Supporting Families in Need This Thanksgiving

UFCW Local 1500, in partnership with Mannix Shoprite donated & delivered 120 turkeys is support of State Senator Diane Savino's annual effort to supply Thanksgiving dinners to needy families on the North Shore of Staten Island.

Doesn't Walmart Have Enough to be Thankful For?

By: Adam Obernauer
adam@ufcw1500.org

A lot has been happening in the world of Walmart leading up to this Thanksgiving, and for the corporate giants, it ain’t looking good.   While Walmart CEO Mike Duke has announced that he’s stepping down, waves of strikes leading up to Black Friday have been the strongest yet.  In this past month alone, workers went on strike in Miami, Brooklyn Center, Tampa, Sacramento, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, and cities throughout Ohio. Walmart has been feeling the pressure and in an effort to correct the company’s image, has tried to show the world that their employees are not telling the truth. They are the good guys that “care” about the community.

A Walmart in Ohio asked employees
to donate food to other employees "in need

In a failed effort to show how much they “care,” Walmart planned a Thanksgiving food drive for their own employees.  The food drive came from the Canton, Ohio based Walmart and the irony became a media sensation. The story hit everywhere from the New York Times' comic strip mocking the company, to Stephen Colbert’s comedy skit, to high profile actors like Ashton Kutcher getting into media battles with the company.

So what does Walmart need to do to try to create the illusion that it’s trying to help the community? This Thanksgiving, Walmart is set to donate over $1 million to food banks and local charities across New York State alone. With these recent efforts, Walmart is in line to be the most darkly ironic business in the world.  Instead of raising the pay and benefits of their own workforce that can’t afford to buy food on Thanksgiving, they’re more willing to throw large sums of money to Anti-Hunger groups in the name of “charity”.

Walmart has long established itself as the "worst of the worst" and is the epitome of corporate greed.  From the sweatshops overseas, the fires in the Bangladesh factory killing thousands, to the bribery of the Mexican government, and the thousands of workers going out on strike demanding better pay, it leaves us to think, when is enough, enough? When will Walmart be held accountable for the destruction of local communities and the devastation in factories throughout the world? When will the irony be strong enough so people no longer accept Walmart’s donations and pathetic attempts at being an accepted and respected business?

We think that the time should have come long ago and hope that this Thanksgiving, people give thanks to the workers in these stores that have to suffer day in and day out to continue to make the Walden’s the richest family in the world.

Stop & Shop Negotiations Update: Cooling Off Period Insisted by Federal Mediator

In a last minute attempt to avoid a possible work stoppage at a major New York area supermarket chain two days before Thanksgiving, the Federal Mediator has insisted both sides enter into temporary seven-day “cooling off” period.  During which neither the union nor the company is allowed to take retaliatory actions against each other. This agreement comes at the heels of Thanksgiving, and days after hundreds of Stop & Shop members met to begin preparing for either a Union sanctioned strike or a lockout.  It ensures all of us can enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with the peace of mind, that we will not be on the streets with picket signs, and instead will be with those who matter most to us, enjoying time with loved ones on Thanksgiving. We are currently working without a contract due to the company's refusal to sign additional short-term contract extensions.  We are taking the responsible step of agreeing to the Federal Mediator’s request, the temporary “cooling off period” means there will be no work stoppages called by either UFCW Local 1500 or Stop & Shop management for the next seven days. “It is our hope that this temporary truce between our Union and Stop & Shop will ultimately lead to an acceptable conclusion for the members of Local 1500. All we want is what we earned: a fair contract that protects our health care, pensions, and Part-Time workers,” said lead negotiator for our union, Tony Speelman.  These negotiations have been like no other, and I thank all of you for your patience, faith and support during them.  We’re fighting every single day to secure the best contract that protects 6,000 of our most committed union-members,” Speelman concluded. Greg Pasquale, Stop & Shop Negotiating Committee member and Produce Manager for the Stop and Shop located in Beekman, NY, wanted to extend his thanks to the public and his fellow members- “Thank you for the overwhelming support and solidarity for Stop & Shop members.  We are grateful to our loyal customers, the local politicians, members of the community, and the other Union’s that have pledged their support.  During this time we all need to stick together.  We cannot believe management’s rumors, and attempts to separate our union, we need to support one another more than ever, so thank you, for your patience while we stand up to Stop & Shop’s proposals.  We want everyone to know that the last thing we ever want to do is inconvenience shoppers, lose pay, or create economic hardship for our communities.” Takeaways from this update:   We will not be striking or locked out on Thanksgiving.   The Federal Mediator insisted both sides to accept a “cooling off period”, we accepted in good faith for ease of mind of our 6,000 families.       The “Cooling Off Period” between Stop & Shop and us ends on Monday, December 2nd. After that, the possibility of a strike or lockout increases.  We are NOT giving up Christmas and Holiday weeks.   We are bargaining to retain benefits and pensions for 6,000 workers.

Related articles

• Stop & Shop union leaders holding meetings over possible strike

Emergency Stop & Shop Strike/Lockout Update Meeting: Sunday Nov. 24th

Stop & Shop Long Island Handbill for Distribution

Get up to date on the latest info from negotiations with Stop & Shop.

With Thanksgiving approaching, we need to come together and discuss Stop & Shop's greedy demands in their contract proposals, and our next actions.

There are two meetings on Sunday, November 24, 2013, both at 7 PM

Meeting A: Long Island
7 PM Long Island Marriott Hotel
101 James Doolittle Blvd. Uniondale NY

Meeting B: Upstate
7PM Mt. Kisco Holiday Inn
One Holiday Inn Drive, Mount Kisco, NY

Please attend and spread the word to your coworkers about this emergency meeting.

Contact us for any questions you may have.

Stop & Shop Upstate Handbill for Distribution

King Kullen Contract Update #12

Weekly Update: We continued to meet with King Kullen Trustees to discuss Pension and Welfare issues.  The next Pension and Welfare Trustee meetings are scheduled for: 11/19, 11/21 and 11/25. Our next negotiation session with King Kullen is scheduled for Friday, November 22nd. If anything significant occurs prior to Friday's (11/22) negotiation session, we will get in touch with you as soon as possible.  Following the Nov. 22nd negotiations we will be able to provide you with another update.  In the meantime, questions are continually asked on our Facebook page about the contract negotiations, please keep them coming by replying to this email!  As our new contract deadline is November 30th at midnight, stay up to date on all news on our Facebook page, Twitter and Contract Page. We'll be posting all news stories and updates there.