Bill Bumpus an injury to one is an injury to all

Marc Perrone, President of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union, made the following statement about Amazon buying Whole Foods.

“Amazon’s brutal vision for retail is one where automation replaces good jobs. That is the reality today at Amazon, and it will no doubt become the reality at Whole Foods."

June 14th is National Bourbon Day and we’d like to thank the UFCW members working hard to make America’s bourbon.

A new U.N. report highlights how the rich and powerful prevent far too many working people in the United States from asserting their most basic human and workplace freedoms.

Before you hit the road this summer, make sure your car is in good, safe condition to drive. Regular auto maintenance and new tire purchases from Goodyear help stretch the longevity and value of your vehicle.

Use the Union Plus Goodyear Discount Coupon for tires and services, to keep your car in good shape and save money.

We’re excited to announce some new additions to our UFCW family! Earlier this month, over 45 hardworking men and women of the Viroqua Food Co-op in Viroqua, Wis., joined UFCW Local 1473.

Looking for ways to build a better workplace for everyone, co-op staff were eager to work together to improve scheduling, job postings, and wages. They approached UFCW Local 1473 a few months ago about these issues and their interest in joining our union family. We’re proud of our new members and the initiative they’ve shown to really make a positive change.

In a move dripping with cynicism and partisan politics, the Trump Administration recently announced an Executive Order to create a “Presidential Commission on Election Integrity”. At the AFL-CIO, the federation of America’s unions, we believe that ensuring and protecting the right of every citizen to vote is a bedrock principle of our democracy, and we welcome a proper and serious effort to restore the right of every American to make their voices heard. Unfortunately, the newly announced Commission is focused on a problem that does not exist. Our democracy suffers not from voter fraud, but voter suppression and disenfranchisement.

On a typical day at the Tyson Foods processing plant in Glen Allen, Virginia, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 shop steward Aleta Johnsons was operating the Packmat bagging machine. All of a sudden, she heard a co-worker yelling, "Stop, stop, stop! Please help—stop the line!"

The world’s largest voluntary health agency dedicated to finding cures for blood cancers, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), recently awarded its longstanding partner, The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) with the National Corporate Leadership Award at LLS’s Volunteer Leadership Conference awards dinner held in Washington, D.C., on May 2, 2017.

In the weeks and days leading up to Saturday, May 13, the day of the National Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, UFCW members and locals volunteered at events and donated non-perishable food items to help America’s families put food on their tables.

In February, the graduate teachers voted to be represented by UNITE HERE. But Yale University has refused to negotiate with them. If they stall long enough, more appointees by President Donald Trump will be seated at the National Labor Relations Board. How quickly do you think those appointees would vote to roll back the rights of graduate workers?

Gerard L. Pellegrini was a renowned trial lawyer who established a reputation for excellence in representing working people in Western Massachusetts and throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In 1957, he founded the law firm of Pellegrini, Seeley, Ryan & Blakesley, P.C. He died in 2015, after having practiced for 50 years. Sixty years after its founding, the firm continues his legacy of advocating for injured people in courts and administrative agencies throughout Massachusetts.

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From stocking shelves to providing late-night medical care, when the rest of the world goes to sleep, many UFCW members’ work days are just getting started. To celebrate the hard work and sacrifice made by those who work overnight to keep our communities running smoothly, International President Marc Perrone surprised several UFCW Local 2008 members at Kroger in Little Rock, Arkansas, with a late night visit in honor of National Third Shift Workers Day.

During the 2016 election, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump made it clear that his administration would be more aggressive in pursuing immigration enforcement. This likely means more aggressive workplace actions, including raids that result in the immediate arrest of working people. Our new We Will Defend and Resist toolkit explains the processes and players involved in worksite enforcement and provides resources and guidance on how to prepare for and respond to a raid or audit.

On May 12th,  2017, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1459  along with the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 46, collected donations from union members for the 25th Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive at the Local 1459 office and encouraged Western Massachusetts residents to participate the next day, Saturday, May 13th by leaving non-perishable groceries at their mailbox for letter carriers to collect.

President of UFCW Local 1459 Dan Clifford said “We are proud of the partnership between the UFCW and NALC to help those most in need. Working families see their letter carrier at least six days a week, and they often see their grocery clerk or checker just as frequently.  Our members' work helps put food on your table and we want to make sure in our country no one goes hungry”.

Amendment #1169, “GIC Out-of-Pocket Cap” – filed by Representative Paul Mark
Earlier this year, the Group Insurance Commission approved changes to co-pays and deductibles for GIC health plans that, as of July 1st, will shift nearly $150 million in out-of-pocket costs to employees. While Governor Baker has made clear he does not want to raise taxes or fees on Massachusetts residents, shifting a disproportionate share of health costs onto workers is in fact a direct tax on public employees.

Don't miss Larry Cohen of Our Revolution, the successor organization to Bernie 2016, who will address the Gompers-Murray-Meany Conference on Thursday the 25th. Larry served as President of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) from 2005-2015, and spent nearly all of his adult life as a member, organizer, and officer.

All jobs take some kind of physical toll on the body, but through training employees to recognize safety hazards and working with employers to minimize risk, we can create safe workplaces and help reduce preventable injuries.

The UFCW is committed to nurturing a culture of safety in the workplaces we represent and working with employers to find innovative solutions. We are committed to seeing our members arrive to work safely and leave work safely.

Contrary to many claims by pundits, amateur or professional, working people are showing, more and more, that they do want to organize their workplaces in the South. The latest victory comes from McDonough, Georgia, where employees at Nestlé’s logistics and shipping center voted to be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).

Earlier today, Matthew Utecht, President of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 653 and Jennifer Christensen, President of UFCW Local 1189, released a statement in support of union cannabis jobs in Minnesota:

“The collective voice and legal support provided by unions create better incomes, better benefit plans, more experienced employees and safer workplaces than non-unionized workforces.  The improved work situations of union employees create job opportunities for American people and an improved business climate for the United States.”

• Veronica Brandt, past UFCW Charity Foundation Scholarship winner