Location: Winco Foods Kennewick,
4602 W Clearwater Ave, Kennewick WA 99336
Date: Monday, May 22, 2023
Times: 10:00 AM—11:00 AM and 1:00 PM — 2:00 PM
Highlights Include:
Above area standard wage increases
Added Retirement Security
Affordable Health & Welfare
If you have any questions, please contact your Union Rep Rob Roundy at 509-943-8923.
Location: Ray’s Meats,
2113 S 3rd Ave, Yakima, WA 98903
Date: Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Times: 10:00 AM—11:00 AM and 4:00 PM — 5:00 PM
Highlights Include:
Significant Wage Increases
Affordable Health & Welfare
If you have any questions, please contact your Union Rep Pedro Nunez at 509-944-6036.
Meet Astrid Kryger from the North Bend QFC. Astrid has been getting more involved with her union recently after the announcement of the Kroger/Albertsons mega-merger. The impacts of that merger could cause food prices to further inflate, and cause stores to close displacing workers.
Read More
UFCW 3000 Press Release
For Immediate Release: May 3, 2023
Contact: Tom Geiger, 206-604-3421
Workers Win Case for Wearing Black Lives Matter Buttons on the Job –
Fred Meyer and QFC (both Kroger-owned stores) Must Allow Workers to Wear Their Buttons
In a clear statement of the rights of workers to wear buttons and other materials such as masks at work, as part of collective, concerted activity, the Administrative Law Judge, from the National Labor Relations Board Division of Judges in San Francisco today ruled in favor of UFCW 3000’s case for workers wearing Black Lives Matter buttons and ruled against Fred Meyer’s attempts to curtail that right.
Finding in favor of the Union’s core argument that the workers’ actions were protected under Federal labor law because racism is a workplace issue, Administrative Law Judge Mara-Louise Anzalone wrote in their decision that, “by collectively displaying the ‘Black Lives Matter’ message on their work uniforms, the employees in this case acted to advance their interest—as employees—to an affirmatively anti-racist, pro-civil rights, and pro-justice workplace.”
The judge’s ruling also struck down the Employers’ overly broad dress codes.
The ALJ’s decision essentially agreed with earlier findings in this case going back to the September of 2022 finding of Region 19 of the National Relations Labor Board (NLRB) that Fred Meyer and QFC violated federal labor law when they prohibited workers from wearing union-sponsored Black Lives Matter buttons. There was a lengthy trial before the ALJ when Kroger refused to reach a settlement agreement. The decision by the ALJ was issued today and is subject to appeal to the NLRB in Washington DC.
Sam Dancy outside of his QFC in the summer of 2020
“It feels good to win again! When we as workers speak out through these buttons and collectively say Black Lives Matter and then QFC and Fred Meyer said to take the buttons off, that was insulting and a violation of the law. We knew all along we had the right to call out social and racial injustice in the workplace and in our neighborhoods and this judge’s decision reiterates that right,” said Sam Dancy a Front End Supervisor at the Westwood Village QFC in West Seattle, WA who has worked for QFC for over 30 years.
UFCW 3000 President Faye Guenther concluded, “It is important that workers’ rights and legal standards be protected. Kroger, the owner QFC and Fred Meyer continues to be a problem and needs to do a better job of hiring and promoting workers who are Black at every level of the company and making it clear that it will not tolerate racism from customers or employees.”
Background
After Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd on May 25, 2020, many UFCW 21 members working in grocery and retail stores chose to express their opposition to racism at work and in the community by wearing face masks (otherwise worn for protection from COVID) or other items bearing the Black Lives Matter slogan.
Although Kroger issued public statements expressing sympathy with the Black Lives Matter movement, managers at Kroger-owned stores in Western Washington started ordering UFCW 21 members to remove Black Lives Matter masks in August 2020.
