Thank You

An enormous, Thank You! To New York's first responders, the union men and women who have saved lives of New Yorkers and helped New Yorkers cope with the destruction hurricane Sandy has imposed on the North East.  We all greatly appreciate your hard work and thank you for your dedication to helping New Yorkers!  

From President Bruce Both & the UFCW Local 1500 Staff: 

To all of our members, our thoughts and prayers are with you and your families during these trying times we're all facing.  I'd like to thank each of you for your dedication to helping your communities at the height of necessity, ensuring items were readily available for the millions who have been effected by hurricane Sandy at our supermarkets.   

I hope you are all safe, and thank you again for making the lives a little easier for the millions of New Yorkers effected by the devastation from the storm. 

As you may know, our Union Office electricity is down, please email us in case of an emergency. 

Thank you again.

Top News from the Week: Walmart hit with Another Suit, Breast Cancer Walk

We held our annual Shop Steward Seminar this week, here's a pic of NY Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, with Local 1500 Shop Stewards.  Schneiderman rallied up the Stewards, congratulated them for setting the standard of good jobs and respect at work in New York's Supermarkets.

Get Educated:

Where do the two candidates stand on unions? 
President Barack Obama has signed a series of executive orders that encourage the use of union labor, Republican Mitt Romney says he will reverse all of Obama's executive orders that help unions.  Read more @ Associated Press.

Want an unbiased, straight factual analysis of the two candidates and our nation's future? Check out this must read and endorsement from The Washington Post Editorial Board.

Over 70 Percent of Latinos Support President Barack Obama.

Romney tells Ohioans Chrysler is shipping jobs to China, they're not, forces Chrysler to respond.

Let’s set the record straight: Jeep has no intention of shifting production of its Jeep models out of North America to China. It’s simply reviewing the opportunities to return Jeep output to China for the world’s largest auto market. U.S. Jeep assembly lines will continue to stay in operation. A careful and unbiased reading of the Bloomberg take would have saved unnecessary fantasies and extravagant comments.

Here's the "Who Needs a Union" Shocker Alert of the Week: Walmart in the News Again for mistreating workers: Walmart hit with a minimum wage suit, accused of having "Temp" workers show up early, work through lunch and then stay late.

Getting ready for Halloween? Check out Union Plus Made-in-America Union Made Candy buying guide!

Walmart announced new sustainability plans.  They also announced they'll be doubling the amount of Neighborhood Markets.  2013 Growth Plan: 125 new supercenters next year, 95 Neighborhood Market

Guess what, more CEOs are telling employees who to vote for...Why? Mitt Romney asked them to, of course.

Throughout the month of October UFCW Local 1500 members raised over $9,000 for Breast Cancer Awareness! The fundraising culminated at the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk, check out the photos and write up here!

Walter's Corner: Labor's Untold Past...

By: Fred Walter
Executive Vice President


I believe that it’s important that you as members and shop stewards all have a better understanding of the importance that organized labor has played in the development of our great country.

 You know when I was growing up I don’t remember one history book I read in grade school or high school mentioning the Labor movement in it at all. That’s pretty scary considering organized labor played a big part in the development of the America that we all know today.

Organized labor played a vital role in winning social protections such as the Child Labor Laws that prohibited young children, between the ages of 10 and 12, from having to work in coal mines or sweat shops. Without the Labor movement there would likely be no Social Security, no Medicaid, no OSHA (The Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and no Environmental Protection Agency.

The Labor movement was also very active in the Civil Rights Movement regularly walking side by side with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Labor Unions also played a part in bringing generations of hard working Americans into the middle class by negotiating higher wages for their members. Raising the average wage for Union members has also had a positive effect on all working men and women in America because of Labors constant lobbying and support for higher State and Federal Minimum Wage Laws.

 All in all Labor has had a significant impact on our nation’s history, its social standards and the economy. Labor Unions also proved to be a positive force when fighting for the development of dozens of social programs enjoyed by ALL working people in America today. Think about it, without Unions would you have Unemployment Benefits … Workers Compensation laws … the 8 hour work day … the Family & Medical Sick Leave Act … Disability Insurance …. or the 40 hour workweek, which also established overtime for all hours worked over 40?

The Labor movement was also important to the overall culture of this great country. It bothers me more every day that so many working men and women don’t understand how vital a strong labor movement is when trying to maintain a higher standard of living for American workers. The statistics are out there and but they aren’t too easy to find.

The organized worker typically enjoys a higher wage … a Pension … Health and Welfare Benefits … Contract enforcement … respect … dignity … and most importantly representation in the workplace. With all of that being said one question still remains ….

Why is it so hard to organize? I believe it’s because most people were never educated about the benefits of being a Union member. As Union members you ALL have a right to everything that I mentioned today and so much more. Why? Because you earned it! Now you MUST fight for it!

Email comments or questions to Fred Walter at fwalter@ufcw1500.org.

UFCW Local 1500 Members Raise over $7,500 at Breast Cancer Walk!

An enormous THANK YOU to everyone who participated and raised money this October for Breast Cancer awareness! Together we raised over $7,000!  Thanks to all who came to the walk, and to those who held fundraisers and collected money at their stores!

 Below are some pictures from the walk and some fundraisers at stores. If you have any other pics, send em in! Email to info@ufcw1500.org or post them on our Facebook page! Thanks again for raising a tremendous amount of money for a great cause!