Posts Tagged: UFCW Local 1167

Last week, LabCorp phlebotomists voted to join UFCW Locals 1167 and 1428. The 40 workers are located in seven locations across Southern California. The phlebotomists work in either off-site lab testing facilities, clinics, or doctor offices. LabCorp workers decided to come together and join a union for better wages, working conditions, and improved safety measures. Negotiations are expected to begin in July or August.

“I voted yes to join the union to improve working conditions at LabCorp and to lift the standard of living for my fellow coworkers,” said Leon Gutierrez, a LabCorp phlembotomist. I have been in the phlebotomy for more than 24 years and the conditions for non-union phlebotomists at companies like LabCorp have only gotten worse. It’s time that LabCorp values us like the professionals we are and gives us the respect and dignity we deserve.”

During the campaign, both local unions hosted several union meetings with the workers and collectively they organized phone trees for organizing calls. In response to the campaign, the company hired anti-union consultants to try to convince the workers not to join the UFCW. Workers pushed back during those meetings though and continued to stay united to have a voice on the job.

“I am very proud of my coworkers and myself. Despite how hard LabCorp tried to convince us otherwise, we stuck together in order to make sure that we have the opportunity to better our working conditions. I am excited to become a member of the UFCW,” said LabCorp phlembotomist Veronica Beltran.

This first LabCorp election is the beginning of a larger organizing campaign for LabCorps workers. There are upcoming LabCorp organizing elections scheduled in June for both locals.

El Super workers who are UFCW members traveled to Arizona last week to amplify their boycott of El Super Grocery stores in protest of El Super’s refusal to negotiate for a fair contract.

El Super workers who are members of UFCW Locals 324, 770, 1428 and 1167 traveled to Arizona last week to amplify their boycott of El Super Grocery stores and to bring their message of the company’s poor treatment of workers to Phoenix consumers. They were joined by community activists and members of UFCW Local 99 in protesting El Super’s refusal to negotiate for a fair contract.

“We just want livable wages, not poverty wages,” said Southern California El Super worker Flora Castaneda, who was among the group that traveled to Arizona.

Six hundred UFCW members have been working without a contract since September, 2013. In response to the company’s steadfast refusal to provide their employees with a fair contract, union El Super workers called for a consumer boycott of the grocery chain beginning in December 2014.

El Super is a 49-store grocery chain in the American Southwest, owned by Grupo Comercial Chedraui, Mexico’s third largest retailer. Seven stores in southern California currently are union, represented by UFCW Locals 324, 770, 1428 and 1167. The employees are working together to achieve adequate paid sick leave, seniority rights, guaranteed 40-hour work weeks for full-time employees and a fair wage in a new contract.

Unfortunately, rather than working cooperatively to meet their employees’ needs, El Super focused its efforts on persuading union members to vote out their union. The company held captive audience meetings conducted by El Super CEO Carlos A. Smith, pushing for a decertification vote. The workers were not fooled. On December 12, 2014 they voted – by a more than 3-1 majority – in favor of their union.

For more information on how to support El Super workers, visit www.boycottelsuper.org, along with the campaign’s Facebook and Twitter pages.