Latest news with #UnitedFoodandCommercialWorkers
CBS News
14-06-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Colorado grocery workers union announces plans to strike at 3 stores
With the clock winding down toward Saturday night's deadline for new contract negotiations, a Colorado union has announced locations where grocery employees are set to walk off the job on Sunday in protest. The strike will start at Safeway/Albertsons stores in Estes Park, Fountain and Pueblo, plus a Denver distribution center, according to a press release from the United Food and Commercial Workers Local7. The union issued a required 72-hour strike notice to the grocery chain Wednesday night following a negotiations session which failed to produce a new contract agreement or an extension to negotiations. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. Saturday. The current contract expired in January. Union members approved the strike in a vote last week - with 99% approving the strike action, per the union. More union members who work at stores in Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland, and Longmont are expected to vote Monday and Tuesday on whether to strike or not. CBS The union went on strike against 77 Colorado stores in the King Soopers and Kroger grocery chain in February. The two sides agreed to continue negotiations and end the walkout a week and a half later, and a "limited" contract agreement was reached in May. But that agreement came after the union filed a lawsuit against King Soopers in April, claiming it violated the agreement it and the union signed at the end of the strike. King Soopers, in return, filed two countersuits of its own against the union. "I wish that Safeway/Albertsons had taken negotiations more seriously, obeyed the law, and respected the workers who make the stores run, but wishing doesn't make it so," stated Kim Cordova, President of UFCW 7, in the union's press release. "We are fighting for better stores so that shoppers and workers alike can have a better experience. Instead of working with the union, Safeway/Albertsons has instead put its faith in its supposed competitor King Soopers and City Market in an attempt to drive down healthcare and pension benefits for active workers and retirees alike." The earlier King Soopers strike started at 77 stores on its first day. Local7 said the coming strike against Safeway stores would be smaller in comparison in its first day, but would expand should the strike continue. "It's too bad that things have come to this point with Safeway/Albertsons, but the ongoing unfair labor practices, including bad faith bargaining, as well as surveilling and threatening workers, have given us no choice but to strike", Monique Trujillo, a Safeway worker from Fountain, stated in the union's press release. A Safeway spokesperson has not yet responded to CBS Colorado's request for comment. The two chains announced a proposed buy-out in 2023, with Kroger acquiring Albertsons for $24.6 billion. The Colorado Attorney General's Office went to court last year to prevent it. A federal judge ruled in December to block the merger.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Mexico union files charges against Albertsons, Smith's for colluding despite failed merger
Jun. 13—A New Mexico union representing thousands of food workers on Friday announced it filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against regional food chains Smith's and Albertsons. The union, in contract negotiations with both companies, alleges the grocery store owners are not bargaining in good faith, a development that could lead to strikes this month. Taking it a step further, the charges state Smith's and Albertsons have worked together in the bargaining process, despite the two being completely separate entities. In late 2024, state and federal courts rejected a merger request by Kroger, which owns Smith's, and Albertsons. The companies have since sued each other over how the deal fell apart and whose fault it was. But New Mexico's United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1564 — which represents more than 2,500 Smith's employees and around 1,200 Albertsons workers — doesn't think the failed merger stopped the companies from working together. The union's charges, filed earlier this week, state Smith's and Albertsons have "engaged in collusion ... on bargaining proposals, effectively creating a multi-employer bargaining unit without the union's consent." The charges also allege both companies have failed to provide the union with requested information needed to bargain and have refused to arbitrate grievances. "I've been dealing with both companies for many years, and they appear to be more united now than ... any time before," said Greg Frazier, president of the local union. Smith's denies conducting any unfair labor practices. Spokesperson Tina Murray said, "The path to a fair and peaceful resolution is at the bargaining table," urging the local union to work with the company in finding common ground. "We're focused on reaching a balanced agreement — one that increases wages for our associates while keeping groceries affordable for New Mexico families," she said. Albertsons didn't respond to a Journal request for comment Friday. UFCW Local 1564 has been in negotiations with Albertsons and Smith's on contracts since May, Frazier said. The current contracts would've expired this weekend, but the union and companies agreed to extend them through June 28. Unionized Smith's and Albertsons employees around the state are voting next week about whether to strike over the alleged unfair bargaining practices. Each chain has dozens of stores in New Mexico. The union would announce the start and length of any potential strikes, and participating union employees would get paid up to $100 a day, according to UFCW. "We don't feel that we can bargain efficiently with what's going on around us," Frazier said. Frazier pointed out that other states have also filed charges against the grocery store chains. Just this month, multiple UFCW branches filed charges with the NLRB against Albertsons and Kroger stores, including branches in California, Texas and Oregon, according to NLRB's docket. "This behavior is not giving those workers the opportunity to make a fair living," Frazier said. "We're hoping the behavior changes and that we can start making progress in negotiations."
