Sheet Metal Workers Local 16 members, officers &
staff wish all workers in Oregon & Washington
safe and happy holidays
Portland mayor-elect Charlie Hales offers solidarity with members of Local
555 who have been bargaining for a new contract since February 2011.
Joining him at the podium were members of Oregon’s faith and labor
communities.
Mayor-elect Hales to grocers:
‘NO ONE WINS IN A
RACE TO THE BOTTOM’
Portland mayor-elect Charlie Hales
and leaders of Oregon’s faith and labor
communities stood in solidarity with
United Food and Commercial Workers
(UFCW) Local 555 at a Dec. 10 press
conference called by the union.
At issue was unfinished negotiations
between Local 555 and grocery giants
Safeway, Albertsons, Fred Meyer
(Kroger), and QFC on a new contract
for some 14,000 grocery, meat, and
central checkout workers in Oregon
and Southwest Washington.
The employers are represented at
the table by Allied Employers Inc.
The press conference was held at
noon — an hour before a scheduled
round of bargaining at the airport Holi-
day Inn.
“My message to these employers is
as heartfelt for their success as it is for
yours, and it’s just this simple — no
one wins in a race to the bottom,” Hales
told the crowd of about 150.
Hales said it is everyone’s job to
stand up and fight so that hard-working
people can realize and live the Ameri-
can dream. “That’s why we’re here to-
day in solidarity with UFCW.”
After 22 months of bargaining,
Grocery workers receive food boxes
put together by union members at
various stores throughout the state.
Half of the union’s bargaining unit
works part time, and many qualify
for government assistance.
PAGE 2
union officials say grocers haven’t
budged from their demands to increase
out-of-pocket expenses for employee
health insurance. Union officials said
grocers have proposed increasing the
minimum waiting time to receive full
health care coverage from 43 months to
a minimum of 78 months, while dou-
bling the out-of-pocket annual maxi-
mum for family coverage to $12,000.
Employers recently withdrew a pro-
posal to eliminate the five-day work
week. They wanted the ability to sched-
ule workers seven days a week without
any days off or having to pay overtime.
“Grocery industry jobs were once
family-wage jobs. In recent decades the
corporate trend of moving more work-
ers to part-time status, cutting benefits,
and stagnating wages, have moved
many workers from the middle class to
the ranks of the working poor,” said Lo-
cal 555 President Day Clay. “We hope
today marks the beginning of rebuild-
ing dignity and restoring respect to the
grocery industry.”
Several union members at the press
conference said they know co-workers
who rely on food stamps, food banks,
and other public assistance to survive.
Local 555 member Jeff White of
Klamath Falls said half the union’s bar-
gaining unit today works part time,
with many qualifying for government
assistance.
“The respect we’re asking for is that
we have enough hours and pay to sup-
port our families,” White said. “Respect
us enough so that we can be a viable
part of our community; so that we can
be an asset, not a liability.”
Local 555 member Nick Dust of
Vancouver, Washington, called on his
colleagues to stand together and fight
for more reliable hours and liveable
wages. “Only by standing together can
we ensure that no employee has to
choose between putting food on the
table or getting health care,” he said.
Clay said the unionized grocery in-
dustry is seeking to follow the Walmart
Staff
JOHn candIOtO, Business Manager/FST
delbeRt bROWn, Business Representative
RuSS bentOn, Business Representative
WIlly myeRS, Business Representative
dennIS dOveR, Business Representative
JOe HaRRIS, Organizer/Conductor
SHaROn allen, Office Manager
emmy KeeveR, Secretary
cOnnIe benSOn, Secretary
Officers
RIc OlandeR, President
aRt HImm, Vice President
matt O’ neIll, Recording Secretary
ROn HeRgenRadeR, Warden
Executive Board
darrell alcorn, devin Hosking,
Joel Hutchinson, charlie Johnson,
Seth Kerner, William Willman
Trustees: ed dawes, tom Harding, Jim Philley
business model, which winds up cost-
ing taxpayers as more and more work-
ers apply for public subsidies.
“We’re not going to let these corpo-
rations dump the costs of their business
model on our communities,” Clay said.
“We are no longer going to let that hap-
pen in the dark. We are going to shine a
light on them.”
Hales, who will take office as mayor
of Portland on Jan. 1, called on em-
ployers to do the right thing.
“In Portland, I think we have a tra-
dition, which I hope that we see during
this negotiation on all sides — of doing
the right thing for the right reasons, and
taking care of everyone. And that’s
what these employers, in my opinion,
have an obligation to do.”
At the press conference, more than
150 food boxes, put together by the
union and members from various
stores, were waiting to be picked up or
delivered to members in need.
“These food boxes you see here to-
day, it’s not a stunt. It’s a reality, and it’s
a reality that has to end,” Clay said.
Mike Marshall, director of collective
bargaining for Local 555, said that
while the employers moved some on
language issues during talks Dec. 10-
12, they made no movement in eco-
nomics, including employee health
benefits. The next round of bargaining
is set for Jan. 14-15.
This is the first time in Local 555’s
history that contracts from each geo-
graphic region within its jurisdiction
— from Klamath Falls, Oregon, to
Longview, Washington — are being
bargained simultaneously. It’s known
as Unity Bargaining, and it brings to-
gether about 60 union members from
each of the regions sitting at the same
bargaining table.
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
DECEMBER 21, 2012