Marc Perrone Elected President of 1.3 Million Member United Food and Commercial Workers International Union

Says by uniting together, we can give workers the opportunities they deserve

Official UFCW Logo

CHICAGO, IL—Today, Marc Perrone, a labor leader who has committed four decades to fighting for hard working families, was elected International President of the 1.3 million member United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW).

As a proud leader and member of the UFCW, Perrone has long fought to organize more members, bargain the best contracts possible, and hold irresponsible corporations accountable. His values as a labor leader have been defined by the belief that every worker has the right to a decent living, a reliable schedule, quality affordable health care, and respect on the job.

"The choice we face today is whether we will stand together and build an economy that lifts up all families, or watch as even more workers fall further behind and struggle to make ends meet,” Perrone said. “Cynics may believe that these divisions and inequities are irreversible. I do not. We, as a union, do not. I strongly believe that by uniting together we can give workers across North America the opportunities they deserve."

Beginning today, Perrone will spend the coming weeks and months meeting with UFCW members throughout the United States and Canada. As part of this listening tour, Perrone will have one on one conversations, visit worksites, and utilize digital and social media platforms to engage with union members and hear their thoughts and ideas on how the UFCW can grow even stronger.

"The ideas to build a stronger union do not lie within any one individual,” Perrone said. “They lie within all of us. They lie in the collective wisdom and strength of 1.3 million UFCW members who work hard every day to support their families. I want to hear their ideas. I want to hear their vision. I want to hear what we can all do to become an even greater and stronger union for the decades ahead."

Perrone will be succeeding retiring International President Joe Hansen.

Hansen started as a meatcutter in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1962 and used his experience as a rank and file union activist to help lift up UFCW members and all workers. Hansen was elected International President in 2004 and helped steer the UFCW through a Great Recession, the flood of corporate money into politics, the single greatest legislative attack on labor in history, and the rise of income inequality.

“Even in the face of unprecedented challenges, Joe Hansen never lost sight of our members,” Perrone said. “His commitment and dedication to the hard-working men and women we represent will never be forgotten.”

During his tenure, Hansen increased union density in meatpacking and processing, formed important global labor alliances, and helped lead the labor movement’s positions on comprehensive immigration reform.

* For Perrone's biography, and the announcement of new UFCW officers, please see below:

Biography of International President Marc Perrone:

Marc Perrone joined the Retail Clerks—which later became the UFCW—in 1971 while working as a courtesy clerk at Weingarten’s food store in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.  Since that time, he has held various positions within the UFCW, including Region 1-Eastern Director and National Director of Strategic Programs, Collective Bargaining and Organizing. For the last decade, he has served as International Secretary-Treasurer, keeping the UFCW on sound fiscal footing in a challenging climate.

New UFCW Officers Elected:

Under the UFCW International Constitution, the International Executive Board is charged with electing a replacement for a vacancy in the office of International President. The UFCW Executive Board consists of 50 International Vice Presidents, primarily local union leaders, and 5 Executive Committee members.

The UFCW International Executive Board also elected former Executive Vice President Pat O’Neill as International Secretary-Treasurer, Esther Lopez as Executive Vice President, and Stuart Appelbaum as Executive Vice President. Paul Meinema currently serves as Executive Vice President and National President of UFCW Canada. Executive Vice President Bill McDonough retired on October 31.

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The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, visit www.ufcw.org, or join our online community at www.facebook.com/UFCWinternational and www.twitter.com/ufcw.

Top 11 Industry Stories this Week

— TOP 11 INDUSTRY/LABOR NEWS ARTICLES FROM THIS WEEK — 1.  Walmart opened 24 new stores this week, all of them Neighborhood Markets. 2.  This summer, PeaPod is allowing customers to order produce from 12 local farms. 3. Two new judges were FINALLY approved to the NLRB this week, amidst GOP shenanigans.  Here's President Hansen on the compromise. 4. At Fairway in Red Hook, you can now buy a steak, then Fairway will grill it for you, for free.  5.  Fairway will also open their smallest store, next week in Chelsea. 6.  Community board in the Bronx has approved Fresh Direct's plan for a new warehouse, although the meeting was called pandemonium.  7. Twinkles are back on the shelves at stores this week. 8.  In DC, the Farm Bill is moving forward, while the Agriculture Panel is meeting on it. 9. NPR covers Walmart's battle to not pay their employees a Living Wage in DC. 10. We are holding our 2nd Annual Local 1500 night with the Brooklyn Cyclones on 8/28! Tickets are just $5 and all proceeds go straight to charity! Buy your tickets now!  11.  McDonald's literally can't figure out how its workers survive on minimum wage...seriously, read this. Have a great, cool, weekend!

