington — For the 1.3 million members of the United Food and Commericial Workers Union (UFCW), the 2008 Presidential election is about restoring the American dream for America’s workers. UFCW members are energized to seize this opportunity to change America and restore the American Dream for workers and their families.

The UFCW has a powerful presence and a strong organization in key primary states such as Wisconsin, Hawaii, Texas and Ohio. We are the largest union of young workers with more than forty percent of our members under the age of thirty. Senator Obama’s message of changing hope into reality has inspired our members, particularly our young members, across the country.

We have the utmost respect for Senator Clinton and her tireless efforts on behalf of working people. And while both Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have a vision to change America, we believe that Senator Obama is the best candidate to build a movement to unite our country that will deliver the type of change that is needed – for good jobs, affordable health care, retirement security and worker safety.

Our country requires a change—change that restores America to a place of opportunity and security, where hard work is respected and those who do it are protected.

Our country requires change that brings the security working people require to improve their lives and the lives of their children and grandchildren.

Senator Obama understands the needs of working people. As a community organizer, he understands that America must restore the balance between working America and corporate America. He will fight to level the playing field on behalf of workers across our country. He will fight to regain the rights and protections workers have lost after too many years of the Bush Administration.

UFCW will be mobilizing, organizing and energizing our members, their friends and families to make Senator Obama not just the Democra June 2, 2008
We are talking about the dreams of meatpackers and food processors working long hours to ensure that the dreams of their sons and daughters for college and a better life become a reality. We are talking about giving life to the dreams of cashiers and clerks in retail and grocery stores. That is what this election is about. It is about the dreams of hard working people across this country. Men and women who deserve to have their elected officials work as hard as they do.

It is Senator Obama who is best positioned, and who has the best policies, to make these dreams a reality. Senator Obama is the candidate of the American dream.

###

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.

UFCW News Service
www.ufcw.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: DECEMBER 20, 2007
 

ARIZONANS ARE STILL HUNGRY FOR RESPECT
 
Statement from the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union

                
(Phoenix, AZ) –   The baseless lawsuit filed by the Bashas’ supermarket company against the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) underscores the company’s disrespect for workers, consumers and the community.
 
Bashas' appears to be acting out in desperation, naming religious leaders, workers, journalists and their spouses in a lawsuit. It really is a sad day when a company unleashes its high priced lawyers in an effort to suppress the concerns of its customers and the communities where they operate.
 
Our coalition, Hungry for Respect, was formed by grocery employees, their union and community allies out of concern for the company’s practices.  
 
In the spring of this year, Hungry for Respect shoppers found and purchased 683 containers of expired infant formula from certain Bashas’ Supermarkets, AJs and Food City stores in Maricopa, Yuma and Pima Counties. We then did what was socially responsible and alerted the public to what shoppers found. The lawsuit does not refute the fact that Bashas’ was selling outdated infant formula to unsuspecting mothers.
 
In November, Hungry for Respect submitted to the Maricopa Board of Supervisors an analysis of county health inspections that found Food City stores had 47% more major violations per routine inspection than Bashas Supermarket stores from January 2005 through September 2007.  We called upon Bashas' Inc. and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to take steps to close the health inspection track record gap between Food City and Bashas' stores.

A federal administrative judge recently found that Bashas’ Inc. broke the law and ordered the corporation to “cease and desist…interfering with, restraining or coercing employees in the exercise of" their right to address workplace concerns through their union.

In an attempt to work with Bashas' Inc. to address these concerns, Hungry for Respect asked corporate officials to sign a pledge that ensures clean stores, nutritious food, and respect for workers' freedom to choose to form a union.  Rather than agreeing to follow these basic principles, Bashas' Inc. decided to attempt to silence us with a baseless lawsuit.

Bashas' bullying tactics are one more reason why 25,000 consumers and community members have joined the Hungry for Respect campaign.  Thousands of families have already taken action--including petitioning the company to respect its workers and withholding their shopping dollars at Bashas'-owned Food City stores this holiday season.