UFCW 21 responded to the company’s Black Lives Matter ban by collaborating with Fred Meyer and QFC workers to distribute union-sponsored Black Lives Matter buttons with the UFCW 21 logo. When managers banned the Union buttons, UFCW 21 filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board. Kroger’s ban and the Union response received widespread local and national attention. In September of 2021, Region 19 of the NLRB ruled in favor of the UFCW 3000 grocery store workers. The case was unable to reach a settlement and therefore went to trial in April of 2022 before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who today ruled in the favor of the workers and found Kroger’s Fred Meyer and QFC were in the wrong and had violated the workers’ rights. As a result of the ruling, the workers will be allowed to wear the buttons.
UFCW 3000 represents over 50,000 workers at grocery stores, retail, healthcare, and other industry jobs.
On Sunday, April 16 workers at PCC held community kick off events at Fremont and Edmonds PCCs, and the community showed up! Several community partners spoke at each event including Transit Riders Union, Washington CAN, MLK Labor, OWLS in support of our members’ desire for a strong and fair contract.
Our local community showed up and stood with PCC workers to help spread the word to our customers that we are gearing up for contract negotiations and we are asking for their support. Our Bargaining Committee is fighting to win better pay, increase retention, keep good affordable healthcare coverage, dedicated seats for workers on the board, and more.
Tuesday, May 9: 5:00pm—6:00pm
Seattle Library: University District 5009 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105
Tuesday, May 9: 6:00pm—7:00pm
Kenmore Library: 6531 NE 181st St, Kenmore, WA 98028
Wednesday, May 10: 6:00pm—7:00pm
Delridge Library: 5423 Delridge Way SW, Seattle, WA 98106
Wednesday, May 10: 6:00pm—7:00pm
Bellevue Library: (Room 4) 1111 110th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98004
Thursday, May 11: Online Zoom Meetings
9:00am—10:00am & 6:30pm—7:30pm
Dalton was one of many grocry members participating in the stop the merger actions across the country recently.
Dalton Adams is a shop steward at the Downtown Bellevue QFC store and is active in many parts of our union. In January of this year, he went to Olympia to talk with Washington State Legislators about the increasing safety issues he and his coworkers face around organized retail theft and strongarm robberies. The political pressure forced Kroger and other employers to come to the table and work with our union on how to best protect workers.
Safety on the job is a big issue for Dalton and other shop stewards, last fall they came together with workplace leaders from 3 states at a Safety Summit to share stories, learn, and organize to make sure that workers are safer on the job.
Dalton and other stewards are also very concerned about what would happen to their jobs and communities if the Kroger/Albertsons mega-merger was allowed to go through. He and other grocery store workers took recently action recently across the country to inform customers of the perils of this monopoly-creating merger. Dalton asked customers and send a letter to the FTC via the No Grocery Merger Website, telling them to stop this merger from moving forward.
Dalton knows when workers organize, take action, and show solidarity with each other, what we can accomplish together is greater than what we could do alone.
On Tuesday, April 11 our Union Bargaining Team met for the first time. The committee discussed the upcoming bargain with PCC. We reviewed the Bargaining Survey Results from members and discussed the top priorities including: winning better pay, increasing retention, safety at our stores, keeping good affordable healthcare coverage, dedicated seats for workers on the board, maintaining strong retirement, addressing scheduling issues and building more power in the co-op industry. The Bargaining Committee meets again on May 26 to begin crafting bargaining proposals. We have confirmed bargaining dates with PCC for June 6, 8, 20, July 26 and August 10.
Join other PCC members this weekend for our PCC contract kick off actions at the Edmonds PCC and Fremont PCC stores Sunday, April 16 from 1pm-2pm.
Discuss with our coworkers and bargaining team what type of proposals should be made. CAT meeting times and location to be announced soon!
Don’t miss out on important bargaining updates, action alerts, and vote information: Make sure your contact information is up-to-date! Go to: ufcw3000.org/update-your-information
Michael Tewolde is a union leader and front-end Person-in-Charge (PIC) at the Othello Safeway in South Seattle. He has worked at Othello for several years and has seen the neighborhood change as more people have moved into the new surrounding developments.
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Coming soon to a store near you!