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Tues. After Noon OneLiners: Fresh Direct needs a new HQ, Retail Workers still struggling

Cover of Martin Luther King, Jr.

“It's downright disturbing, as this industry grows and plays a greater role in our economy, we're seeing stagnant wages and working conditions.” 

Carrie Gleason, director of the Retail Action Project, who will issue a study on how Retailers sell workers short in today's Crain's NY Business.

#A&P
A&P unveiled a new healthy food format, focusing on foods for diabetics and health conscious shoppers.

Bayonne A&P will close, impacting 77 employees.  More @ the CT Courier Post.

Sprinklers exploded at the former Pathmark on Nostrand Avenue.

LoHud: Pathmark Mt.Vernon to close.



#Elsewhere, Industry
Aldi in Geneseo is closing in August.

In Jersey, consultants are wondering if a new ShopRite in Toms River will kill a Foodtown in the same town.


Fresh Direct has outgrown their Queens warehouse and is searching for a new site that could fit an additional 1,000 employees.  Well, New Jersey & the South Bronx are both doing their best to seduce the retailer to make their home.   Check out the article at the Daily News:

Only 47% of Fresh Direct employees make more than $25,000 a year, claimed Bettina Damiani of Good Jobs New York, a benefits watchdog group.

Living wage critics warned last week the bill could scare away Fresh Direct. But a City Council spokeswoman said Friday the legislation would not apply to the company if it moved to the Bronx.

Damiani accused Fresh Direct of using its New Jersey offer to leverage more New York aid. It has received millions of dollars in tax breaks in Queens, she said.

“It is incredibly unfair for Fresh Direct to hold city taxpayers over a barrel,” she said. “Fresh Direct is a perfect example of what’s wrong with the economic war between New York and New Jersey.”

Crain's writes about retail workers in NYC struggling to make ends meet.

The report, titled "Discounted Jobs: How Retailers Sell Workers Short," surveyed 436 workers in jobs across the five boroughs, making it one of the most comprehensive studies to date on the industry's workforce in New York. Nearly one-third of those surveyed supported at least one additional family member on their wages; their median income was $9.50 an hour. More than half made less than $10 an hour, and one in five earned less than $8 an hour.

Read more: @ Crain's NY Business

Here is RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum's statement on the NYC Living Wage agreement.  The New York Times sums up the tricky compromise very well.

The UFCW Blog wrote a nice piece, Honoring the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.


Smithfield Packing and the UFCW are donating 30,000 pounds of protein to a food bank in Arizona.

Supermarket News says it will take 23 years for Whole Foods to reach their goal of 1,000 stores.  They're telling retailers to brace themselves for record expansion pace.

Trader Joe's will be opening in Rochester and Albany, not Syracuse.

Motley Fool wonders if Target's new business strategy will over complicate the stores.

Controversial right-to-work legislation could advance this week in the Indiana legislature, and Kentucky labor unions and pro-business interests are closely monitoring its progress.


UFCW Local 400 President Tom McNutt issued a statement Jan. 13 in response to Delhaize America’s decision to close 126 Bloom, Food Lion and Bottom Dollar stores across the country.

Giant Food Stores' pending acquisition of Genuardis has investors thinking a re-branding for the stores could have great potential.

Tuesday Morning One Liners

Baltimore's City Council approved a Walmart project, protesters failed to convince a single lawmaker to vote against the project, asking Walmart to agree to pay workers a living wage of $10.59 per hour instead of a $7.25 minimum wage.

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (NYSE:GAP) slid 7% to $3.36 on over 375K shares. SO far this year, the stock is down over 72%. It has a 52-week range of $2.50-$3.34. It has a beta of 2.20.

Price Chopper CEO fights union efforts | The Business Review: Neil Golub, president and CEO, sent a letter to about 24,000 employees at 128 stores in the Northeast telling them joining a union is not in their best interest and that signing union authorization cards would forfeit some of their rights.  

 

New York City announced the first ever Small Business Saturday, in an effort to bolster sales at local stores.

Thursday News Before Noon: Baltimore Supports Living Wage, Target Set to Open in Harlem Sunday...

Image via Wikipedia

East Harlem gets Big Boxes; Target set to Open Sunday:
After years of flirting with Manhattan, the bull's-eye has landed in East Harlem. Target's first store on the New York island officially opens Sunday — with merchandise tailored to the neighborhood, including Spanish-language greeting cards, multicultural dolls, religious candles and renowned Southern food produced locally. It's a key step in the discounter's push into urban markets to fuel its growth. Read More at the Daily News & NPR also covered the story.

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One day before a City Council subcommittee will meet to consider living-wage legislation governing large employers, a public opinion and strategy firm called Lake Research Partners has released a poll indicating that Baltimoreans support such legislation.

