UFCW International Convention Focuses on 'Unity, Family
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Spring/Summer 2018 SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS 2018 UFCW International Convention focuses n May, eight students were The 2018 Irv R. String Scholarship honored with scholarships from Fund recipients are: on ‘Unity, Family, Local 152 at the 6th Annual Irv R. String Scholarship Fund Connor Devosa Community, Worth’ Banquet and Awards Night. His father, Stephen Devosa, is a rought together by the core I“Local 152 believes in the value member at Saker ShopRite. values of “Unity, Family, of hard work,” Local 152 President Kayla Devosa Community and Worth,” Brian String said. “We’re happy to be thousands of union members able to reward the hard work of these Her father, Stephen Devosa, is a gathered this spring for the UFCW students and to give them a helping hand member at Saker ShopRite. B Please see page 6 as they continue to pursue their dreams.” Please see page 2 Also inside: Member Marylyn Graham’s amazing volunteer service • Manufacturing & health care updates Buy Scholarship recipients 2018 American! Continued from front page Leslie Morris Catherine Faust Her mother, Medora Morris, is a member at Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office. Visit Her mother, Abigayle Faust, is a americansworking.com member at Acme Markets. Mitchell Remondi Nicholas Klaptach for information on finding His father, James Remondi, is a member Nicholas is a member at Village at Kraft Foods in Dover, Del. American-made products. ShopRite in Galloway, N.J. Support U.S. workers Elena St. Amour Marybeth McNamee and help save jobs! Elena is a member of at Incollingo’s Her father, Daniel McNamee, is a Family Markets in Egg Harbor City, N.J. member at Acme Markets. Happy retirement! William Force (center), Acme Markets, with, UFCW Local 152 Unity from left, Secretary-Treasurer Anthony Benigno and Representative Cary Lawson Official Publication of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 152 EDITOR Brian String UNION H EADQUARTERS 701 Route 50 Patti Ricco (right), Acme Markets, with Terri Flukey (left), Acme Markets, Mays Landing, NJ 08330 Representative Lisa Sanders with member Mary Ward (888) JOIN-152 Vol. 14, Issue 2 ! UFCW Local 152 Unity N (ISSN: 1542-720X) is published quarterly by UFCW Local 152, O Grievances filed or resolved: I 701 Route 50 2018 total Mays Landing, NJ 08330 N U Periodicals postage paid at Trenton, NJ E 28 B POSTMASTER: Send address changes to UFCW Local 152 Unity O 701 Route 50 T Back pay and benefits Mays Landing, NJ 08330 S restored to members: Published by: Y 2018 total A P T I $19,506 2 Spring/Summer 2018 Marylyn Graham moonlights as a volunteer heroine any members of Local 152 began attending a demanding program several awards for her service over the perform unusual tasks out - of classes and training exercises. The years. She received the Citizen of the Year side of work, but Marylyn challenges inspired her to work hard to Award in 2014, and she had the thrilling Graham may be the only achieve her goal, eventually becoming opportunity to fly with the Air Force bakery manager in New Jersey who the first female out of Atlantic County Thunderbirds in an F-16 jet fighter that is Mrushes into burning buildings and has to be hired as a fire instructor. named in her honor. On top of it all, she is her name on an Air Force F-16 jet fighter. Today, Graham is one of only three a 13-year cervical cancer survivor. The 30-year union veteran earns her female firefighters serving in the five Graham said she is grateful to be a living serving customers at an Acme volunteer fire companies in Egg Har - member of UFCW Local 152. Markets store in Somers Point, NJ, but bor Township, NJ. “The union has been a positive part after hours and on her days off she of my life,” she said. “It has kept me em - heads to Egg Harbor Township, where Always on call ployed and earning a good livelihood.” she puts on the uniform of a first lieu - As a firefighter, Graham is always Graham also said her union health tenant in the Bargaintown Volunteer on call and has had to rush out from benefits helped her raise her three sons. Fire Company. countless dinners and family functions Two of them, Matthew and Jeremy, are Graham’s interest in firefighting to respond to emergencies. She and the also firefighters, and the other son, was sparked (pardon the pun) in 2009, other members of her team in Bargain - Kevin, is a landscaper. after her son Matthew joined the 50- town dedicate themselves to protecting “I’m happy to have a job and work,” member Bargaintown crew as a Junior lives and property in their community she said. Firefighter. Inspired by his experience, with no monetary compensation. No doubt there are plenty of people she joined