Walter's Corner: This Can't Be Right...What Happened to Labor Day

By: Fred Walter
Executive VP, UFCW Local 1500

Can this be right? 4 out of 5 American adults need some kind of government help!  This is just wrong! This great country has no jobs where hard working people can make a living and raise their families on.  I'd like to know why there are no full-time jobs for blue collar workers in our country.  Why there are no manufacturing jobs and no full-time retail jobs.  Everything has been outsourced (including produce) so companies like Walmart can get the goods they sell for close to nothing by using the world's cheapest labor.

But earlier this month Walmart's CEO, Bill Simon, hosts a summit.  In a push to create US manufacturing jobs he organized a two day conference that drew almost 1,500 government officials and business leaders to discuss the importance of increasing manufacturing jobs in the U.S..  This is great, right?! Well, Republican governors at the event said that survival of the US manufacturing industry hinged on keeping labor costs low.  They also suggested speeding up the permitting process and offering special tax breaks and incentives as ways of encouraging companies to relocate to the US.

It's the same old story: Help the companies and *** the workers .  There was a time when manufacturing jobs were full-time union jobs.  Workers were paid a fair wage with benefits.

Bill Simon said at his event in Orlando, Florida, "We can't become solely a service economy.  We need to make things in America." Really?!?  Is Walmart the company that built factories in China and other third world countries to find the cheapest labor? I believe so!  This will be great, companies will be opening factories paying minimum wage and no benefits...This will definitely make things right for workers in our country.

What's happened?  We import steel from China when we need a bridge built. Why? There was a time when the world purchased steel from the US, made in a city called Pittsburgh.  There was a time when this country worked! Everything was made here.  Detroit built cars and sold them here.  Factories all across this country made everything: clothes, suits, tvs, appliances and furniture.  Blue collar union jobs made the middle class.  Those jobs could support a family.

Economic justice. What is economic justice?  What are the goals of a good economic system? What is the reality of wealth, poverty and class distinction in this country?  How does 98% of the world's wealth belong to 2% of the population?  98% of the population gets to have 2% of the world's wealth.  Sound fair? No.

No matter what your job is, how do you evaluate working hard?  Does the CEO of a company, doctor, lawyer, congressman, senator news anchor, sports athlete, work hard?  Yes.  Are they paid well? Yes.  Not everyone is qualified for the above jobs, but men and women who have blue collar, retail and service jobs work hard every day as well.  Do they deserve fair pay?  Yes.

During the Regan administration the rich became richer and the poor became poorer.  During the Bush administration there were tax breaks for the rich.  There were two wars not paid for and not necessary. Weapons of mass destruction were never found.  Bush's friends got rich, Chenney's friends got richer.  Questions loomed if Bush was really elected, and the electoral process in Florida was heavily scrutinized.  I asked after the election if our government really worked.  The majority of voters elected a president based on what he promised, stands for and the change he wants to make to improve our nation.

Congress, the Senate and the White House fail the majority who elected the president because of party politics.  It doesn't matter what's good for the country or the majority, political parties cannot agree and cannot progress our nation.  The only thing that seems to matter is what's good for lobbyists and what cost you're willing to pay.  This week in our nation's capital, DC, this theory was sadly once again proved true.  The Mayor of DC (Grey, Democrat) vetoed legislation that would require large, wealthy employers to pay their employees a minimum wage of no less than $12.50 an hour in combined wages and benefits.  Subsequently raising full-time employee salaries from $17,000 to $26,000 at stores like Walmart.

Politics divide our country.  Once we stop voting and acting on political party lines, and start acting for the benefit of the majority of our struggling country, then, maybe we'll have real progress.

Fred Walter has been a part of the UFCW Local 1500 staff for over 20-years. Currently, as Executive Vice President, he serves on the Local 1500 Executive Board and is also a Trustee of the Pension & Welfare Funds. In the past, Mr. Walter has been an integral asset during contract negotiations, bargaining and advancing the membership of Local 1500.

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.

Executive Vice President Report: Wisconsin Sparks the Labor Movement...

By: Fred Walter, Executive Vice President/Field Director

Today’s middle (working) class continues to shrink each year along with the percent of private sector union workers. Union’s private and public workers are blamed for state fiscal problems and unemployment. The polarizing of public workers in Wisconsin and Ohio confirms the importance Unions have served throughout our countries history. In the 1930’s the National Labor Relations Act guaranteed Unions the right to organize without fear of retribution or firings. 

In 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act was signed into law. During these years the social safety net petitioned for by labor, including unemployment insurance and social security was also established. As Union membership increased to 36% after the war and into the 1950s, so did prosperity in this country. It was thanks, in part to the leveling of economic influence of Unions.  Big Business changed things with the passing of the Taft Hartley Act in 1947. Taft Hartley Act amended the National Labor Relations Act which congress passed in 1935. The Taft Hartley Act was seen as means of demobilizing the labor movement by imposing limits on labor’s ability to progress forward.  The Act also limited radicals from their leadership, people who were typically more active in Union activities.

Union shops were restricted; states were allowed to pass right to worker laws that outlawed union shops. Taft Hartley greatly reduced the power of unions to support each other in strikes. Under the terms of Taft Hartley Act, Ronald Regan fired 11,345 PATCO workers. PATCO was de-certified on October 22, 1981. This act alone put fear in Union members and gave Big Business and government the upper hand in negotiations. 

The recent protests in Wisconsin and Ohio showed there is still a spark in workers to stand up, be organized and have the right to be Union.  Wisconsin also shows us that workers have the right to vote and elect Politicians who will support laws that are worker friendly.  Looking at voter turnout last week in Wisconsin, not only did unions turnout to vote, but all communities who are tired of the middle class being walked on top of made their voice clear.  Wisconsin provides a spark in all of us.  Right now, it is showing us the power we always refer to when we reference our solidarity, speaking with one voice, the power we hold when we come together...Now, it is showing us that Unions will once again level the economic future in this country.

President Both Announces Staff Changes

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500 continued with staff changes at the end of 2009 that will better prepare the Union for the upcoming negotiations and challenges in the future.

UFCW Local 1500 President Bruce W. Both announced that Vice President and Field Director Fred Walter would become the Executive Vice President replacing newly appointed Secretary-Treasurer Anthony Speelman. Fred has been with the Union for 21 years as a Union Representative, Field Director and Vice President.

President Both also announced the promotion of Union Representative Robert Newell who replaced Recorder Rhonda Nelson as a Field Director. Rob has been with the Union for 15 years as an organizer and Union Representative. Rob started with Local 1500 as a Special Projects Organizer on the Wild By Nature campaign back in 1995-1996 which lead to the successful organizing of those workers.

Patrick Purcell Jr., formerly the Director of Special Projects for Local 1500, has been promoted to the position of Assistant to the President. Pat was formerly a Union Representative and Director of Organizing for the Local in addition to having been the Director of Special Projects.

“These three individuals are each talented in their own way and have helped this Union grow and succeed. In addition to the other promotions announced earlier this year, I feel confident that our Union is well prepared for the challenges that we face in the coming years,” stated President Both.