Supermarket News profiles the First Lady, Michelle Obama, noting her success and drive in Food Policy and expansion of healthy foods across the country.

Young Workers in New Jersey, Across Country, Struggling to Find Work:
Belleville’s Pathmark Supermarket, on Belmont Avenue, reported 40 percent of its spring/summer applicants being adults, versus their average 20 percent adult-applicant rate, before the recession. "Because of layoffs, people are willing to take anything nowadays," said Front-End Manager Kareemah Terr

A judge has thrown out the results of the controversial union vote at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Supplier:
Last July, Employees at 2 Sisters Food Group last July voted against representation by the United Food and Commercial Workers union by a count of 87-66. The supplier, based in Riverside, Calif., has subsequently been acquired by Fresh & Easy..  The judge found the company guilty of firing a "pro-union" employee and said the company must offer to reinstate Trespalacios to her former job and provide for lost wages and benefits. The union may choose to call for another union vote.  Read more at SN.

More @ The Press Enterprise

BJ's Wholesale Club Hits a New High.

California Retailers Victorious
In what attorneys called a “huge win for retailers in the Golden State,” a California Court of Appeal ruling has preserved the right of retailers to restrict union picketing on their properties.

Shaw's Workers: Back to Work...

Bottom Dollar Food set to open and expand throughout Philadelphia Area.

Wegmans is also opening a new superstore in the Philly Suburbs.

Tuesday Morning One Liners: 300 Loblaw Workers Reach Tentative Agreement; Avoid Strike...

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AFL-CIO Blog: From Sweatshop to Union Shop?
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WSJ: Today's East Harlem; Costco & Condos.

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Village Voice Blog: "New Chelsea Trader Joe's is Fabulous" 

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A state appeals court struck down a union-backed California law Monday that allows labor picketing on a store's parking lots and private sidewalks, saying it unconstitutionally requires property owners to host speakers with whom they disagree.

SN: Grocery Wholesaler Indited on Fraud

NEWARK, N.J. — A federal grand jury here has indicted the former owner and chief executive of Capitol Investments Inc. for allegedly leading an $880 million Ponzi scheme related to a bogus grocery wholesaling business. 

 

In Warwick, NY, a Price Chopper Supermarkets store  has been awarded Silver-Level Certification award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill Partnership for reducing the use of refrigerants.

Wednesday News After Noon: Living Wage in NYC? Cuomo's Running Mate, More

Wal-Mart Seeking More Control of its Supply Chain
The company is contacting manufacturers and seeking to provide its own transportation in instances where Wal-Mart can do the same job for less. Wal-Mart asked for 6 percent reduction in the price it pays for products based on its own cost calculation, while suppliers estimated the actual expense was equal to about 3 percent.


Wal-Mart isn't what Liberty Road Needs (MD):
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Sprouts sold at Trader Joe's and Walmart have been recalled after an outbreak of salmonella sickened more than 20 people in 10 states.


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MOTT'S Workers Peel Away Contract to the Core and Find Nothing but a Rotten Apple... Declare a Strike
Over 300 full time manufacturing workers at the Mott's plant in Williamson,NY went out on strike because of painful wage cuts while the company enjoyed a record year of $555 million in profits.


More Arrested in Immigration Law Protest
Nearly 40 people were arrested Monday during an act of civil disobedience in Lower Manhattan meant to rally against Arizona's immigration law.


Boston.com is covering the Shaw's march...

Worcester Hospital Workers Authorize Strike

About 1,300 housekeepers and lab workers at a number of UMass Memorial Care facilities have rejected the company's latest two-year contract proposal and authorized a strike.

Tavern on the Green Staff Hold Out Hope for Jobs
Mayor Bloomberg has said the city will solicit new proposals for a restaurant in coming months, using the space as a visitor center in the interim. Many of Tavern's former employees wonder whether that future includes them


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ShopRite plans 8th Maryland store.


Walmart  is reportedly testing a virtual makeup mirror in a 90-day trial at 10 stores in various locations around the country, according to StoreFrontBacktalk, a technology blog. [SN]

UFCW Local 418 President was beaten by the police.

Organizing victory for UFCW Local 5, read more at MyUFCW.

And another story from MyUFCW, Small business owners believe strong unions help business.

AFL-CIO Blog: Jobs Bill, 1 Million Jobs at Stake...Tell Congress to Pass it

Politics


Pushing a Living Wage Bill in NYC
The Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act is expected to go before the New York City Council today.

More @ Globe St.

New York Times: Wage Proposal May Prompt Fight at City Hall.


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Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Goes to his party's nominating convention this week with a commanding lead over his Republican opponents in the race for governor, a new poll shows. 


Cuomo's First Union Endorsement, UFCW Local 1500.


Cuomo has selected an Lt.Governor candidate.