Grocery store workers from seven UFCW Local Unions – representing over 100,000 Kroger and Albertsons workers in eleven states and the District of Columbia – will hold actions in front of stores between April 4th – 13th to connect with customers about the impacts of the proposed megamerger. Since the companies announced the proposed merger in October, workers, unions, consumer groups and others have raised the alarm about the negative impact on workers, shoppers, and suppliers such as farmers and ranchers. In mid-March a national coalition of over 100 organizations was announced with a new website: https://www.nogrocerymerger.com/
If the $24.6 billion megamerger is approved, it will drive out competition, increase food prices, create food deserts, and put up to 100,000 union jobs at risk. The growing opposition is asking the Federal Trade Commission to block the megamerger from moving forward and prevent its negative impact on both consumer and labor markets.
All the local unions include: UFCW 3000 (WA & northern ID), UFCW 400 (MD, DC, VA, WV, OH, KY, TN), UFCW 7 (CO & WY), UFCW 770 (Southern CA), UFCW 5 (Northern CA), and UFCW 324 (Orange County CA/Southern Los Angeles County) and UFCW 367, South Puget Sound of Washington State.
4/4/2023 11:00AM
Fred Meyer Port Orchard,
1900 SE Sedgwick Rd, Port Orchard, WA
4/4/2023 11:00AM
Fred Meyer Ballard,
915 NW 45Th St, Seattle, WA
4/5/2023 10:30AM
QFC 825,
2500 SW Barton St, Seattle WA
4/5/2023 11:00AM
Safeway 3317,
3355 Bethel RD Port Orchard, WA
4/5/2023 11:00AM
Safeway 414,
4301 212th St SW, Mountlake Terrace, WA
4/5/2023 11:00AM
Safeway 464,
17246 Redmond Way, Redmond, WA
4/5/2023 12:00PM
QFC 826,
15600 NE 8th St Suite K-1 Bellevue, WA
4/5/2023 1:00 PM
Haggen 3450,
2601 E Divition St, Mount Vernon, WA
4/5/2023 1:45 PM
QFC 829,
460 E North Bend Way, North Bend, WA
4/5/2023 2:00 PM
Albertsons 471,
301 Marysville Mall, Marysville, WA
4/5/2023 2:15 PM
Haggen 3436,
757 Haggen Dr, Burlington, WA
4/5/2023 3:00 PM 18325
Fred Meyer 13,
18325 Aurora Ave. N
4/5/2023 4:00 PM
Albertsons 3412,
1128 N Miller St, Wenatchee, WA
4/5/2023 4:30 PM
Safeway 3213,
15332 Aurora Ave N Shoreline, WA
4/6/2023 12:00 PM
Albertsons 453,
4621 Sunset Blvd. NE, Renton, WA
4/6/2023 12:00 PM
Safeway 494,
152 Roosevelt Way E, Enumclaw, WA
4/6/2023 12:00 PM
Albertsons 483,
4010 A St. SE, Auburn, WA
4/6/2023 3:00 PM
Fred Meyer 172,
10201 SE 240th St., Kent, WA
4/6/2023 3:00 PM
Fred Meyer 209,
9925 State Street, Marysville, WA
4/6/2023 4:00 PM
Safeway 252,
690 Gage Blvd, Richland, WA
4/6/2023 4:00 PM
Albertsons 265,
6520 North Nevada St., Spokane, WA
4/6/2023 6:00 PM
Fred Meyer 101,
Wellsian Way, Richland, WA
4/7/2023 11:00 AM
Safeway 1524
1401 NE McWilliams Rd, Bremerton, WA
4/7/2023 11:00 AM
QFC Ballard,
5700 24th Ave NW, Seattle, WA
4/7/2023 11:00 AM
Safeway 1524,
1401 NE McWilliams Rd Bremerton WA 98311
4/6/2023 12:00 PM
QFC Holman Road,
9999 Holman Rd NW, Seattle, WA
4/7/2023 12:15 PM
Fred Meyer 171
5050 WA-303, Bremerton WA
UFCW 3000 Leadership with allies ready to testify before the federal trade commission
UFCW 3000 and our fellow UFCW locals continue to work aggressively to stop the mega-merger between Albertsons/Safeway and Kroger (parent company of Fred Meyer and QFC).
