Posts Categorized: Negotiations

UFCW members were among the thousands in Madison who rallied, met with state senators, and gave testimony to the committee to fight right-to-work legislation.

With protesters both inside and outside the Capitol, the Wisconsin State Senate rammed through right-to-work legislation last week under special rules that limited debate and public input. UFCW members were among the thousands in Madison who rallied, met with state senators, and gave testimony to the committee considering the bill.

Miguel Perez, a UFCW Local 1473 member who works at Klements Sausage in Milwaukee, felt that passing right-to-work would move Wisconsin in the wrong direction.

“I don’t want to see this law passed because it will make life more difficult,” said Perez. “We work hard to earn fair wages and benefits and this law just makes it harder to achieve that.”

Many UFCW members were inspired by the strong display of solidarity throughout the Capitol.

“The scene today has been indescribable to me,” said UFCW Local 1473 member Lori Wood, who works at Pick ‘n Save in Kenosha. “The camaraderie between so many Wisconsinites has been great. I don’t feel like people should be able to come into the workplace, not pay their fair share, and enjoy the same protections, wages, and benefits that we fight so hard for. It’s inherently unfair. I want to see the legislature create good jobs and this law just brings bad ones.”

Joseph Mikich, a UFCW Local 1473 member who works at Wisconsin Vision, felt personally attacked.

“This is a direct attack on my wages and benefits,” said Mikich. “I’ve worked at a number of non-union stores. My current union job blows all of those out of the water. I make more, I get raises, I have better benefits, and I’m trained so that I can climb up the ladder. I’m scared all these opportunities I’ve enjoyed are going to be taken away.”

For many, the climb back up from the depths of the Great Recession has been slow and hard. There is widespread worry that right-to-work would push people back down.

“What concerns me most about right-to-work is our economy,” said UFCW Local 1473 member Valerie Truman who works at Birds Eye. “If people can’t be paid what they deserve I don’t see how our state can stay strong. We want a brighter future. The rally today was so loving and supportive because everyone here is being honest about their concerns. It’s a necessity that this bill doesn’t pass. We deserve good laws, not laws that will hurt us.”

One of the major highlights of the day was seeing five-year UFCW Local 1473 member Tyrone Sutton, who works at Fair Oaks Farms in Kenosha, address the crowd from the Capitol steps.

“This law directly attacks working people all across Wisconsin,” he said. “These politicians are stripping us of our stability. It’s like kicking a chair under our feet. The benefits we have earned by sticking together shouldn’t be taken away. The stakes are too high. We will not back down.”

The UFCW GOLD Internship Program provides growth opportunities for learning and development in order to raise up future union leaders and activists.

In June 2014, the UFCW accepted 36 promising young members from across the country into the first ever session of the UFCW GOLD Internship program, which launched in Chicago.

Now, after a wildly successful first year, the GOLD program is preparing for its 2015 session. The UFCW GOLD Internship Program provides growth opportunities for learning and development in order to raise up future union leaders and activists.

The 2015 program will select 36 rank-and-file members in the United States to participate in a seven week program.  The program will run from June 21 – August 5, 2015.  Interns are required to participate in the entire length of the program.  All interns should have a valid driver’s license and be flexible with travel outside of their home area.

During the program there will be a four-week action project that interns will be individually assigned.  Action projects will be assigned within one of five areas: Legislative and Political Action, Organizing, Collective Bargaining, Civil Rights, and Health and Safety.  The 2014 action projects included working on a earned sick leave ordinance in the city of Chicago, working on a Retail Bill of Rights in San Francisco, participating in the Summer for Respect alongside Walmart workers fighting for justice on the job, and many other important projects relating to the welfare of working people.

You can learn much more about the upcoming session, and what previous GOLD participants learned from their experiences, by heading to the updated website: http://gold.ufcw.org/.

Be sure to also check out the video recap of the 2014 session, where participants share their experiences and talk about what service projects they worked on.

“Getting the chance to come out to Chicago, meeting different people from different locals—it’s been an eye opener,” said 2014 UFCW Local 21 participant Bruce Le.

Fellow participant Samantha Christian also noted that after completing the program she felt like “we are all related—we are all brothers and sisters.  I’ve never been as comfortable with people as I have been with the people I met here.”

Melissa Berry said she applied to become a GOLD participant because she felt that “a lot of people don’t know the role of their union, or what part they can play in it.  I was eager to meet new people and learn about how we can spread the message.”

Tracy Officer, who worked on a service project in the Seattle area, says that “this internship builds us up—it gives us the knowledge to go back to our locals and give them the inspiration to say, ‘We are one.  If you have an issue, we are fighting it together, and you don’t have to do it alone.’  I’ve been in the union for almost twelve years and I didn’t know that until this program.”

The deadline to apply to the 2015 session is April 1, 2015.  You can find both the English and Spanish applications at http://gold.ufcw.org/application/.