Bashas' will not stop us from telling the truth about their corporate practices.
 
The UFCW will challenge this lawsuit, and any other attempts to silence workers and their bully our community partners.  Bashas’ is a company operating in our communities.  We have a right and an obligation to advocate for honesty and ethical behavior on the part of employers that seek our business.
 

##

For more information, contact Jim Papian, UFCW, 202-466-1564 or Katy Giglio, UFCW Local 99, 480-543-0373 or email press@ufcw.org

Heroes Who Risk Their Livelihoods
By Paul Rubin

Quite rightly, our country honors those who risk their lives to serve our country. Often is the story told of soldiers who risk their lives for their buddies. The same holds true for the police and fire fighters.

But they are not the only ones who take risks for others.

While soldiers and firefighters and the police risk their lives, people who are willing to stand up and speak out for their co-workers are risking their livelihoods. And, considering that most of us live paycheck to paycheck, speaking up can lead to losing a lot more than just a job.

All of you reading this article work under a union contract that protects you if you speak out for safer working conditions, or for respect on the job, or for decent health benefits. But when workers who don’t have that protection decide to take a stand, there is a good chance they’ll be fired.

While it is illegal to fire a worker for union activities, corporations have long since learned that the law has no teeth and they can get away with illegal firings and intimidating the other workers, all at the same time.

Statistics bear out that, in a majority of organizing programs, one or more workers will be fired. So why would anyone risk a job to stand up, especially when you know it’s safer to just lie low or maybe quit and look for another job?

The real truth is that not much of value has ever been achieved unless there were people willing to stand up and put it all on the line. When unions became a major force in the late 1930s and into the 1940s, many workers not only lost their jobs in those struggles, but no small number also lost their lives.

While few lose their lives today (unfortunately not so in many other countries) for speaking out for justice in the workplace, without these heroes, workers everywhere would be at the mercy of the “market” — workers undercutting each other just to have a paycheck.

In my many years as a union organizer, I have seen many of these brave women and men (and most have been women) taking the lead at their workplace. So I can tell you from personal experience what heroes they are and what a great debt we owe to them and what an honor it has been to know them.

Change to Win outlines goals at conference
Coalition of labor unions vows to ‘unite for the American dream’

Under banners calling for “A Good Future for Our Kids,” “A Secure and Dignified Retirement” and “A Voice on the Job,” hundreds of labor activists gathered in Chicago on Sept. 25 for the second annual Change to Win convention.

The convention’s theme was “Uniting for the American Dream.”

Change to Win is a coalition of seven unions dedicated to improving the lives of workers by strengthening the labor movement. Its member unions include the UFCW, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Laborers’ International Union of North America, UNITE HERE, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and the United Farm Workers of America.

“Change to Win has brought new organizing to Arizona that will build power for all of Labor,” President Jim McLaughlin said.

“Many of the unions in Arizona that are part of Change to Win were nonexistent 24 months ago and now they are building power. When workers here build power, we can accomplish incredible advances for workers.”

Labor leaders from several of the unions in attendance, including Local 99 President Jim McLaughlin, addressed the convention and spoke both of their specific organizing successes over the past year and the need for Change to Win members to continue to work together to achieve greater successes in the future.

United in their mission

President McLaughlin detailed Local 99’s campaign against the food retailer Bashas for its shifting of additional health care costs onto employees. The union is engaged in a widespread effort to educate the community about the retailer’s unfair practices.

The six million members of the Change to Win unions are united in their mission to help American workers build a better future through organizing and political action.

Since its inception in 2005, Change to Win has allocated 75 percent of its funds to large-scale organizing campaigns. Its Strategic Organizing Center coordinates organizing efforts among the member unions.