Recently, union presidents from UFCW Locals 7, 324, 400, 770, and 3000 presented compelling evidence to the Federal Trade Commission on the negative impacts of this merger and our negative experiences with past grocery mergers. Representatives from 10 states’ Attorneys General offices attended, along with UFCW 3000 member and leader Naomi Oligario, a longtime Safeway worker from Port Orchard who shared her story of how the Safeway-Albertsons merger caused her and two other family members to lose their jobs.
We will not stop fighting against this corporate greed and overreach, and bring frontline grocery store workers’ voices front and center so our lawmakers, regulators, and employers hear directly from experts who work in these stores and serve our communities every day.
“My name is Naomi Oligario. I started working at my local Safeway store, in Port Orchard, Washington in 1985. I raised my four kids with my income and benefits from this job. My kids were Safeway babies. As they have grown up, over the years, at one point or another, each have worked at a Safeway store. And my customers are like family too. It is a tight relationship that we all have. We share our triumphs and our tragedies.
In 2015, after nearly 30 years with the company, after coming in on extra shifts, doing extra work to make the store run, after working through holidays, I found out one day, without any advance notice or for-planning, that my store would be bought by Haggen, and that no one would be allowed to transfer to another store. […]
I lived through the debacle of my Safeway store closing, and the new Haggen opening, but quickly it became clear that this was not a good situation. The prices were too high. Many of my loyal customers, within three weeks or less, came to me with tears in their eyes and apologized to me. They said they’d tried but could not shop here anymore. Sales dropped through the floor. Our hours were cut, and quickly many staff were having to look for work elsewhere any where they could find employment… This impacted three income earners in my one family. But the fallout from that failed merger was huge. It was not just me and my family. Similar experiences were felt by workers at over a hundred closed stores. […]
It’s just greed. Plain and simple. A few months ago, back in November, I was in the Senate Subcommittee hearing room and saw the Kroger CEO say they would not close stores or lay off workers. Under oath he said that to a US Senator. But they’re not telling the truth. They will end up closing stores and laying off workers just like happened to me, my family and my co-workers seven years ago. And our customers will lose out again too. This merger is a bad idea and needs to be stopped.”
Naomi (L) and FAYE (R) traveled to speak directly with the ftc on the proposed merger.
“My name is Faye Guenther, President of UFCW 3000, representing 50,000 workers in Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. I represented workers in Fred Meyer in 1999, prior to its purchase by Kroger. In 2008, I represented workers in Kroger, Albertsons, Safeway, and Haggen. […]
Haggen was a 90-year-old, union, family-owned company, headquartered in Bellingham, WA. After the divestiture of 146 stores to Haggen (as a result of the Albertsons/Safeway merger), we watched this once-local company go bankrupt in a few short months. Workers were hurt in too many ways to enumerate here today. Instead of offering competition, all remaining Haggen stores now belong to Albertson.
The divested Haggen stores were in trouble fast. Something was wrong and workers started calling us immediately. At the store by my house, the banner was changed, but the only things that changed in the store were higher prices and wilted lettuce. Customers fled. Hours were cut, impacting everything from pension contributions to healthcare qualifications and leave banks.
After bankruptcy, we had to then negotiate with Albertsons, to try restore workers who re-applied to get their seniority back which impacted Sunday pay, healthcare and every other wage and benefit issue.”
For Immediate Release: March 14, 2023
Contact: Tom Geiger, UFCW 3000, 206-604-3421
In October of 2022, Kroger and Albertsons announced they would pursue a $24.6 billion mega-merger, joining together the two largest standalone U.S. grocery chains, and thereby creating a monopoly in many areas across the country. Both these chains have stores and manufacturing facilities in nearly every state, employing over 700,000 workers across their numerous local banners. The mega-merger, currently undergoing FTC review, would drive out competition, increase food prices, create food deserts, and put hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk as well as hurt local farmers and ranchers.