the Ladies Auxiliary, which Her gear weighs nearly one hundred in Egg Harbor Township who are also provides refreshments to the volunteer pounds, but after seven years as a happy that Marylyn Graham has a firefighters. volunteer firefighter she says, “You get reliable means of support while she In 2011, Graham decided she used to it!” dedicates her off-duty hours to ensuring wanted to be a firefighter herself and Marylyn Graham has received their safety. Spring/Summer 2018 3 rocery industry news G By Jeff Metzger Sales growth at food retailers ■ In this column, analyst Jeff Metzger looks at developments in the supermarket industry around the country. ix of the country’s largest food retailers have posted increased comp sales and solid earnings in their most recent financial periods. Walmart, Ahold Delhaize, Kroger, Target, Costco and Publix have all enjoyed sales increases and many have Sseen their stock prices grow in recent months. At Walmart, total revenue for its fourth quarter, ended Jan. 26, 2018, increased 4.1 percent to $136.3 billion. Ahold Delhaize posted a strong earnings performance Contract success! during its fourth quarter, ended Dec. 31, 2017, completing J&J Snack Foods its first year as a merged company. During the quarter, Giant/Martin’s opened eight new in-store Beer & Wine Eatery locations and online grocer Peapod said it improved its customer satisfaction score by improving in the areas of on-time delivery, available delivery slots, in-stock items, value perception and the user-friendli - ness of its online portal. Kroger reported nearly identical supermarket sales (without fuel) in its fourth quarter, ended Feb. 3, 2018. Total sales for the quarter increased 12.4 percent to $31 billion compared to $27.6 billion for the same period last year. At Target, strong traffic growth in both stores and digital drove a fourth-quarter comparable sales increase of 3.6 percent. Issaquah, Wash-based Costco posted double-digit sales and income gains in its second quarter, ended Feb. 18, 2018. Publix Super Markets also enjoyed comp store sales growth in its fourth quarter, ended Dec. 30, 2017, seeing an improvement of 3.2 percent over the same quarter last year. ■ Jeff Metzger’s “Taking Stock” column appears in Food World and Food Trade News . Help organize and strengthen your union! Do you know someone who works at a non-union facility who gets low wages, no raises, no health care, no retirement plan (pension or 401(k)), no seniority and no way to fight back against wrongdoing on the job from management? We encourage our members to call or text Local 152 Director of Organizing Chad Brooks at (609) 670-8605. 4 Spring/Summer 2018 Study: Nearly half of jobs vulnerable to automation nion members are no strangers The study builds upon the findings of a to automation. For decades, techno - 2013 Oxford University automation study logical advances have changed or that analyzed 702 American jobs. Its authors outright replaced some jobs, from concluded 47 percent of those jobs could be those in factories that manufacture cars to done by machines within two decades. Uthose in processing plants or warehouses. Even though changes are certainly on the In the grocery industry, union members horizon in the grocery industry, they’re not have long struggled with the challenges necessarily in the immediate future. brought on by self-checkout lanes, and A writer on the Retail Customer Experi - recently Amazon has made headlines with ence website, discussing the opening of the its pursuit of where customers pay for Amazon Go in Seattle earlier this year, everything automatically using smartphones. wrote: “…despite all the movement and in - A 2018 study on job automation in 32 novation and Amazon’s public deployment, countries by the Organization for Economic the cashierless checkout is still very far Cooperation and Development (OECD) from becoming an installed technology ecretary- defined 14 percent of jobs as “highly across the retail sector for more than a few S vulnerable” or having more than a 70 per - reasons.” Treasurer’s cent likelihood of automation. Another Among those reasons is customers’ 32 percent of jobs were found to have more desire for human interaction, according to than a 50 percent likelihood of automation. Keith Jelinek, a managing director at Berkeley Report Some of the jobs at risk, according to the Research Group. He points to big retailers By Anthony Benigno study, are: like Costco that have implemented self- • Food preparation (60+ percent) checkout lines and then removed them be - cause of poor feedback from club members. “The personal touch of a cashier is the • Cleaning (50+ percent) “They discovered that the consumer last touch you have before a customer • Health care (35 percent) wants personal interaction, and that trained leaves a store.