Modern-Day Pirates
Union strength will defeat corporate and political marauders of today
By Jim McLaughlin, President, International Vice President

As I read my newspaper one Sunday morning, I heard a ruckus, looked up and saw my son march his older sister past me. He wore a dark, oversized suit and a tie.

Before I knew it, a 24-inch plastic toy sword was pointed at my chin. “We’re playing pirates,” he told me menacingly.

I told him he didn’t look like any pirate I’d ever seen, at which time he took out an eye patch and said, “Is this better?

I may not have a clear vision of what pirates look like, but I do have a good idea of what they do. They strike fear in the hearts and minds of decent people. In the old days, just the sight of their notorious flag, the skull and crossbones, would cause a ship’s captain to turn and run.

It’s difficult to identify the modern-day pirates by the way they dress, because they usually wear clothes like those my son wore. They run large companies like Enron and Global Crossing. They steal workers’ jobs and rob investors.

And then there’s Wal-Mart, which sails into a town and sucks the economic vitality out of it.
The latest to join the ranks of corporate pirates is Tesco, a British company that is trying to invade our homeland with its non-union Fresh & Easy markets.

In its home country, Tesco’s workers have the protections of a union contract, but in our country its employees get substandard wages and benefits. Union members are harmed as well, because each Fresh & Easy store threatens the market share of employers who have UFCW contracts.
I recently went to London to urge Tesco’s shareholders to correct this shameful situation. (See story on page 5.) We made some progress, but so far the company’s management has refused to call off its Fresh & Easy raiding parties.

In the political realm there are pirates who have traded in their tall ships for “swift boat” ads. They use lies and innuendo to destroy the reputations of people who stand in their way.

We see these political pirates exploit people’s fears by citing a man’s middle name as proof that he is a terrorist. Others will espouse the view that people should be rounded up and deported simply because of the color of their skin. Some will attempt to convince us that a man or a woman should be denied the right to marry simply because of whom they love.

These modern-day merchants of fear have had their way long enough. We can defeat them with our votes. We can demonstrate once and for all that their lies and smears have no effect on us.

Local 99 is working relentlessly to get accurate information into the hands of our members. Come Election Day, our members will fully understand the importance of this moment in American history and how it represents a real opportunity for change.

When we stand up to the pirates of today they cannot win. When they no longer have the ability to strike fear, steal from decent people or kill our hopes and dreams, the seas will calm and we can begin to rebuild our community and our hopes for the future.

I look forward to the day when we can rid the world of these “pirates” — except of course for the little one who runs around my house in an oversized suit and tie.

Leveling the playing field for all workers
By Jim McLaughlin
(July/August 2008)

Did you ever know a kid who was in awe of you? It doesn’t matter if you are a grandparent, a mother, a father, a brother, a sister or whatever, we’ve all had someone who looked up to us like we could do anything.

I love to experience life through the eyes of my children and I refer to them a lot in my columns. I like the perspectives they can give to me.

For example, the other night my son Connor was playing his handheld video game. It was a gift from his grandparents two Christmases ago, but he started to get into it recently. He was playing a game and he needed help.

My last experience with video games was maybe one or two generations from Pong. I don’t understand how these new games work, but together we figured it out. You’d have thought I shared with him a worldly secret that only a father can pass to his son, but I was just as amazed as he was that we made it work.

As a father I don’t have all of the answers, but I am pretty sure I can figure out most things, especially when it comes to slaying dragons and helping the “good guy” — my son — win.

As union members, we have people who look up to us for help. They aren’t children, but they need assistance from us in order to make things work for them.

Every day, working people look to you and me and our union to lead the way and raise our voices on their behalf. They admire our tools and our influence.

We are in a time when challenges are plentiful. “Market corrections,” high fuel prices and other economic factors are taking their toll. Fortunately, we have our union to help us tackle the challenges.

We are in major retail industry negotiations this year. Large-scale economic issues will play a role, but we must never lose sight of the consequences or opportunities of our actions for thousands and thousands of individuals, both union and non-union.

We are raising standards and leveling playing fields, not just for our members, but also for retail workers in this state who have no voice.

We are bringing non-union workers to the bargaining table — not literally, but certainly spiritually. They have a lot riding on these negotiations, as do we.

And when we are done with negotiations on behalf of all retail workers in Arizona, we will lead the way to elect a government that works for all people in our state and nation.

We are registering our members to vote, educating them on the issues and making sure that, whoever becomes the next president of the United States or represents us in the next Congress, they will have a clear understanding of the concerns that working people have.

We have important work to do this year and the members of this union know we can and will accomplish our tasks. Successfully.

The rest of the working population will, undoubtedly, still be in awe of us.

We slay dragons — the people who take advantage of working people. We help the good guys win.

That’s what we do.

Raising the Bar for Grocery Workers
By: Jim McLaughlin
(May/June 2008)

In the sports world of high-jumping and pole-vaulting, “raising the bar” has a literal meaning. It means that the hurdle an athlete must clear — a metal bar that extends between two posts — is being lifted to a higher notch. The athlete is committed to jumping or vaulting higher than before.

For the rest of us, “raising the bar” means setting a higher standard for whatever task awaits us. It is a metaphor that is especially appropriate for UFCW Local 99 at this moment in our history.

Our union is “raising the bar” for grocery workers. The old standards for wages, benefits and workplace protections aren’t good enough. We want — we demand — more.

Why do we want more?

Look around you. Some of us are already paying $4 for a gallon of gas. Food prices are going up, too. These factors alone can threaten the quality of living for our members, who already have enough trouble paying their bills.

Your union is here to speak for you, to fight for your interests. And that is what we will do, as we have always done.

We have our major food industry negotiations ahead of us this year. It will be an epic campaign to “raise the bar.” In conjunction with these upcoming negotiations, we are engaged in a multifaceted campaign to protect and enlarge our union market share, which will ensure our ability to negotiate the next contract from a position of strength.

Our campaign has four key elements:

The Bashas’ organizing campaign: Bringing Bashas’ employees into the union will improve their living standards and create a ripple effect for the benefit of all workers in Arizona. Most significantly for our members, it will solidify our gains by leveling the playing field.

The Tesco campaign: Britain’s huge Tesco corporation continues to threaten union market share in the United States. While we have achieved some success in blunting Tesco’s invasion of non-union Fresh & Easy stores (see article below), nobody is expecting this immensely wealthy company to cut and run in the near future. Our goal is to ensure Tesco workers in the United States have the same rights and dignity on the job here, as they do in the United Kingdom.

Our ongoing campaign against Wal-Mart to protect our communities from its exploitive practices. We fight Wal-Mart on a regular basis on the local, state and national levels.

Fixing America’s damaged labor laws: Most American workers want to be in a union, but too many employers are getting away with illegal tactics that frustrate the aspirations of their employees. These tactics include firing pro-union workers, threats and other acts of coercion and intimidation. America must fix the legal system to restore the balance of power between workers and the corporations that employ them. Passage of the Employee Free Choice Act is crucial, but it won’t happen until a pro-worker president is elected and a stronger pro-worker majority is sent to Congress.

Here’s what you can do to protect what you have and help us raise the bar for the future:

Get behind your union!

Volunteer for our organizing campaigns. Show your union pride at work. Educate your coworkers about the importance of joining UFCW Local 99. Sign-up the non-members. Talk about your union to your friends, neighbors, relatives and everyone else who will listen. Make sure you’re registered to vote and join us in helping elect pro-union candidates to public office.