Secretary Treasurer's Report

Lenny Salvo
By Lenny Salvo

Report for March 2007

Unite with Other Grocery Workers

Having just successfully completed all of our major supermarket negotiations in 2006, the officers and membership of UFCW Local 1500 realize that collective bargaining has changed. In the last 20 years, major retail food companies have grown to five times their original size. They're national giants and even multi-national corporations. Everyday our members hear rumors of their companies being taken over by one of these giants.

When representatives from these huge corporations come to the bargaining table, they come with a national strategy. They don't take into consideration how productive one store is, or what's going on in a particular market area. These companies have just one goal: squeeze cuts from employees to increase their profits. By exacting wage and benefit cuts, they lower the working standards for everyone in the grocery industry.

Local 1500 members know that they must show their solidarity with UFCW grocery workers around the country. During the past month our members in Stop & Shop were wearing stickers showing support for workers in New England who are in negotiations for their contract that expires on February 18, and the workers at Tops a company that Ahold is trying to sell.

Wearing a sticker is a simple, but powerful act. First, it puts the companies you work for on notice that UFCW members are truly ready to band together in support of their fellow workers. It also reminds people that, although they might not work in the same department, see each other on a daily basis, or even work in the same state, they're connected by more than just a common employer.

That's what the nationwide sticker action is all about, whether they work in Boston, Buffalo, or Washington D.C. and whether they work for Giant, Stop & Shop or Tops, UFCW members have common goals. UFCW members want fair contracts that make grocery jobs career jobs with health care and wages that pay the bills.

Local 1500 members also signed a Statement of Solidarity supporting Tops employee's right to a buyer who recognizes their union voice on the job, and their wages and health care benefits.

We know how difficult our negotiations were last year. All of our employers were looking to reduce or have our members pay for their health care, give inadequate wage increases, and reduce Sunday premium. Local 1500 members stood united and we had the support of other UFCW members that helped us achieve our goal of a fair contract.

For nearly half a million grocery industry members nationwide and in Canada, a new bargaining cycle is already under way. Together we can tell our employers that grocery jobs can and should be career jobs with affordable family health care coverage, wages that pay the bills, equal opportunity, secure retirement benefits, fair treatment, and respect in the workplace.

  • "Sign up for the supermarket bargaining list at www.groceryworkersunited.org
  • "Download flyers and put them up in your store.
  • "Check the site frequently for news and updates.
  • Remember we can make a difference when we are united.

I want to personally congratulate President Bruce W. Both on his appointment as a UFCW International Vice President. I know Bruce will do a great job representing the members of Local 1500 and the over one million workers in the UFCW.