The Change to Win/Teamsters port-driver campaign is the largest private-sector organizing effort in the nation. The coalition has launched other successful organizing drives, such as the Hotel Workers Rising campaign and efforts to win contracts for janitors in Miami and Houston, as well as large-scale organizing campaigns in the transportation and residential construction sectors.

Political action is another priority of Change to Win. At the convention, Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama, former Sen. John Edwards and Sen. Hillary Clinton addressed the delegates and detailed their intentions to help working people.
Each of the candidates pledged to push for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and to ensure that hard work is rewarded with a livable wage and affordable access to quality health care.

Moving forward

Change to Win has challenged all of the presidential candidates, both Republicans and Democrats, to specify how they would help America’s workers organize themselves.
“Moving forward, it’s more important than ever that the labor movement work together to elect worker-friendly politicians and grow our numbers to increase our strength at the bargaining table,” President McLaughlin said. “Staying active in Change to Win is the perfect way to accomplish those goals.”

‘A Fight for the Future’
WakeUpWalMart.com Team Lays out Plans at Annual Strategy Conference

Another year, another long list of successes for the WakeUpWalMart.com campign.

The national movement to educate consumers and transform Wal-Mart into an ethical and responsible corporation has experienced remarkable growth in its two-year history.

To take stock of that growth and to plan for more successes in the future, WakeUpWalMart.com staff and UFCW leaders from across North America gathered in Chicago in September.

UFCW International President Joe Hansen kicked off the conference by summarizing the campaign’s impact on consumers and on Wal-Mart.

“Three years ago, Wal-Mart didn’t react to us at all,” Hansen said. “They maybe saw us as a minor irritation. Now, the company reacts to what we’re doing on a daily basis.”
UFCW International Director of Collective Bargaining Bill McDonough detailed how the movement gained 300,000 supporters and attracted significant local and national media attention.

Elevating the debate

Given the task of changing the public’s perceptions of Wal-Mart, WakeUpWalMart.com has elevated the debate about the company’s policies to the presidential level. Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards have made Wal-Mart an important issue in their presidential campaigns.

Candlelight vigils urging Americans to “Pray for Wal-Mart to Change” struck a chord with many consumers, as did “Call for Change” conference calls last November in which Wal-Mart workers phoned in to discuss the company’s unfair labor practices.

In addition, hundreds of thousands of postcards and doorknob notices urged Americans to consider questions like “What if Wal-Mart treated your family this way?” and “How could Wal-Mart do this to children?”

With assistance by union volunteers across the country, the “Stop the Wal-Mart Tax!” campaign in April and the “Put America’s Safety First” campaign for port security garnered substantial media coverage.

For Mother’s Day, handbills asked consumers “What if Wal-Mart treated your mom this way?” and a July campaign reminded the nation that Wal-Mart’s reliance on foreign goods compromises its alleged “all-American” image.

Making a difference

In the wake of a successful summer campaign to “Send Wal-Mart Back to School,” Wal-Mart’s stock hit an eight-year low and the company was forced to drastically cut its expansion plans.
“Wal-Mart is down,” said Nick Baldick of the WakeUpWalMart.com team, commenting on the company’s extended sales slump. “Now is the time to increase the pressure.”

In strategy sessions with union leaders, Baldick and fellow WakeUpWalMart.com team members Meghan Scott and Jeremy Van Ess detailed the goals of their upcoming Holiday Campaign.

McDonough concluded by urging union members to step up their commitment to the WakeUpWalMart campaign as it works to improve the lives of the 1.3 million Wal-Mart workers and their families.

 “We are making a difference,” he said. “We have a proven model for success with this campaign and we need to stick to it.

“This is a fight for the future of your union and your country.”

ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP QUESTIONS TESCO's RECORD

The British grocery giant Tesco, which plans to open 27 stores in the Valley, is being criticized before it opens the first doors.

A report released yesterday by Occidental College in Los Angeles says the world's third largest food retailer has a "mixed" labor record and questions its stated allegiances to serving low-income communities and reducing greenhouse gases.