The coalition of over 100 organizations has written numerous letters to the FTC and state Attorneys General, held meetings with federal and state elected officials and regulators, held press conferences and virtual town halls, attended public events on the merger hosted by government officials, and participated in various local community activities opposing the merger. All this activity has helped reveal growing evidence that shows the real motives for the proposed merger: corporate greed at the hands of C-Suite executives and the private equity firms that are significant owners of their stock. The diverse and large number of groups across the nation now include organizations whose focus includes consumer protection, faith, economic justice, anti-poverty, food justice, environmental protection, women’s rights, Black Indigenous People of Color advocates, farmer and farmworker advocates, and many others.
For more information on the negative impact of the mega-merger, please visit: NoGroceryMerger.com. Interested organizations can also join the Stop the Merger Coalition through the form on the site.
# # #
The Stop the Merger campaign includes over 100 national, state and local organizations representing diverse interests who share a common goal: to stop the proposed Kroger-Albertsons grocery merger because of its negative impact on our nation’s communities. For more information visit www.NoGroceryMerger.com
Zhi Laing in the produce department at the Bear Creek Safeway.
Read MoreAttention all UFCW 3000 Grocery Store Members at QFC, Fred Meyer, Albertsons, Safeway and Haggen
Ever since the day in mid-October when Kroger and Albertsons announced they were proposing to merge, we have been taking action to protect grocery store workers and our customers. What are all the threats of the merger and what actions have we taken already to protect jobs and community? Please watch the webinar above on the proposed Albertsons/Kroger merger to learn more about the activities our local union, in coordination with a handful of other UFCW locals, has been doing since the announcement. While much is still not known about what specifically these companies propose, it is clear that the proposed mega-merger would impact workers’ jobs, our shoppers and our communities.
On January 26, 2023, the Senate Labor Committee heard Senate Bill 5259, a bill we’ve worked on to address the impacts of retail theft on our members and our workplaces. UFCW 3000 members have been raising the safety and financial issues around retail theft for years now, and members in grocery and retail said that tackling retail theft and ensuring workplace safety were top legislative priorities for 2023. SB 5259 would prohibit discipline of a grocery worker who engages during a situation of retail theft, and UFCW 3000 members and staff testified in support during the committee hearing.
“I wasn’t given any kind of training on what the manager wanted me to do to ‘intervene’ here, but I felt like I needed to follow his instructions or I would lose my job. In fact, in this case, following his instructions got me fired because when I did in fact intervene here, I lost my job for violating company policy by intervening with this woman. Instead of being required to take preventative measures to deter this kind of theft, Fred Meyer punished me for doing what should be their job. I hope we can get the committee support for SB 5259 so this doesn’t happen to another worker in this industry again.” -Suzanne Geffre, Fred Meyer, Richland
“While protecting workers, this legislation will not mitigate all the harms to me and my coworkers from retail theft. We think it will go a long way in ensuring our members feel empowered to make their jobs safer. From 2018 to 2020, the number of assaults reported to the FBI rose 42% overall, but by 63% in grocery stores. And in 2021, more than half of mass shooter incidents were in places of commerce. We need your help! Violent attacks are going to continue regardless of what you do this year to protect our jobs. We know what type of deterrence works, and that is to deliver the best possible customer service to every customer. This legislation will ensure we can do that without fearing we will lose our job and we need you to pass it in 2023.” -Naomi Oligario, Safeway, Port Orchard
“Our daily loss is listed by the time clock in our stores. Between when I started to now, that daily loss number has gone from in the hundreds to now thousands. Daily. It doesn’t seem fair to me that the theft the grocery companies do nothing to deter affects my department profit numbers, for which I’m then held accountable. At my Safeway we are told that we have to have our counters full and ready for customers by a set time every day, but it’s hard to do that when a customer walks in and fills up a cart with meat and walks out without paying. I know that as a manager in my Seafood department, if I could simply walk up to a customer who was doing this, to ask them if they need help, it would be a deterrence. Our stores need to have effective deterrence because workers in our stores like me are held to account for the store’s failure to deter theft.” -Anna McAllister, Safeway, Kent
Sarah Cherin, Executive Vice President of UFCW 3000, speaks to the committee about members’ experiences with retail theft.
