Posts Tagged: UFCW Local 400

UFCW Local 400 members and UFCW Kroger workers from across the country are continuing their campaign to ensure that all Kroger workers have the right to join a union.

UFCW Local 400 members and workers from two newly-opened Kroger stores in Henrico County and Virginia Beach, Virginia, are continuing their campaign to ensure that all Kroger workers have the right to join a union. Together,UFCW Kroger workers are calling for workers in the new stores to have the opportunity join the UFCW without interference or coercion from the company.

The campaign is growing nationally with UFCW Kroger workers from across the country are showing support for this unity effort. UFCW Kroger workers from all across the country are reaching out to Kroger workers in the two new Virginia stores to show them they’re not alone by submitting photos of themselves in their stores holding signs and wearing buttons with messages of solidarity.

Kroger workers and union activists can show their support for these workers’ right to have a voice on the job by signing the petition. Worker activists are also planning a Thunderclap and a Facebook flash mob this Thursday, June 26 at 11:00 am EST. Both online actions are scheduled to take place during Kroger’s annual shareholders meeting to ensure that the company hears the workers’ message.

Support these workers on the Thunderclap or participate in the Facebook Flash Mob, and sign up to RSVP and to receive drafted messaging to post June 26.

Subway fast food worker Jacqueline Midence talks about benefits of wage increases for workers and working families.

UFCW Local 400 and the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) joined together with elected officials and community supporters in Maryland to kick off a week-long education campaign aimed at bringing awareness to area employees on the new minimum wage laws, set to take effect Oct. 1, 2014. The campaign will run from June 16 through June 20.

“Jobs should lift workers out of poverty, not trap them in poverty,” said Executive Director of LCLAA Hector E. Sanchez. “While we celebrate this important victory, we recognize that Latino workers suffer more minimum wage and overtime pay violations than any other ethnic group. That is why we have joined this critical tour to ensure Latinos are not robbed of their hard-earned wages. We want to make it clear to employees and employers that paying what the law requires is not negotiable.”

In November 2013, Prince George’s County and Montgomery County were able to achieve a wage increase victory and set the tone for minimum wage increase statewide. The first increase to $8.40 per hour will be implemented by October 1, 2014, and steadily increase every year reaching $11.50 per hour by 2017. The implementation of the wage increases in these counties is higher than the state’s minimum wage, which is set to gradually increase to $10.10 by July 2018.

“I’ve worked my entire life, so I know how hard it is to try and make ends meet, especially off minimum wage,” said Jacqueline Midence, a Subway worker. “When you’re supporting your family, every cent helps you survive. The new law will help people like me live better, it will give us more hope for the future.”