Posts Categorized: Reports

Last week, the UFCW responded to a report released by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis on the failure to protect workers in the meatpacking industry at the height of the pandemic.

The report, released on May 12, reveals that the Trump Administration went out of its way to scale back worker protections at the request of industry lobbyists, and failed in its responsibility to protect workers across the meatpacking industry who experienced some of the most deadly outbreaks.

“Today’s report confirms what we already knew – the Trump Administration’s negligence and unethical actions endangered America’s meatpacking workers and their families at the height of the pandemic,” said UFCW International President Marc Perrone in a statement.

“The UFCW repeatedly sounded the alarm about the Trump Administration’s failed oversight of the industry and its inability to protect the people that kept food on our nation’s tables. This report shows that their failure was not only tragic, but a deliberate attempt to put industry profits ahead of the people just trying to make a living. This report shows that the nation is in desperate need of a comprehensive meat processing safety bill. As the union that represents the largest share of America’s meatpacking workers, with over 250,000 hard-working members in this industry, we are fully committed to ensuring that meatpacking jobs include the health and safety standards these skilled workers deserve and call on all lawmakers to immediately take steps to make that happen.”

Throughout the pandemic, the UFCW has been the leading national voice for essential workers across frontline industries, especially in the meatpacking, grocery, and retail space.

The UFCW repeatedly called on the Trump Administration to take worker safety more seriously during the first year of the pandemic, including efforts to directly appeal to Vice President Mike Pence who was then leading the White House task force.

The UFCW also testified in front of several Congressional committees, including the same one releasing this report, regarding the experience of meatpacking workers during COVID-19; successfully negotiated the first national U.S. agreement to provide paid sick leave to meatpacking workers; and supported the effort to confront safety failures in wrongful death lawsuits against major meatpacking employers. The latest data compiled by the UFCW show that there have been at least 505 frontline worker deaths and at least 131,295 frontline workers infected or exposed to the virus among our union’s members nationwide. That tally includes at least 135 meatpacking worker deaths and 24,395 meatpacking workers infected or exposed to the virus.

You can read the entire report here.

A new report released by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found that unionization in the fast-growing cannabis industry was key to creating high quality jobs and raising standards in the industry. According to the report, titled Ensuring the High Road in Cannabis, unionized jobs in the cannabis industry were safer, better paying, and more likely to provide benefits like health care, paid leave, and fair scheduling.

The report also found that Labor Peace Agreements (LPAs) between companies and workers in the industry successfully protected the right of cannabis workers to unionize while supporting a greater alignment between companies and workers. This led to increased job quality and pay standards for all workers, particularly those of color, in addition to increased safety for customers and workers. Specifically, unionized cannabis workers can earn up to $8,690 more than their non-union, non-cannabis peers. This model provides a tangible opportunity to repair the harm done to communities of color during the war on drugs.

As Congress considers the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act discussion draft introduced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Cory Booker (New Jersey) and Ron Wyden (Oregon), the UFCW is urging lawmakers to recognize the importance of strengthening protections and the right to unionize for all workers in the fast-growing cannabis industry, which already supports 321,000 American jobs nationwide.

Key findings from the EPI report on cannabis workers include:

•           LPAs have proven successful in protecting workers’ rights to organize in states that foster them for licensed medical and/or recreational cannabis businesses. LPAs prevent union busting by employers in exchange for workers’ pledge not to strike.

•           Cannabis workers across job sectors can make more than their non-union counterparts in similar jobs, including:

•           Retail: $2,810 more in annual wages;

•           Processing: $8,690 more in annual wages; and

•           Cultivation: $7,030 more in annual wages.

•           And cannabis workers of color earn up to 32 percent more from unionization than non-union cannabis workers of color.

•           The cannabis industry supports jobs across multiple sectors. Protecting the quality of these jobs improves employment opportunities for American workers of a wide variety of skill and education levels. Cannabis occupations include:

•           Retail Sector: patient care coordinator clerk, customer service representative, and security guard;

•           Processing Sector: extraction, lab and production technicians, edible specialists, packagers, and inventory control; and

•           Cultivation Sector: horticulturalist, grower, and trimmer/post-harvester.

•           Acting early in the legalization process will safeguard the right of cannabis workers to unionize and would counteract wage declines that threaten workers as the industry becomes less stigmatized.

“America’s cannabis workers proudly serve their communities every day,” said International Vice President and Director of the Legislative and Political Action Department Ademola Oyefeso in a statement. “They have earned and deserve the quality jobs the industry they helped build has created.”

“Today’s report makes clear that high quality cannabis jobs have made this industry good for hard-working families and has expanded economic opportunity to communities of color who were hurt by outdated state and federal policies,” Oyefeso said. “Labor Peace Agreements bring cannabis businesses and unions together as partners. They are a proven formula for success, increasing pay, providing benefits and protections for workers in the industry.”

“As America’s largest cannabis workers union, the UFCW urges all states, as they consider new cannabis policies, to include worker standards,” Oyefeso added. “Doing so will ensure that the thousands of hard-working people and families affected by failed policies benefit from legalization in the form of quality, sustainable jobs.”

You can read the full report here.