Debbie Gath, with Teamsters Local 38, talks about her work as a Union Rep helping members facing discipline or termination.
Jointly Issued Press Statement by :
UFCW 3000 of WA & Northern ID
UFCW 400 of MD, DC, VA, WV, KY, OH, & TN
UFCW 7 of CO & WY
UFCW 770 of Southern CA
UFCW 5 of Northern CA
UFCW 324 of Orange County, CA and Southern Los Angeles County
UFCW 367 of South Puget Sound, WA
Teamsters 38 of Snohomish Country, WA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 17, 2023
Contact: Tom Geiger, UFCW 3000, 206-604-3421
“We are disappointed to see a ruling that favors a small number of ultra-wealthy shareholders over the many thousands of essential workers and millions of Americans who will be left to suffer the consequences of the outright financial looting of Albertsons. Despite this setback that allows the $4 billion dividend to be issued, the delay allowed the United States Senate to scrutinize the dividend payment as well as the mega-merger, and alerted the public to the disastrous consequences if the merger were to go through. We applaud Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson and his staff for their efforts fighting to protect our members and the communities we serve. Our unions will not stop working to protect our members and our communities from the harmful impacts of this proposed mega-merger of Kroger and Albertsons. It is now even more important that the Federal Trade Commission take swift and decisive action to block the acquisition.”
Background:
On November 1st, Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit in state court seeking to stop the payout and a temporary restraining order was granted through December 9th.
On Tuesday November 29 the US Senate Judiciary Subcommittee held a hearing to scrutinize the proposed Kroger/Albertsons mega merger, along with an alarming, up to $4 billion “special dividend” announced by Albertsons in connection with the merger agreement. In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission urging the agency to intervene, more than two dozen antitrust experts and local unions representing Albertsons’ workers decried the payout as “nothing less than an out-and-out looting of the company” and a brazen attempt to destabilize the company ahead of regulatory review of the merger.
On December 9th, the Superior Court Judge in King County Washington ruled against issuing a preliminary injunction, but delayed the effect of the decision until December 19th to allow time for an appeal by the WA AG to be considered by the State Supreme Court. On December 16th, the WA State Supreme Court issued a ruling granting the State AG’s Injunctive Relief and extended the Temporary Restraining Order on the Albertsons dividend until further order of the court.
# # #
Dawn Harris, grocery store worker at safeway fairwood & proud ufcw 3000 member
It’s #WorkerWednesday, and today we are spotlighting Dawn Harris, a grocery store worker at Safeway #519 in Fairwood! Dawn is a strong workplace leader and is currently being trained as a shop steward for her store.
Dawn recently attended the 2022 Safety Summit with a cohort of coworkers from her store and is excited to continue to grow as an effective advocate for her & her coworkers’ rights on the job. Dawn is passionate about the arts and sports (biggest Seahawks fan around!) and loves spending time with her family.
Dawn, thanks for all your hard work on behalf of your community, coworkers, and fellow union members. If you shop at Safeway in Fairwood, be sure to say hi!
Terry Lakes, UFCW 3000 member & GROCERY STORE WORKER AT FRED MEYER
It’s #MemberMonday, and today we’re spotlighting Terry Lakes, who currently works at Fred Meyer in Auburn, where she’s worked for the past 33 years!
Terry is originally from Iowa, but moved to Auburn, WA at a young age and considers both places her home. While Terry started her career in healthcare, working in a nursing home, she has been in the grocery industry for so many years because of her bond with her coworkers and customers. For Terry, her coworkers are like family! Terry is always ready to greet you, whether you’re a customer or a coworker, with a warm smile.
Terry’s solidarity with her coworkers has also motivated her to be a leader in her workplace. Since 2015, she’s been a shop steward, and in recent years, she’s also been active in getting coworkers, customers, and community members involved in contract campaigns.
When she’s not working, Terry loves to read and tend to her home. We are so grateful to Terry for the knowledge, expertise, and compassion that she brings to not only her store but our entire Union. Thank you Terry!