"We found that Tesco doesn't always live up to its promises of social responsibility," said Amanda Shaffer, chief researcher at Occidental's Urban and Environmental Police Institute, in a conference call with journalists.

The company said it hadn't had a chance to review the report in detail, but reiterated it's previously stated commitments in a rebuttal statement released Thursday.

Tesco plans to open about 100 Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores by November in Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas. Stores in the Valley are scheduled for Phoenix, Avondale, El Mirage, Glendale, Queen Creek, Gilbert, Mesa, Chandler and Scottsdale.

Of those 27 stores, nine are located in areas with "higher than average" poverty, the report said.

The 10,000- to 15,000-square-foot markets are considerably smaller than its Britain stores, which are similar in size to to those belonging to Wal-Mart.

Tesco promotes its Fresh & Easy markets as environmentally conscious, offering organic produce. It says it makes an effort to locate in poor neighborhoods without fresh food options.

But the 72-page report recounts international workplace abuses in Tesco's supply chain and says only 10 of first 98 U.S. stores are slated for high-poverty areas.

Robert Gottlieb, director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute, said the report gives "context" for Tesco's move into the United States and should be used by communities to hold the retailer accountable. For example, the report calls on Tesco to establish community advisory committees and use meat from local farmers.

"Tesco has made strong claims and set important targets in its approach to social responsibility," Gottlieb said. "However, Tesco's performance demonstrates that a number of its practices either contradict or fall short of those claims."

Fresh & Easy Chief Executive Officer Tim Mason responded on Thursday, saying Tesco employees would be well paid and that stores would locate in neighborhoods underserved by other grocers.

"We welcome the opportunity to prove to our customers and constituents in the US that we stand by our promise to deliver fresh, quality, affordable foods in all communities, to be a good steward of the environment and to be a great place to work," Mason said in a statement.

Gottlieb and analysts say Wal-Mart and Tesco are similar businesses, both in size, resistance to unionization and pressure on suppliers to drive down price.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., long surrounded by negative publicity in the United States, reported $315 billion in sales last year to remain the world's largest retailer. Tesco PLC, with more than $80 billion in annual sales, is the world's third largest food retailer, behind Wal-Mart and France's Carrefour SA.

Gootlieb said he wants Tesco to create positive opportunities in the retail food industry.

"Tesco has come to rival Wal-Mart as a sophisticated and successful corporation with shrewd marketing capability," the report said. "Like Wal-Mart, Tesco's role as a giant, global corporation has a significant impact on the health, working conditions, fresh food access, environmental quality and other important needs of a community."

WHOLE FOODS’ PURCHASE OF WILD OATS HITS SNAG

A federal judge has approved a request by the Federal Trade Commission to temporarily block Whole Foods Market’s bid to purchase Wild Oats Markets. The FTC is concerned that Whole Foods would dominate the natural and organic foods market which would stifle competition. The FTC cited Whole Foods’ CEO saying that the purchase of its rival would “avoid nasty price wars.”

SAFEWAY TO CONVERT MOST STORES TO LIFESTYLE FORMAT

Safeway has said that by 2009 it will have converted 90 percent of its stores to the Lifestyle format. At that point, Safeway will look to acquire other companies, CEO Steve Burd told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting. Safeway has converted about half of its stores and is converting more at the rate of about 300 a year.

TESCO EXPANDS PLANS TO LAS VEGAS AND SAN DIEGO

Last year, Tesco, the leading British supermarket chain,  said it intended to open approximately 50 stores in 2007 in the Phoenix and Los Angeles areas. Now the company says it wants to build stores in Las Vegas and San Diego. Denver and Northern California are also rumored as potential sites. Tesco will operate under the name Fresh & Easy.

UFCW Pension Made Difference for Arizona Family

Brandt Woodford is familiar with the benefits of union life, having been a member of a sister UFCW  local union for many years and now working to enhance union benefits for UFCW members.

