Kroger Workers Ratify Contract Jerry Rexroad 12 W
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Who Are the Real Patriots? ho are the real patriots run- atinyhandfulofRepublicansquestioned to the president, but to working families. ning for office on November his statement—and all quickly apolo- Had they succeeded, we would now be 2nd? gized profusely for daring to contradict mired in a second Great Depression and W The Tea Partiers and the their de facto party leader. up to 4.1 million more Americans would Republican candidates they support claim Then, their actions spoke louder than be unemployed, according to the Congres- this word all for themselves. But when I his words. Facing the gravest financial sional Budget Office. looked up patriot in crisis since 1929, did Then, there were repeated efforts by the dictionary, I got the Republicans lift a Republican senators to block the exten- this definition: “One Let’s turn finger to rescue us from sion of unemployment benefits, denying who loves his or her the brink of depres- millions of long-term jobless Americans country and supports out in droves sion? When President money they needed just to survive. its authority and Obama sought biparti- In fact, in the first year of Obama’s interests.” san cooperation to save presidency, Senate Republicans held So what would to elect the real the economy, did they more filibusters than had occurred in the you call someone who heed his call to serve 50 years from 1919 to 1969. They bottled has said repeatedly patriots. America’s best inter- up more than 300 bills passed by the that he wants Presi- ests? House. And now, Sen. Jim DeMint (R- dent Obama to fail? What would you call No. S.C.) is threatening to prevent the Senate people who cheered when Chicago’s bid Not one Republican representative from considering any bill he doesn’t like for the 2016 Olympics was rejected in voted for the American Recovery and for the rest of the year. favor of a foreign city? Reinvestment Act. Only three Republican After two years of the most irresponsi- You’d call them Republicans. But you senators (one of whom soon switched ble behavior ever by an opposition party, wouldn’t call them patriots, because they parties) voted to end a GOP filibuster they want to be rewarded by the voters. choose hyperpartisanship and ideological blocking its consideration. Instead, let’s “reward” them by turning out purity over America’s best interests. This was not due to policy disagree- in droves to elect the real patriots—candi- “The dirty little secret,” talk show host ments. The bill included the largest middle dates who put our country first by working Rush Limbaugh said last year, “is that class tax cut in history—something to strengthen our economy, our standard of every Republican in this country wants Republicans claim they’re for. They had living, and our future. In virtually all Obama to fail, but none of them have the many opportunities to shape the bill when cases, that means voting Democrat. guts to say so; I am willing to say it.” it was being crafted and to offer alterna- Thomas P.McNutt, President Limbaugh proved his point when only tives. Instead, they just said no—not just International Vice President 2UNIONLEADERSEPT./OCT./NOV.2010 UNITED FOOD & COMMERCIAL WORKERS LOCAL 400 Thomas P.McNutt PRESIDENT Mark P.Federici SECRETARY-T REASURER SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2010 Sue Gonzalez RECORDER EXECUTIVE BOARD Mike Boyle FEATURES Jacqueline Bradley Terry Dixon Lisa Gillespie Re-elect Md. Gov. Martin O’Malley Nelson Graham 4 O’Malley/Brown Ticket Earns Local 400’s Recommendation Joanne Grimaldi Mikki Harris James Hepner Joe Manchin for Senate Michele Hepner 6 Phyllis Jackson West Virginia Governor Fights for Working Families Neil Jacobs James M. Jarboe Mary Laflin Guest Column by Vincent DeMarco Calvin McGuire 10 Health Care Success in Maryland Tony Perez Ken Pinkard Odis Price Kroger Workers Ratify Contract Jerry Rexroad 12 W. C h r i s t i a n S a u t e r Maintain Industry-Leading Wages, Benefits in Richmond, Carolyn Shebora Tidewater Areas Vivian Siguoin Larry Southern Linda Sykes Local 400 Voters Guide D. Rex Trabue 18 Complete List of Recommended Candidates in November 2 Election Mary Vines Russell Wise Carol Wiszynski Interview with LTC Jacqueline Bradley EDITOR 20 Thomas P. McNutt Local 400 Activist and Kaiser Nurse Practitioner Takes Command ASSOCIATE EDITOR Mark P. Federici CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER COVER STORY Bill Burke DESIGN AND LAYOUT Evans Design Member Activism Surges at Local 400 EDITORIAL CONSULTANT 16 Bruce Kozarsky Volunteers Fuel Organizing and Community Outreach Campaigns The Union Leader is published by the United Food & Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 400. Office of Publication: Kelly Press Inc., 1701 Cabin Branch Rd., Landover, Md. 20785. Editorial Office: Metro 400 Building, 4301 Garden City Dr., Landover, Md. 20785. ALSO INSIDE Main Office: (800) 638-0800. Subscriptions to mem- bers only. WEB SITES: 14 Faces of Local 400 32 All in the Family www.ufcw400.org 