It’s #MemberMonday, and today’s spotlight is on Maureen Williams, who currently works at Fred Meyer in Covington, WA. Maureen has been working in the grocery industry since she immigrated to the U.S. from her homeland of Guyana in South America.
Originally, Maureen was a seasonal worker and cashier. Through the years, she has worked her way up and is now head of her department! In fact, Maureen is now contemplating retirement in the near future.
Maureen is a proud union member and strong worker-leader. She has been a shop steward since 2017. Most recently, Maureen attended the 2022 Safety Summit and has taken what she learned back to her store & their safety committee.
Maureen says that one of her main motivations for wanting to advocate for her coworkers is the history of the Labor movement in Guyana. One such example is Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, also known as the founding father of the Union Trade Workers in Guyana. Inspired by this history, Maureen believes it’s a necessity to stand up at work for her rights and for her coworkers who might otherwise feel powerless. In her words, being an engaged union member and workplace leader is important because “if there’s not a body of people representing the vulnerable and underdogs, we would be taken advantage of.”
Thank you Maureen for your leadership and strength! It is truly inspiring to witness you connect the organizing we need in our workplace with global movements for justice.
Sandy Pyle (left), grocery store worker, is pictured here with her union representative, Tae (center), and a fellow UFCW 3000 member, Yasmin (right).
It’s #MemberMonday and today we are spotlighting Sandy Pyle, who has been a member of our union since 2004! Sandy works at Albertsons #419 in Port Orchard, WA, starting her career as a courtesy clerk. In the years since, Sandy has worked her way up the ladder and is now a Front-End Supervisor.
Sandy’s coworkers have seen her supporting others for many years. Whether she is educating fellow union members on their rights at work, standing up to management, or identifying & documenting safety hazards, Sandy is always helping her coworkers advocate for themselves. This same attitude extends to the customers who frequent her store, many of whom know her by name and are always happy to see Sandy.
Sandy’s leadership extends to being passionate about workplace safety as well. Recently, Sandy attended our first annual Safety Summit, bringing with her two other union members. Regardless of whether they work at her store or not, Sandy is always motivated to provide as many resources as possible to fellow frontline, essential workers. Sandy’s goals now are to train coworkers to become shop stewards or recruit them to join their stores’ safety committees.
Sandy — thank you so much for your leadership in your workplace and your community. We are so inspired!
#WorkerWednesday is here and we want to spotlight the incredible organizing being done by grocery store workers & proud UFCW 3000 members at Safeway #1550 in the Roosevelt neighborhood of Seattle, WA.
Like many frontline, #EssentialWorkers at grocery stores across the PNW, the workers at Safeway #1550 have been dealing with many safety issues: cars being broken into, verbal assault, and harassment. One top concern was simply having a coded door to their break room so that workers could feel safe, knowing their personal belongings were not accessible to the public. Despite submitting the most store incident reports in their district to corporate about their concerns, management did not take any steps to address these issues.
One of the workers at Safeway #1550, Joaquin Viralta, came up with the idea of getting his coworkers to sign onto a petition. Leaders like Ian Bangs and many others soon took the drafted petition to their coworkers, getting over 80% of the store to sign on within 3 weeks. Ian and other worker-leaders represented their coworkers by delivering this petition to management. The workers received a commitment from management to: 1) install a coded break room door, 2) supply adequate PPE for each department, and 3) begin a program to help members get to their cars at night safe & sound.
This victory was only possible because of leaders like Joaquin and Ian stepping up, encouraging their coworkers to get involved with the union, and trying tactics like safety reports & the petition to successfully advocate for the change they needed in their workplace.
To all the worker-leaders at Safeway #1550: we are so inspired by your creativity & dedication!
We are the Union. The members of UFCW 3000 are over 50,000 members working in grocery, retail, health care, meat packing, cannabis, & other industries across Washington state, north-east Oregon, and northern Idaho. UFCW 3000 is a chartered member of UFCW International with over 1.4 million workers in North America.
To build a powerful Union that fights for economic, political and social justice in our workplaces and in our communities.