He also comes from a family of union members. Both of his grandparents, Phoenix residents Bud and Lucille Woodford, were members of UFCW 99. But it wasn’t until after they passed away that Brandt realized how important the union had been to them.

“After my grandmother died, I inherited the family Bible,” Woodford said. “When we opened it up, we found her UFCW 99 pension stub tucked inside it. She had put it there for safe keeping and used it as a bookmark.”

Woodford said that Lucille was thankful every time she received a pension check. “Her pension allowed her to live independently,” he said. “Otherwise, if she just had her Social Security, she’d be making less than a thousand dollars a month. Her pension check almost doubled her income.”

Lucille collected UFCW pension for 23 years after retiring from Skaggs/Osco Drugs when she as 63. “She was thankful for what she had and took great pride in her work,” Woodford said. “She was loyal to her store until the end. She wouldn’t shop anywhere else, even when she might have saved money going someplace else.”

Dedication was a staple of Bud and Lucille’s life, according to Woodford. “They were devoted church members and very giving to all they knew,” he said.

Bud worked as a journeyman clerk at A.J. Bayless until he was 65. Bud’s and Lucille’s combined Social Security and UFCW 99 pension gave them a comfortable retirement.

“Bud was on many bowling teams with co-workers and he loved to get together with the guys to go to ASU football games,” Woodford said. “Even though they were on a fixed income, their UFCW pension allowed them to enjoy many years of rewarding retirement.”

From the Los Angeles Times
EDITORIAL
GROCERS GET WITH THE TIMES
The pact between the grocery chains and the union shows both sides have accepted new economic realities.
July 26, 2007

Clearly, grocery chains and their workers learned a lesson in 2004, when management and labor at Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons approached contract negotiations with intractable positions on healthcare and wages. Back then, stubbornness on both sides led to a 141-day strike and lockout that cost the chains an estimated $1.5 billion and employees millions in lost wages. The talks, such as they were, resulted in an awkward "two-tier" wage setup that penalized newer workers and created high turnover that wound up hurting veterans and management.

A new, more equitable contract shows that the grocery chains now understand they can't just ignore workers' demands on healthcare and wages, and that the 65,000-member United Food and Commercial Workers has figured out that it too must acknowledge today's economic realities.

A peaceful resolution seemed uncertain as recently as three weeks ago. Discussions to replace the old contract, which expired on March 5, had dragged on for more than six months. The new agreement, approved by 87% of workers over the weekend, looks like an unqualified victory for the UFCW, which has reorganized to better negotiate with the large supermarket companies. The UFCW sought wage increases, a single pay scale for all employees and shorter waits for health insurance for new employees and their families -- and got practically all of it. Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons rolled back the two-tier wage system. They also acknowledged their crucial role as providers of healthcare for their workers.

For its part, the union agreed that workers also bear some burden for their healthcare expenses. The grocery chains' new plan will emphasize preventive care, establish healthcare savings accounts for employees and require workers to pay premiums for coverage. The goal is to make employees more sensitive to how they spend their healthcare dollars, in theory leading to less waste.

It's not entirely surprising to see this industry display a bit of forward thinking. Safeway chief executive Steve Burd has been pondering healthcare since the lockouts of 2004, and has joined forces with Big Labor to call for universal coverage. Burd, whose company owns Vons, is stepping into the 21st century. Finally, it seems, fellow grocery executives and their union counterparts are doing so as well.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA UFCW MEMBERS SOLIDIFY VICTORY BY RATIFYING AGREEMENT WITH NATIONAL GROCERS
Community-Worker Solidarity, Regional And National Support Win The Fight For Quality, Affordable Health Care And A Living Wage For All Workers

Washington, DC—By an overwhelming majority, grocery workers in Southern California represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) ratified a fair contract agreement yesterday with the country’s largest supermarkets: Kroger, Safeway, and Supervalu.

