The Register: June 2012 Edition

UFCW Local 1500's quarterly paper, The Register, is available online now! 

Inside this edition:

• President Bruce Both: Citizens United vs. Citizens United
• Secretary Treasurer Tony Speelman: Off Target with Valley Stream Closure
• 2012 Scholarship Winners
• Photo-shoots from Upstate & Westchester Local 1500 Members!
• Target in Valley Stream Closes
• Walmart, Mexico, Bribery & a Cover Up

Download it  today!

June 2012 Paper

Tuesday Mornin' One-Liners: A N.Y. Walmart is Infested w/ Rodents, A&P to Localize Stores

Updated 5/29/12 11:58 PM 

UFCW Local 1189 will be having a union election at Aldi.

Fairway Market will be moving into an old Pathmark at Woodland Park, NJ.

The Record: Sam Martin: The man with the plan to save A&P.

Supermarket News takes a look at initiatives to help food deserts.

New York's Iron Workers have a new contract.

A new ShopRite opened in Baltimore, bringing 250 new jobs to the neighborhood.


Walmart shareholders were urged not to re-elect Mike Duke as CEO.  Meanwhile U.S. lawmakers are frustrated with Walmart's lack of cooperation in the Mexican bribery investigation.

The Walmart in Sullivan, New York, has failed its' 4th health inspection, the store is infected with rodents.  The store could shut down if they fail a 5th.

On April 25, inspectors found 9 pounds of defiled food, more than 1,000 fresh droppings behind the chips and snacks, and three dead mice carcasses. On March 2, mouse droppings and mouse trails were found around the soda, pet foods and bread aisle. On Jan. 3, inspectors found 35.9 pounds of defiled food and 1,000 fresh mouse droppings behind the peanut and snack racks.

The Business Insider asks if this is the 'Most Disgusting Store in the Country?'

The Chicago Tribune wonders what affect the Mexican bribery scandal will have on Walmart's annual company party.

More: Controversy looms on Walmart's 50th anniversary.

A&P is expanding "Localized Remodels" starting with the Food Emporium on the Upper East Side.

Supermarket News analyzes that fresh store formats are growing, while traditional supermarkets are shrinking...

The Minnesota Star Tribune's Jim Spencer wrote on Target in Valley Stream's re-vote: Union still faces difficult odds against Target.

Workday Minnesota loves writing about Target workers getting a re-vote in Valley Stream.

The highly scrutinized NLRB's Flynn resigned this weekend.  Earlier this year NLRB Inspector General issued reports which detailed Flynn dispersing detailed, confidential information about NLRB cases and procedures in order to discredit the National Labor Relations Board.

NLRB Judge Overturns Valley Stream Target Vote

The National Labor Relations Board has ruled Target violated the numerous federal labor laws in an effort to keep their employees from joining the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500 last June. The ruling is a victory for all working men and women whose rights have been trampled on countless times by mega-retailers like Target & Walmart.  These retailers act as they are too big and too powerful to be held accountable for their disregard of workers’ rights.

Target is a company where the need for change is blatantly obvious.  The ruling confirms Target had no regard for the law or the civil rights of their employees, poisoning the democratic election process in order to keep their employees at Valley Stream from joining our Union and gaining better working conditions.

The brave workers from Valley Stream withstood flagrant attacks on their civil rights, captive audience meetings, anti-union video brainwashing, threats and scare tactics during last year's union election.  As one of the largest retail employers in the country, Target could – and should – lead the way in making sure that retail jobs are good jobs—not jobs where core American values and rights are trampled on in order to resist employees from joining together to demand better from their employer.

Target's actions last June were an injustice to workers' rights throughout our country along with the one ideology our nation was built on, democracy. Workers have a right to band together and join a union, though retailers like Walmart and Target will do anything too keep them from achieving this through a fair process, including disregarding the very fabric our country was built upon, democracy.

Related articles

• New Union Vote Ordered at Target Store in Valley Stream, N.Y.

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Judge Overturns Target Valley Stream Union Election

A National Labor Relations Board Judge has ruled Target violated numerous federal labor laws in an effort to keep their employees from joining the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500 last June. We said it last year when we filed our complaint and charges against Target, now an NLRB Judge agrees.

The ruling confirms Target violated the law and poisoned the democratic election process in order to keep their employees from gaining a voice and better working conditions.

Read the story at The Associated Press: http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268743/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=CG8qn3nz

UFCW Releases Smart Phone App!

This week the UFCW International launched their first ever smart phone app!  To put it simple, it's  awesome and we recommend downloading it asap! 

Download the app from your smartphone at http://ufcwaction.org/app 

From UFCW's Blog:

The new UFCW app is designed to highlight worker voices and connect consumers to union grocery stores nationwide.

For consumers who wish to make informed choices about where they shop, the app is a major development that will support workers who are coming together to preserve good, family-supporting jobs in our communities.

This is all made possible by the app's "Shop Union" feature. Now, anyone in the United States or Canada can pull up driving directions to their nearest union store on their phone- with a push of a button.

The smartphone app will also allow users to be constantly connected with updates from union members, breaking news, and original video. Information about how to take action for working families is at the user's fingertips.