22 Stewards Spotlight 34 Local 400 Retirees 32 Financial Report SEPT./OCT./NOV. 2010 UNION LEADER 3 •LOCAL400POLITICS&LEGISLATIVEWATCH•LOCAL400POLITICS& Re-elect Governor Martin O’Malley O’Malley/Brown Ticket Earns Local 400’s Enthusiastic Recommendation Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Lt. expand our rights and protections, secure independent contractors, leaving Gov. Anthony Brown (D) have earned our jobs and improve our quality of life. workers unprotected from abusive prac- Local 400’s enthusiastic recommendation “The O’Malley record is great by any tices. for their re-election because they have standard, but it’s even better compared to Ⅲ Increasing the state Earned Income consistently fought for and won major the four years Marylanders suffered under Tax Credit by 25 percent, generating improvements in the lives of the state’s Bob Ehrlich,” McNutt said. “I don’t know more than $190 million in tax relief working families. why anyone would want to go back to all to 363,791 Maryland taxpayers and Facing a closely-contested campaign the big business giveaways, skyrocketing helping to lift many working families against ex-Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R), utility and college tuition rates, and the out of poverty. O’Malley has reversed his predecessor’s loss of health insurance coverage for Ⅲ Fighting to protect homeowners from anti-worker, pro-big business policies. Marylanders that defined life under Bob foreclosures by signing what The O’Malley made Maryland the first state in Ehrlich. With O’Malley at the helm, we’re Washington Post called “among the the country to guarantee a living wage to making real progress in the very difficult most sweeping [reforms] in the coun- the employees of all state contractors and environment of the recession. We need to try.” These include enacting mandato- recently signed a law strongly backed by keep moving forward, not go backward.” ry foreclosure mediation legislation Local 400 requiring retail employers to After spending his first year cleaning and requiring big banks to empower provide shift breaks to their workers. up the Ehrlich administration’s messes, Maryland families and provide home- O’Malley has fought back hard against including the $1.7 billion deficit left by the owners with the information and the recession with strong economic lead- outgoing governor, O’Malley has fought support they need to avoid foreclosure. ership that has paid dividends for work- hard to make state government work for Ⅲ Leading the fight to pass landmark ers: Maryland’s unemployment rate is 25 working families. In addition to the shift legislation extending health coverage percent below the national average, the break and living wage laws, O’Malley’s to more than 204,000 previously unin- state has retained jobs better than all but many achievements in improving Mary- sured Marylanders, including 100,000 four states, and 40,000 new jobs have landers’ lives include: children. been created in Maryland since January. Ⅲ Signing the Job Creation and Recovery Ⅲ Making record investments in “Maryland’s working families have no Tax Credit, giving any business that better champion than Governor Maryland’s public schools for four hires an unemployed Marylander a tax consecutive years, leading to improve- O’Malley,” said Local 400 President Tom credit of $5,000. McNutt. “He has taken a series of bold ments in learning and student perform- Ⅲ Enacting legislation extending steps to raise our economic standing, ance that gave the state’s public unemployment benefits to Maryland’s education system the number one 420,000 part-time workers if they Maryland ranking two years in a row by Gov. Martin experience temporary job loss. Education Week and made the state a O’Malley (left) Ⅲ Stabilizing the Unemployment winner in President Obama's “Race to with Local 400 Insurance Trust Fund and reliev- the Top” education grant initiative. President Tom McNutt ing pressure on small businesses Ⅲ Increasing funding for higher educa- facing higher premiums due tion, enabling Maryland’s public col- to a law signed by leges and universities to freeze tuition Ehrlich in 2005. for four consecutive years after it sky- Ⅲ Cracking down rocketed by more than 40 percent dur- on employers ing the Ehrlich years. that fraudulently Ⅲ Appointing pro-consumer members to misclassify their the Public Utilities Commission who employees as (Continued on page 30) 4UNIONLEADERSEPT./OCT./NOV.2010 LEGISLATIVE WATCH • LOCAL 400 POLITICS & LEGISLATIVE WATCH • L O’MALLEY-EHRLICH: MOVING FORWARD VS. GOING BACKWARD Issue Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) Ex-Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R) Jobs Fought to create jobs by providing employers a Vetoed multiple bills to protect Maryland jobs from foreign $5,000 tax credit for every Marylander taken off outsourcing. Since leaving office in 2007, Ehrlich has the unemployment rolls. Under his leadership, worked at a law firm that advertises its services helping Maryland ranks in the top five states for retaining employers outsource jobs.