Monthly Archives: September 2020

Keeping locals connected to our members and potential members during the COVID-19 pandemic is essential and the International’s Information Technology Department is providing the tools locals need with the UFCW-developed Sidekick, AuthCard and ThumbsUp apps.

Sidekick complements the UFCW’s LUMM system, which is a free software widely used throughout all of our regions to maintain accurate membership data. The cloud-based Sidekick app enables union representatives to access LUMM member data securely and in real time on any mobile device or desktop. It includes maps of member activity, reports, and storage of signatures and documents. The app also offers many features needed to welcome and service our members remotely, including an administrative and member gateway, use of multimedia, digital membership application, reporting, surveys, grievances, document and file repository, texting, email and an offline mode for areas not internet accessible. You can view the introductory video for the Sidekick app here.

ThumbsUp is the solution for non-LUMM locals to easily text or email new employees a digital Membership Application. ThumbsUp has an integrated calling feature, which allows union representatives and office staff to call and walk through the application process with members. You can learn more about the ThumbsUp app here.

AuthCard is available to all locals. It provides a simple way for local unions to quickly get an organizing campaign off the ground. With the AuthCard app, organizers can reduce face-to-face contact during this pandemic and send prospective members a link to complete an authorization card. It also allows the workers themselves to participate in the organizing effort by sharing the signing link. You can get more information about the AuthCard app here.

UFCW Local 663 recently used the AuthCard app to organize workers at the Villa at Osseo nursing home in Osseo, Minn.

“Digital authorization cards are a fantastic tool as part of new organizing, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Rena Wong, the director of organizing at UFCW Local 663. “We launched digital cards at the organizing committee meeting after assessing for majority support. Workers texted the card to their coworkers right away and checked the names off the wall chart. Their coworkers who were not at the meeting sent in their cards before the meeting adjourned and we reached overwhelming majority by the end of the week.”

UFCW Local 770 has used Sidekick and ThumbsUp to reach potential members during the pandemic.

“This pandemic has challenged us all to be more creative, innovative and powerful in remote servicing,” said UFCW Local 770 IT, Communications and Vice President Michele Ward. “The tools provided by the International’s Information Technology Department have allowed us to be successful.”

“Since the shut-down in late March, UFCW Local 770 has received over 7,000 new member applications through Sidekick,” Ward added. “We have increased both membership and Active Ballot participation due to two things: personal phone calls to new hires by our dedicated teams, and the ease of signing a digital application. It has never been easier to digitally sign authorization cards and member applications.”

For more information about the Sidekick, AuthCard and the ThumsUp apps, contact your Region Director so that they can make arrangements with the Information Technology Department.

Last week, the UFCW condemned the new U.S. Department of Labor fines on Smithfield Foods and JBS as insufficient and called on the White House and federal government to protect meatpacking workers as COVID-19 infections and deaths continue to climb.

The Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls, S.D., and the JBS plant in Greeley, Colo., are represented by our union and are members of UFCW Locals 304A and 7R. The UFCW sounded the alarm early in the pandemic about the risks these workers face, calling for action from public officials and company leaders to provide the critical safety equipment and measures needed to protect employees as the virus devastated meatpacking plants across the country. The UFCW recently confirmed that at least 122 meatpacking workers represented by our union have died and over 18,000 of our members in the meatpacking industry have been infected or exposed to COVID-19.

UFCW International President Marc Perrone​ released the following statement about the Smithfield fine:

“How much is the health, safety, and life of an essential worker worth? Based on the actions of the Trump Administration, clearly not much,” Perrone said. “This so-called ‘fine’ is a slap on the wrist for Smithfield, and a slap in the face of the thousands of American meatpacking workers who have been putting their lives on the line to help feed America since the beginning of this pandemic. OSHA has been asleep at the switch throughout this pandemic and this is just the latest example of the agency failing to do their job and take responsibility for worker safety. If we truly care about protecting workers and our nation’s food supply during this pandemic, the federal government must take action, beginning with an enforceable national safety standard, increased access to PPE and COVID-19 testing, and rigorous proactive inspections.

“Smithfield is a multi-billion dollar corporation that failed to protect its workers, with multiple deaths and more than a thousand infections on their watch,” Perrone added. “This response by OSHA confirms that the company will not face any real consequences. The failure by the Trump Administration to hold Smithfield accountable makes clear that this White House cares more about industry profits than protecting America’s essential workers. Our country’s meatpacking workers, and the millions of American they serve, deserve and expect better from those sworn to protect us.”

Perrone also reacted to the JBS fine in a statement, calling it insufficient given that the outbreak has led to eight worker deaths and over 200 worker infections.

“The failure of the federal government to protect American workers and our nation’s food supply has reached new lows,” Perrone said. “With this latest ‘so-called fine,’ OSHA and the Department of Labor prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they do not care about holding irresponsible corporations accountable for the lives lost or worker safety.”

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, meatpacking workers and the UFCW have led the fight for better personal protective equipment, universal COVID-19 testing, better social distancing in plants, and the real and enforceable health and safety standards needed to keep these facilities safe,” Perrone added. “We have done our job, and all we have asked is that the federal government do its job and hold irresponsible employers accountable. This so-called ‘fine’ proves that this administration is incapable and unwilling to fulfill its duty to keep workers safe. Make no mistake, the Trump Administration has once again failed to honor what is its sacred responsibility – protect the American people. Our country’s meatpacking workers and the millions of Americans they serve, deserve and expect better from this administration and the leaders sworn to protect us.”