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January - February 2014 Vol. 9, Issue 1 UU (USPS 018-250) Magazine Magazine Wise & Well Dollars & Cents Duck & Cover 100-year-old retiree re- It’s time to send in ap- NLRB decisions put calls a time when plications for Local Walmart on the defen- everything seemed a 324’s Non-Food Schol- sive around the clock. little easier. arship program. Pages 10-11 Page 7 Page 15 Official Publication of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 324 U magazine What’s Inside magazine Labor Relations 4 Worksites continue to promote cooperation. Sec.-Tres. Report 5 Minimum wage hikes long sup- ported by Labor Yesterday’s News Next General Membership 6 Patriotic march turns bloody as in- Meeting is Wednesday, justice prevails. March 12 at 7 p.m. 8530 Stanton Avenue ‘ObamaCare’ Buena Park 8 Contract negotiations include talks about the ACA’s affect. Member Feature Withdrawal Card Request 10 Retired staff member celebrates 100 years, reflects on days past. Change of Address Form Member's name:_______________________________ Hot Topics! 13 Keeping a work journal can help SSN:______________________ DOB:_____________ you keep your job. Address______________________________________ Word on the Street 14 How has the Affordable Care Act affected you or those you know? City_____________________________zip__________ Phone #______________________________________ Editor: Todd Conger UNION OFFICE HOURS Asst. Editor: Mercedes Clarke 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday email________________________________________ TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Orange County: (714) 995-4601 Lake Forest: (949) 587-9881: Long Beach-Downey- If requesting withdrawal, what was your last day worked? ________ Norwalk Limited Area Toll Free: (800) 244-UFCW MAIN OFFICE: 8530 Stanton Avenue, P.O. Box 5004, Buena Park, California 90622 U magazine (USES 018-250) is published bimonthly by UFCW Local 324, at Post Office Box 5004, 8530 Stanton If we don't know where you live or how to reach you, there's Ave., Buena Park, CA 90622-5004. Subscription rate is two (2) dollars per year (U.S. funds) Periodicals Postage paid at Buena Park, CA. no telling what you might miss out on in the future. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to U magazine, UFCW Local 324, Post Office Box 5004, Buena Park, CA 90622-5004. READERS: Direct all inquiries and changes of address to the COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT, UFCW Local UU havehave toto telltell us!us! 324, Post Office Box 5004, Buena Park, CA 90622-5004. Web Site Address: UFCW324.org 2 January-February 2014 Presidentʼs Report Vast misinformation poisons public sentiment on ‘Affordable Health Care’ Those of us who have spent a lot of time pushing spite the fact that many of the re- for healthcare reform watched sadly as the Affordable ductions in hours were announced Care Act (ACA) made its national debut last year. The months ago and would happen with websiteʼs now infamous problems are inexcusable or without the ACA. given the amount of time they had before the Big Day. Corporate America But for someone who is not particularly tech savvy, I has, in fact, shame- must admit that I canʼt profess to know what could lessly used the ACA have been done differently to avoid the glitch. roll out as the one- Perhaps the bigger snafu in the overall picture is size-fits-all excuse the fact that the website debacle has become front for why they are and center in the ongoing debate about healthcare re- cutting hours or form. Opponents have seized on the unfortunate affair laying off workers. with their typically smug “I told you so” attitude. The reality is Their talking point of the day suggests that hiccups that the ACA has not President Greg M. Conger on the sign-up website provide irrefutable proof that impacted business “Obamacare” is a failure. But such a patently ludicrous because it hasnʼt been fully implemented yet. It is in line of reasoning is not unusual as many of the ACAʼs its infancy, and nothing within the new program has opponents have vowed to do whatever it takes to sab- been around long enough for any real judgment to be otage the law. That includes grasping for any morsel passed on it. Only time will answer those questions. of negative news surrounding the roll out and claiming Understanding the full depth of the ongoing debate it vindicates their arguments against reform. requires you to stand back a little bit to gain a greater They are succeeding in ways one would not have perspective. Despite the flawed opening months of the thought. In fact, the bargaining position of the Big 3 is new law, the arrival of real reform and a genuine taken from the playbook of anti-reform activists. It is to change to the system was long overdue. their advantage to spread false rumors and