Monthly Archives: August 2014

UFCW International President Hansen released the following statement after the USDA published a final poultry modernization rule.

“For more than two years, UFCW members have spoken out with a simple and compelling message: safe line speeds mean safe workers.

“With today’s publication of an improved poultry modernization rule, it is clear that the voices of UFCW members were heard loud and clear.

“I want to thank our coalition partners in labor, food safety, and the civil rights community for standing side by side with us throughout this process. I want to recognize the Department of Labor for raising important safety questions.  And I especially want to commend Secretary Vilsack for listening to our concerns and taking the necessary steps to fix this rule.

“Poultry processing remains a dangerous job; a recent study showed 42 percent of workers in this industry have evidence of carpal tunnel. With this rule behind us, I look forward to working with the Department of Labor and the USDA to make our poultry plants safer and ensure more workers can have a voice on the job.”

On July 31, cosmetics and fragrances workers at a Macy’s store in Saugus, Mass., finally got a union voice on the job with UFCW Local 1445 after the National Labor Relations Board issued a 3-1 ruling earlier in July that the group of 41 cosmetics and fragrances workers was large enough to unionize.  The cosmetics and fragrances workers at Macy’s voted 23-18 to join UFCW Local 1445, and hope to sit down at the bargaining table to negotiate their first contract in the next few months. The Macy’s store in Saugus employs over 100 workers.

“These workers fought hard to have a voice on the job,” said UFCW Local 1445 President Richard Charette. “They know that when workers stick together as a union, they have bargaining power and a collective voice that they simply do not have when they are not unionized.”