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Union says lawsuit over federal pesticide safety rules aims to protect agricultural workers
A union representing agricultural workers across the country says the information workers get when handling pesticides is insufficient. It is suing the federal government with the aim of forcing it to enforce rules, it says, already exist. "It's high time for the federal government to do what it's already committed to do and that's what this case is about," Derek Johnstone of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) said. "It's also another opportunity for us as Canadians to look at something as basic a food worker knowing what he or she or they are handling and not having that information, so how did we get here?" The union held an information session about safety sheets in Leamington, Ont., on Sunday. Thousands of workers come from countries such as Mexico and Guatemala to work in greenhouses in the southwestern Ontario community each year. The UFCW launched its lawsuit against the federal government in federal court last week. It argues that safety information including "material safety data sheets" are a condition of registering pest control products and that those sheets must be provided to workplaces that use the products. The application by the union states that the government has taken the "unreasonable position that the provision of material safety data sheets to workplaces is voluntary" and that by not enforcing the requirement, it is failing to protect agricultural workers. "It's unfortunate that the government has taken to using the term voluntary when it comes to providing basic information about chemicals and pesticides that workers handle," Johnstone said. "This is not a choice. This is not a recommendation by government. This is a right enshrined in health and safety law. The right to know is the first step when it comes to a worker's health and safety rights." Health Canada refused comment to the CBC on the lawsuit, citing pending litigation. Sean O'Shea of Ecojustice, an environmental law charity whose lawyers are listed on the application, says data sheets provide information about possible risks of pest control products and protective measures one should take when using them. "It might require you to wear (personal protective equipment) to discard of any clothes you're wearing before you return to your home," he said. "It might say that it shouldn't be mixed with another chemical or another pesticide because it's not just the use of one pesticide. The problem is the use of several pesticides can have cumulative effects when chemicals are mixed together."
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AP Exclusive: US meatpacking workers win back pensions in new union contract with JBS
U.S. meatpacking workers are getting their first new pension plan in nearly 40 years under a contract agreement between JBS, one of the world's largest meat companies, and an American labor union. The United Food and Commercial Workers union said Thursday that 26,000 meatpacking workers at 14 JBS facilities would be eligible for the pension plan. The new contract, which was ratified by workers this week, also adds paid sick leave, wage increases and new plant safety measures. 'This contract, everything that was achieved, really starts to paint the picture of what everybody would like to have: long-term stable jobs that are a benefit for the employees, a benefit for the employers and a benefit for the community they operate in,' Mark Lauritsen, the head of the UFCW's meatpacking and food processing division, told The Associated Press in an interview. Brazil-based JBS said the pension plan reflected its commitment to its workforce and the rural communities in which it operates. 'We are confident that the significant wage increases over the life of the contracts and the opportunity of a secure retirement through our pension plan will create a better future for the men and women who work with us at JBS,' the company said in a statement. Lauritsen said pension plans used to be standard in the meatpacking industry but were cut in the 1980s as companies consolidated. Big meat companies like Tyson Foods and Cargill now offer 401 (k) plans but not pensions. The union started discussing a return to pensions a few years ago as a way to help companies hang on to their workers, according to Lauritsen. 'The good thing about a 401 (k) is that it's portable, but the bad thing about a 401 (k) is that it's portable,' he said. 'This was a way to capture and retain people who were moving from plant to plant, chasing an extra dime or a quarter.' Workers hailed the plan. 