summer 2017 MESSENGER offiCial PuBliCation of ufCW 1428, united food and CommerCial Workers union Fighting For Worker-Friendly legislation in sacramento Charity Golf tournament aids fiGht aGainst leukemia UniOn OfficE clOSEd seCretary treasurer ’s rePort independence day - July 3 & 4 labor day - Sept. 4 complicated negotiations Reminder: Contact the Union if your address or phone number With food 4 less and cVS has changed! Thank you! formed about the process. It helps for newer members to under - UfcW local 1428 Office stand that your negotiators, who come from P.O. Box 9000 UFCW locals across Southern California, 705 W. Arrow Hwy. have many decades of experience among Claremont, CA 91711 them and they are backed by highly quali - Website: ufcw1428.org fied legal experts, actuaries and benefits ex - Email: [email protected] perts. Membership Department If you work for Food 4 Less or CVS, (909) 626-3333 you can be assured that our UFCW negoti - Benefits Department ating teams are determined to negotiate a (909) 626-6800 contract that respects your work. Office Hours: Food 4 Less and CVS are profitable Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. companies and they should respect the Closed noon-1 p.m. for lunch every day workers who make those earnings possible. Rancho Federal Credit Union CVS is a Fortune 500 company and one of (909) 626-3333 ext. 6 the top three retail pharmacies in the coun - Attend quarterly membership meetings! Deliana Speights try. Held the second Thursday of We all want these union employers to do January, April, July and October. Secretary Treasurer 6 p.m. well, but at the same time they need to take UFCW Local 1428 hile our experienced mem - care of the people who work for them — 705 W. Arrow Highway, Claremont bers know what it’s like to our members. go through contract negotia - We thank the Food 4 Less and CVS W tions, some of our newer members who completed their question - members may find the nuances and maneu - naires. Their answers will help your nego - verings of the bargaining process confus - tiators as they bargain for an agreement that ing. meets our members’ needs and aspirations. Our union’s current talks with Food 4 For updates on the negotiations, check official publication of local 1428, Less and CVS are no exception. our website at ufcw1428.org, our Facebook united food and Commercial Many details in one area of the process Workers international union page and our Twitter account. — wages, for example — can change the We must show the employers that we mark ramos, President equation in another part of the negotiations, stand together to get the contract we have EDITOR such as benefits or workplace rules. The earned. deliana sPeiGhts, seCretary treasurer value of every penny must be considered As always, the key to our success is MANAGING EDITOR with great care and detail. union solidarity. The employers must be UFCW Local 1428 Messenger (ISSN1060-3840)is When negotiations are a breeze, the convinced our members will stand behind publishedquarterlybyLocal1428,705WestArrow union and the employer can quickly put to - our union and will do whatever it takes to Highway,Claremont,CA91711.PeriodicalsPostage gether an agreement that the members will PaidatClaremont,CA91711andatadditionalmailing win a fair agreement. offices. POSTMASTER: Sendaddresschangesto be happy to ratify. But when the company UFCW LOCAL 1428 MESSENGER, P.O.Box9000, and union see things differently, the process Claremont,CA91711-9000. can be very slow. Take advantage of discounts Local 1428’s leadership team and Union to movies, amusement parks 100% union shop Representatives are working closely with and MORE this Summer! our members in the stores to keep them in - www.ufcw1428.org 2 Summer2017 President ’s rePort california charts Own Path to Protect Workers’ Rights lot of bad legislation is coming of this agenda: access to employee records. It will also re - out of Washington, D.C., these • Strengthening protections for whistle - quire the employer to notify the California days, legislation that hurts work - blowers who face retaliation: Senate Bill Labor Commissioner of imminent worksite A ing Americans, and more bad 306 (Hertzberg) will allow for immediate in - raids and immigration audits. laws may be on the way. junctive relief when workers face retaliation • Making it easier to enact worker safety Meanwhile, California is moving in the for acting as whistleblowers, requiring regulations: In the face of the federal attacks opposite direction as our state’s legislators on worker safety regulations, SB 772 develop the vision and courage to chart our (Leyva) will make it easier to pass worker own path, regardless of what happens in protections at the state level by exempting Washington. workplace health and safety standards from Our friends in Sacramento have a big job a duplicative and time-consuming regula - ahead of them, as working people are under tory process. attack