misinfor- And yes the problems with this new law are many… mation about the impact of the new law because it dis- America still remains behind the rest of the industrial- tracts from the larger picture. It is a natural human in- ized world in providing healthcare to its citizens. Even stinct that in the face of danger or a potential loss, to with reform, there exists a gap in the system that will retreat to a defensive position. Which is what man- leave some Americans without insurance—a problem agement is hoping UFCW members do. that must be solved. By keeping members in a defense mode, manage- The ACA lets business off lightly with a laughable ment effectively neutralizes any momentum for forward schedule of penalties for non-compliers. In some ar- progress on wages and benefits levels. Ultimately, eas, it is complex and cumbersome, provides inade- those on the defense grow to become satisfied with quate incentives for participation and is too weak on the status quo and retreat from positions calling for im- business. But right now the mere fact that it is the law provement. represents a triumph six decades in the making. It Opponents have been as skilled at not talking as can be used as a springboard from which we should they have been at fast talking. Examples abound. Over advance the cause of reform slowly at times, more rap- the past couple of months, the news has been pep- idly at others. And ultimately, in a country where clowns pered with stories about companies reducing their work- in revolutionary war costumes calling for the closure of ers to 29 hours a week so that they can avoid having government can become a driving political force, a to offer affordable healthcare to workers. healthy dose of skepticism about the things you hear They have seized on this disturbing practice, claim- and read is the best way to avoid falling victim to the ing it is another piece of evidence of policy failure de- right wingʼs con job. January-February 2014 3 Second in a 3-part series Labor relations at Kaiser offers model for employers nationwide The UFCW and Kaiser Permanente she applied for a management position, have a long history of working together but lost out to someone more experi- in southern California. From the 30,000 enced. newly Retail Clerks enrolled into the pre-paid She was then approached by Union built Irvine program in Los Angeles in 1951 to Representative Debbie Watts about be- Medical Center Kaiser’s extension of Health benefits for coming a shop steward. Gerber ac- prior to its being members during the Strike / Lockout of cepted and began taking courses to opened to the pub- 03/04, this relationship has been mutu- prepare for her new responsibilities. lic. ally beneficial. Local 324 along with 25 other union She would be made Lead Clinical Born at Kaiser’s Los Angeles Medical locals from across nine states and the Laboratory Scientist (CLS), the only such Center to two members of then Retail District of Columbia (known as the Lead in all of Orange County, and help to Clerks Local 770, Coalition) and upper manage- piece together Irvine’s state of the art Laura Gerber has a ment from Kaiser together com- lab, along with coordinating the training long history with of the lab’s staff on both organizations. I am proud both to be a UFCW this new equipment. Gerber began member and to work for Kaiser, Once Irvine working for Kaiser —Laura Gerber opened, Gerber on at its Anaheim Med- behalf of the worker ical Center as a Clin- prise the Labor Management representative group would co-lead the ical Laboratory Scientist in 1982. At that Partnership (LMP). inaugural UBT for the lab alongside time, its employees were not yet covered A relationship“ formed in 1997 with Charles Park, the management repre- by a collective bargaining agreement. the aim of developing a culture of mu- sentative group’s co-lead. One of the major differences Gerber tual respect from the common goals of Park would eventually become the can recall between Kaiser in its infancy both the Coalition and the non-profit Director of Operations for the Clinical as a union shop and the days prior is healthcare provider, the LMP is a throw- Laboratory at Irvine. that “management became accountable back to the relations between the Walter Gerber and Park actually took their to the contract.” Reuther ran United Auto Workers and the co-lead training together, and this “I can remember when Kaiser first major American auto makers. shared experience, their time co-leading became union, my reps were these re- Unit Based Teams (UBTs) at various the lab UBT together, and the environ- ally wonderful old-school longshoremen worksites throughout the company are ment of cooperation the LMP fosters has kind of guys, and they absolutely had my responsible for implementing the LMP helped to cultivate what Park refers to back in a pretty difficult situation.