'Everything now is very expensive and it's hard to save money for retirement, so this gives us security,' said Thelma Cruz, a union steward with JBS at a pork plant in Marshalltown, Iowa. A return to pensions is unusual but not unheard of in the private sector. IBM reopened its frozen pension plan in 2023. The contract increases average pay for meatpacking workers to $23 to $24 per hour and establishes safety and ergonomic committees at every plant. Paid sick leave — which rival Tyson Foods began offering in 2021 — was also hailed by workers in an industry devastated by the COVID pandemic. The move could also help JBS in its effort to burnish its image ahead of a potential U.S. stock offering. The company has wanted to list its share in both Brazil and New York for years, but has been thwarted by lawmakers, environmental groups and others who are concerned about its history of corruption and environmental damage. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved JBS's application to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange last month, and the company's shareholders are scheduled to vote on the listing Friday. But Lauritsen said the stock listing was never discussed during negotiations with the UFCW, and the union has no position on the listing. 'JBS is on a journey and we're going to keep pushing them right along,' he said. 'We're starting to see an employer that's committed to long-term, stable jobs that help the worker and the community.'
San Francisco Chronicle
22-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
AP Exclusive: US meatpacking workers win back pensions in new union contract with JBS
U.S. meatpacking workers are getting their first new pension plan in nearly 40 years under a contract agreement between JBS, one of the world's largest meat companies, and an American labor union. The United Food and Commercial Workers union said Thursday that 26,000 meatpacking workers at 14 JBS facilities would be eligible for the pension plan. The new contract, which was ratified by workers this week, also adds paid sick leave, wage increases and new plant safety measures. 'This contract, everything that was achieved, really starts to paint the picture of what everybody would like to have: long-term stable jobs that are a benefit for the employees, a benefit for the employers and a benefit for the community they operate in,' Mark Lauritsen, the head of the UFCW's meatpacking and food processing division, told The Associated Press in an interview. Brazil-based JBS said the pension plan reflected its commitment to its workforce and the rural communities in which it operates. 'We are confident that the significant wage increases over the life of the contracts and the opportunity of a secure retirement through our pension plan will create a better future for the men and women who work with us at JBS,' the company said in a statement. Lauritsen said pension plans used to be standard in the meatpacking industry but were cut in the 1980s as companies consolidated. Big meat companies like Tyson Foods and Cargill now offer 401 (k) plans but not pensions. The union started discussing a return to pensions a few years ago as a way to help companies hang on to their workers, according to Lauritsen. 'The good thing about a 401 (k) is that it's portable, but the bad thing about a 401 (k) is that it's portable,' he said. 'This was a way to capture and retain people who were moving from plant to plant, chasing an extra dime or a quarter.' Workers hailed the plan. 'Everything now is very expensive and it's hard to save money for retirement, so this gives us security,' said Thelma Cruz, a union steward with JBS at a pork plant in Marshalltown, Iowa. A return to pensions is unusual but not unheard of in the private sector. IBM reopened its frozen pension plan in 2023. The contract increases average pay for meatpacking workers to $23 to $24 per hour and establishes safety and ergonomic committees at every plant. Paid sick leave — which rival Tyson Foods began offering in 2021 — was also hailed by workers in an industry devastated by the COVID pandemic. The move could also help JBS in its effort to burnish its image ahead of a potential U.S. stock offering. The company has wanted to list its share in both Brazil and New York for years, but has been thwarted by lawmakers, environmental groups and others who are concerned about its history of corruption and environmental damage. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved JBS's application to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange last month, and the company's shareholders are scheduled to vote on the listing Friday. But Lauritsen said the stock listing was never discussed during negotiations with the UFCW, and the union has no position on the listing. 'JBS is on a journey and we're going to keep pushing them right along,' he said. 'We're starting to see an employer that's committed to long-term, stable jobs that help the worker and the community.'