The contract was ratified by an overwhelming margin exceeding 87%, with extremely high membership attendance at the meetings throughout Southern California. All seven United Food and Commercial Workers Local Unions recommended that grocery workers ratify the contract.

UFCW members and their union leaders in Southern California fought long and hard through six months of negotiations for this contract, and it is a major improvement over the previous one. The new four-year contract includes:

- Elimination of the unfair “two-tier” wage and benefit structure;
- Wage increases ranging between $1.65 and $6 over the life of the contract;
- All wages increases retroactive to previous contract expiration in March;
- Increased contributions to secure pension benefits;
- Significant improvements to all health care plans; and
- Necessary funding for health care guaranteed through the contract.

UFCW members owe much of what they’ve accomplished to the solidarity and strength they showed in working together to bargain for a fair contract. Seven UFCW Local Unions in Southern California all worked together in bargaining and coordinating campaign actions and strategies.

Southern California UFCW members also owe their success to the extensive support of community and religious leaders, shoppers, sister unions and UFCW members nationwide throughout the six months of negotiations in their efforts to gain improved health care coverage and fair wages.

Coordinated action with supporters and customers played a pivotal role in gaining a positive settlement. Union members, community members, religious groups, grocery workers, and supporters knocked on thousands of doors, handed out flyers, sent emails and letters of support, wrote editorials, attended rallies and marches, spoke out in churches, and signed pledge cards supporting UFCW members.

“This contract is a major step forward for grocery workers,” said Pat O’Neill, UFCW International Executive Vice President and Director of Collective Bargaining. “But it never would have happened without the solidarity of the UFCW members and their union leaders in Southern California, along with the support of the community. It just goes to show that it pays to be a member of the UFCW.”

The new contract covers approximately 65,000 workers in Southern California. Elsewhere on the West Coast, about 18,000 UFCW members in Washington and Oregon are still fighting for a fair contract with their employers. Grocery workers in Northern California will begin bargaining for a new contract later this fall.

The coordinated effort in Southern California is part of a UFCW nationwide unity bargaining program. By supporting each other regionally and nationally, as well as engaging customers and community members in their struggle, grocery workers are improving grocery industry jobs for themselves and their communities. To learn more about other bargaining campaigns, go to: www.groceryworkersunited.org.

OPINION: Let workers decide if they want to unionize.
Our view: Bashas' and union should present their cases to all who will be affected Tucson, Arizona
Published: 07.22.2007

What is already an ugly fight between Bashas' supermarkets and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 99 is only going to get uglier. The company and the union are, as is common in efforts to organize workers, so far apart it's difficult to see any way out of the impasse.

The conflict reaches back 13 years to when Bashas' bought seven stores from Arizona Supermarkets Inc. Workers in these stores were represented by the UFCW and, because Bashas' kept on most of the employees, the company was bound by the collective-bargaining agreement. The same thing happened in 2001 when Bashas' purchased two ABCO stores.

Bashas' says it has tried to negotiate with the union but talks fell apart when the parties couldn't reach agreement on health and pension benefits, and the union eventually lost interest and hasn't been active in the stores. Bashas' contends the union no longer represents the Bashas' employees.

The UFCW says Bashas' representatives wouldn't even come to the table and talk, much less negotiate. Union spokeswoman Katy Giglio said the store didn't make the kind of major changes that would require the union's involvement until 2006, when the company unilaterally changed the health plan and removed two cashier stations in a store and replaced them with self-service check-outs. The company has also closed several stores and transferred employees to other stores without bargaining with the union.

Bashas' says that if employees want to unionize, they should file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and have an election.

The union says the election gives the company too much power to sway workers without a chance to counter their statements at the workplace.

The UFCW wants Bashas' to let the union come in and make its case to workers while the company remains neutral.

