Posts Tagged: ufcw local 9

Chad Young, UFCW International Vice President, passed away at home on January 11, 2015. He was 57.

As a young man growing up in Austin, Minnesota, Chad was inspired by his father, Roger, who was an active union member and organizer in the United Packinghouse Workers of America, a predecessor union to the UFCW. Chad was an accomplished Golden Gloves boxer in his youth, and he carried that fighting spirit with him throughout his life as he fought for workers and their union.

His life was driven completely by two words: union and family. And for Chad, those two values were interlocked.  The day he first clocked in to work at Hormel Foods in Austin, Minnesota in 1981, he joined UFCW Local 9 and began his lifelong career as a fighter for his union family. He stepped forward to lead as a union steward at Hormel in 1983 and again, later, as a volunteer union organizer where he worked on a number of campaigns in Iowa and Minnesota during a time of great change in the meatpacking industry. Chad was also part of a team of UFCW organizers who inspired nurses in Washington State to join together in his union.

Chad joined the staff of the UFCW International Union in 1988 and brought his fighting spirit and warm heart to worker campaigns across the country. He played a key role in the early efforts to win a union voice for workers at Smithfield Foods in Tar Heel, North Carolina, serving as a key leader during an election there in 1997.

In 1999, he was promoted to the UFCW International Office as Executive Assistant to the Packing House Director in Washington D.C. In 2005, Chad was named Director of Region 5 – South-central, and was elected as an International Vice President in 2006.  He was reelected in August 2013 at the UFCW International Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

Chad was a true warrior of the labor movement. He loved being a part of the UFCW. He was proud to wake up every morning and fight for working men and women. He was loved by many for his sense of humor, hearty laugh and passion for the union and its members.

Chad is survived by his wife, Lynn Young, his mother Esther Young, daughters Heather Young, Ashley Young, Jamie Colbert and Kelly Colbert, sisters Mona Young and Patti Jo Corey and granddaughters Maya and Cameryn. He is preceded in death by his father Roger Young.

UFCW Hormel workers are holding a chain-wide handbill action today in support of a UFCW steward named Jen Pulaski who was unjustly fired for standing up for her coworkers and exercising her union rights.

UFCW Hormel workers are holding a chain-wide handbill action in support of a UFCW steward named Jen Pulaski who was unjustly fired for standing up for her coworkers and exercising her union rights. Hormel workers from UFCW Locals 6, 9, 293, 431, 1473, and 1996 are handbilling their managers and HR directors to send a message telling them that this kind of retaliation won’t be tolerated – and that they won’t rest until there’s “Justice for Jen.”

Jen, a steward at the Beloit, Wis., Hormel plant and a 12 year veteran was fired in retaliation for her advocacy on behalf of her coworkers. Jen has been an active steward this year, and almost every time Jen took action to make work a better place for her coworkers, she was disciplined on the job. Eventually, she was fired on a trumped-up “misconduct” charge.

Back in March, Jen testified on behalf of a co-worker in an arbitration, and her testimony made the Human Resources manager at her plant look bad. The next day, she was disciplined. In early May, she attended a union meeting. She was disciplined the day she returned to work. At the end of May, she was named as a plaintiff in a state wage and hour complaint because she and other workers weren’t being properly paid while they were donning and doffing required equipment. She was disciplined again. Finally, while representing a co-worker in a grievance, the discussion got heated. The next day, she was fired on a trumped-up “misconduct” charge.

The pattern of action met with discipline and termination makes it clear that her firing was unjust retaliation for her work as a union steward and advocacy on behalf of her co-workers. This is just the latest in of a string of company attempts to silence Jen and other stewards, and weaken workers’ union voice. UFCW Local 1473 has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Hormel to stand up for Jen.