across the country. California may not be immune. • codifying a federal overtime rule: AB Twenty-eight states have passed so-called 1565 (Thurmond) will keep workers from “right to work” laws to weaken unions. In being unfairly exempted from overtime pay Congress, bills have been introduced to take by raising the salary threshold for a worker away our bargaining power, eliminate pre - to be exempt, as proposed by former Presi - vailing wage standard and impose a national dent Barack Obama. “right to work” law from coast to coast. • Preserving federal wage and safety At the same time, corporate-funded standards: SB 49 (De León) will allow Cal - forces continue to go to the courts seeking ifornia to continue to enforce existing fed - to weaken unions and undermine workers’ eral labor, safety, and public health rights. And a series of Trump Administration standards, even if they are repealed at the policy changes could roll back a century of federal level. worker protections. These attacks come at an especially bad • controlling costs of prescription drugs: time, because workers need unions today Mark Ramos With no federal action on prescription drugs more than ever. Income inequality is at a President coming, SB 17 (Hernandez) will help con - record high as a tiny fraction of Americans trol escalating health care costs by requiring control increasingly large proportions of the courts to consider the chilling effects of re - that pharmaceutical companies provide ad - nation’s wealth. taliatory actions on other workers. vance notice of price increases. Even in California, employers continue • Restricting union-busting by public em - • increasing resources to ensure worker to cheat workers out of wages, outsource ployers: SB 285 (Atkins) will protect public safety : This action will ensure that if all their jobs and misclassify them as independ - workers from pressure or harassment from funds are not spent on worker safety in a ent contractors. Automation is accelerating employers to discourage union membership. given budget year, the money will stay with and eliminating more and more good jobs. • Opposing attacks on labor: A resolution the department for increased enforcement Meanwhile, the Trump Administration is the next year. promising a flood of worksite raids to deport will highlight the crucial role of the Labor Movement in building the middle class and immigrant workers. • increasing funding for labor law field condemn attacks on Labor. To address these issues, our friends in the enforcement: This action will allocate addi - California Legislature are standing with • Protecting immigrant workers from tional resources to enforcement in the field. Labor to advance a shared agenda that will worksite raids: AB 450 (Chiu) will require Your help will be crucial in enacting build stronger unions and protect basic immigration enforcement agents to have a these and other measures to protect Califor - workers’ rights. judicial warrant before entering a private nia’s future. Please ask your union represen - Here are some of the main components business and have a subpoena before getting tative about opportunities to get involved. Summer2017 3 union rePresentatives ’ Column Workplace Violence : Your Union Can Help Pete Zimmer Luz Bacio Phil Meza Jason Chung ext. 231 ext. 238 ext. 280 ext. 228 FCW members face a wide variety of safety and health Don’t keep these things to yourself • unwanted sexual advancements hazards on the job. Assaults because you’re afraid the company will be • swearing or shouting at a co-worker U and threats of violence are upset because putting in a light will cost • verbal threats among the most serious. money – your life or the life of a co-worker • intimidation More retail workers are victims of vi - could be at stake. If you or someone you know has been olence than those who are employed in Most importantly, pay attention to your the victim of such actions, talk about it any other industry. Overall, homicide is surroundings, especially late at night. You with your Union Representative right the third leading cause of death on the would never walk alone down a dark alley, away. job, with almost half of all homicides oc - so why would you go into a dark parking curring in retail environments. lot? After the threat is over The chief responsibility for providing a safe workplace rests with employers. Sometimes, after the primary issue is To help them, the federal Occupational The union always resolved and the threat of violence is Safety and Health Administration has removed, it can still feel stressful to re - special recommendations for employers should be turn to work. Traumatic events can cause to keep a workplace safe day or night. people to experience intense emotions Of course, employees also have an considered a and have difficulty thinking rationally. important role in assuring their own Everyone reacts differently to these safety and the safety of their co-workers.