Then, if the majority of employees sign cards saying they want to be represented by the union, the UFCW wants the company to accept that and work out a collective-bargaining agreement for its store employees in its namesake chain, plus its AJ's Fine Foods and Food City stores.

The family-owned chain operates more than 150 stores and has more than 14,000 employees statewide, including 1,938 full-time-equivalent workers in Southern Arizona.

So far it looks like a classic union- versus-large-employer tangle. The UFCW filed grievances with the NLRB office in Phoenix and, after an investigation, the agency's regional director determined there was enough evidence of a violation to pursue the case. A hearing before a judge is scheduled for Tuesday in Phoenix. It could take several months for a finding to be made, and then either side could appeal to the five-member NLRB panel in Washington, D.C. From there, if Bashas' loses, it could appeal to U.S. Circuit Court.

Enter the baby formula. A group called Hungry for Respect, which is organized by the UFCW and includes other community members, recently called press conferences claiming they'd done checks of Bashas', Food City and AJ's Fine Food stores and found 683 cans of expired formula at 55 stores.

Giglio showed the Star stacks of grocery receipts and said the group did the audit after complaints from Bashas' employees that they were removing out-of-date product at night only to find it back on the shelves.

Bashas' spokeswoman Kristy Nied says the claim stretches credulity, and the company is checking its transaction records to see if it can verify that the cans were purchased at their stores, and when.

Bashas' says it's a victim of a vicious smear campaignSo let's find out. Bashas' should let the UFCW do its card check drive and give the union the opportunity to fairly present its case to workers. However, the UFCW should agree that Bashas' can present its case to the employees.

The card check route could prove more difficult for the union, because the majority of eligible employees have to sign cards for union representation — that's about 7,000 people. But for the secret ballot, it's a majority of the votes cast, so if 1,000 workers vote and 501 say they want a union, they win, according to NLRB field attorney Richard A. Smith in Phoenix.

Both sides should present their cases, within labor law standards, to the employees without real or perceived smear tactics on either side.

And let the people who do the work decide.

Tesco Sets 50 Fresh & Easy Openings by February
By ELLIOT ZWIEBACH Supermarket News

LOS ANGELES — Tesco said here yesterday it expects to have 30 Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets open by Christmas and 20 more open before the end of its fiscal year in late February. Beyond those 50 stores and 10 other sites it has already identified, it has 100 more locations in the pipeline, Tim Mason, chief executive officer of Tesco's U.S. operations, told SN following a media conference. Stores will begin opening in early November — slightly beyond the late October timeframe the company had previously identified — although Mason declined to pinpoint the exact date of the openings, the number of stores scheduled to open or their specific locations. During the conference Mason disclosed the locations of 12 Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets scheduled to open in the Greater Los Angeles area, plus five additional locations in the final stages of negotiations. The 12 stores, including locations in Hollywood, Long Beach, Compton and Arcadia, encompass a variety of white, African American and Hispanic areas with populations from different income levels.

Arizona Minimum Wage Workers to Receive Best of State and New Federal Minimum Wage Laws; UFCW Local 99 President Evaluates Impact of Congressional Action

PHOENIX, May 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The president of Arizona's largest private sector labor union commented Saturday on the passage of legislation increasing the federal Minimum Wage by the Democratic Congress.

"This is a victory for all American workers," said Jim McLaughlin, President of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 99. "We are especially pleased because this legislation compliments Arizona's own Minimum Wage law passed by voters in 2006 to guarantee workers the highest wage possible."

The federal legislation, overwhelmingly approved by Congress this week, will increase the Minimum Wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over the next two years. Arizona's law, which was approved as Proposition 202 in 2006, has already raised the state Minimum Wage to $6.75 and provides for annual adjustments based on inflation.

"We crafted Proposition 202 to work with any future federal legislation so that Arizona workers always get the best wage possible," said McLaughlin. The Arizona law was written so that whichever "Minimum Wage" is higher -- state or federal -- will apply to Arizona workers.