Posts Categorized: Health & Safety

In 2022, the UFCW continued its work to protect and improve the lives of our members.

In August, the UFCW, in partnership with the University of Nebraska Medical Center, released the results of a year-long study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on essential workers. This study is the largest longitudinal survey of essential workers and union members during the COVID-19 pandemic, and included the participation of nearly 20,000 UFCW essential workers across all 50 states in nearly every industry represented by our union.  

Our union called on elected officials to do more to protect workers from hate and violence in stores, and urged the National Labor Relations Board to expand unfair labor practice remedies to deter bad employers from misconduct. We also voiced our opposition to the Kroger-Albertsons merger and raised concerns about the impact this merger will have on our members, their families, and the communities they serve.

On the local level, the UFCW’s Occupational Safety and Health Office held health and safety trainings for members and the Civil Rights and Community Action Department led the effort to help workers clear their records and register to vote.

Here are the articles about the UFCW’s effort to protect and improve the lives of our members that appeared in OnPoint this year:

UFCW and UNMC Release Study of COVID Impact on Essential Workers

UFCW Responds to Proposed Kroger-Albertsons Merger

OSH Office Holds Health and Safety Trainings

UFCW Condemns Senseless Violence at New York Tops Store

UFCW Is Helping Workers Get a Fresh Start

UFCW Urges NLRB to Expand ULP Remedies

UFCW members made their voices heard at the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Workers’ Voice Summit in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 27 to 29. The three-day summit, which was hosted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), in collaboration with other agencies, provided an opportunity for workers across the country to raise workplace concerns with OSHA and other DOL officials.

Officials from DOL’s Wage and Hour Division, Office of the Solicitor, Women’s Bureau, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy, and Office of Public Engagement also joined the event.

At the summit, UFCW Local 400 stewards and Tyson Foods employees Benita Jefferson and Mary Vines-Smith raised concerns about OSHA workplace visits and the need for sick leave.

“Our maintenance people are being made to work seven days a week for 12 hours a day and they can’t even get a day off,” said Jefferson. “They’re tired and overworked. If they call in sick, they’re getting points for taking a sick day. It’s just not right… something has to be done.”

“There was an occasion when OSHA came into the facility and did not notify me as the chief steward that they were in the plant,” said Vines-Smith. “I’ve been trained to know that they are supposed to involve and notify the union when they are doing an inspection or accident investigation. There needs to be another summit like this in every state to address the issues of workers.”

“It’s so vitally important that UFCW members participate in these types of events because there are so many untold stories that OSHA needs to hear,” said Roy McAllister, the interim director of the UFCW Occupational Safety and Health Office. “Many of the experiences shared during the summit were heart- wrenching to say the least, because it’s unfathomable that workers are still experiencing the atrocities in 2022 that we thought the labor movement had eradicated so many years ago. There’s so much more work to be done.”

“The Department of Labor is going out of its way to listen to workers and unions these days,” said International Vice President and Director of the Legislative and Political Action Department Ademola Oyefeso. “This conference and all the ‘Know Your Rights’ materials on Worker.gov are just the latest example of Secretary Walsh and President Biden leading the most pro-worker administration in memory.”