June 11, 2011 | 12:05 pm (LA Times) A day after unions representing truck drivers, firefighters, teachers and others pledged their support if Southern California grocery workers do decide to strike, Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons said they have reached a tentative agreement with the area United Food and Commercial Workers locals on the pension portion of the current labor contract negotiations.

Terms of the agreement, which was announced late Friday, were not disclosed.
The union?s contract expired in March, and members have already authorized a strike. Negotiations are being conducted under the supervision of a federal mediator, and are continuing.

Sources from both the employers and the UFCW have said the pension was, so far, less rancorous an issue on the table than others, including changes in employee contributions to healthcare.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/06/vons-ralphs-abertsons-say-theyve-reached-tentative-agreement-with-grocery-workers.html

CLC and 24 affiliated unions will support UFCW if strike occurs

(June 7, 2011) Bakersfield - Southern California's grocery workers received a boost today when the Kern, Inyo and Mono Counties Central Labor Council pledged its full support in the event of a strike against the Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons supermarket chains.

The CLC is the umbrella organization of 24 labor unions in the three counties. One of those unions, UFCW 8-Golden State, is among seven UFCW local unions in Southern California that have been negotiating with the chains since March.

“The 62,000 union grocery workers in Southern California deserve our unequivocal support in their quest for a contract that protects their health care and pensions,” CLC President Donny Williams said.

“The supermarket companies are making strong profits and have a responsibility to take care of the workers who make those profits possible.”

In 2003 and 2004, UFCW members in Southern California held the line in a 141-day labor dispute that caused the employers an estimated $2 billion in losses.

“Nobody wants another labor dispute, but if that is what it required for the workers to get a fair and equitable contract, they will have our full backing,” Williams said.

With headquarters in Bakersfield the Kern, Inyo, and Mono Central Labor Council includes the California Federation of Teachers, the California Nurses Association, CSEA Chapter 48, CWA Local 9416, Engineers & Scientists of California, GCIU Local 404M, Heat & Frost Insulators #5, IBEW Local 1245, IBEW Local 428, IBEW Local 47, the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, Iron Workers 155, the KIMC Building Trades Council, Operating Engineers Local 12, Operating Engineers Local 501, Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 460, Roofers Local 27, SEIU Local 521, SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West, UFCW 8 Golden State and United Domestic Workers of America.

• Health insurance rates that are fair for both individual workers and their families,
• Job security provisions to prevent work from being sub-contracted,
• A worker voice in production standards and ability to challenge unfair standards,
• Protection against intense summer heat and winter cold, using innovative indoor-temperature standards,
• A fair and impartial process for resolving disputes,
• Wage increases in each of the next 3 years.

• Rite Aid management retained an expensive team of notorious union-busting consultants,
• Rite Aid threatened and fired workers for supporting the union,
• Illegal layoffs were imposed without consulting workers and their new union,
• The company engaged in “surface bargaining” that delayed meaningful negotiations for a year.

• Opening a direct line of communication with company shareholders and board members,
• Actively participating in the company’s annual shareholder meetings in New York City and Harrisburg, PA,
• Forming a nationwide network of Rite Aid workers and unions that including UFCW, SEIU, and Teamsters, who shared information and coordinated actions,
• Building a powerful national coalition with United Students Against Sweatshops and Jobs with Justice,
• Launching a “pinpoint” boycott campaign at two Rite Aid stores in San Pedro, CA on April 1, 2011.

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Other Scholarship Opportunities

California Community Credit Union offers the The Paul Radford Scholarship Fund which  has been established by the members of California Community Credit Union Board of Directors in memory of volunteers who have made significant contributions to the success of your Credit Union.  This scholarship was created to provide financial support for students in our community who have demonstrated academic excellence and involvement within the community

Applications for 2011 may be submitted between April 1 and July 31, 2011. Contact CACCU.org for additional information.

Since 1992, the Union Plus Scholarship Program has awarded more than $3 million to students of working families who want to begin or continue their post-secondary education. Over 1,900 families have benefited from our commitment to higher education. The Union Plus Scholarship Program is offered through the Union Plus Education Foundation.

Congratulations to the 2010 scholarship winners. This year, some 121 union members and union family members have been awarded $150,000 in scholarships, ranging from $500 to $4,000.

The students selected for university, college, trade school or technical scholarships represent a wide sampling of backgrounds, union affiliations, goals and accomplishments. The selection process is very competitive since we receive over 5,000 applications each year.

Download the 2011 Union Plus scholarship application (PDF) here.

ROSEVILLE, Calif.--(January 14, 2010)--UFCW 8-Golden State President Jacques Loveall announced that the Union established informational picket lines at Fresh & Easy stores in Fresno and Clovis today.

The Fresno stores are at 2820 Tulare St. and 8059 N. Cedar Ave. The Clovis store is at 790 Shaw Ave.

Loveall said the Union is asking the public not to shop at Fresh & Easy and to shop instead at stores such as Save Mart, Food Maxx, Foods Co, Vons, Ronnie’s Midway and Rite Aid.

“Tesco, which is Fresh & Easy’s parent company in the United Kingdom, is siphoning money out of our community,” Loveall said. “We are responding to that provocation.”

“California has enough challenges without a foreign company coming in with substandard jobs that threaten good local companies that bring value and good jobs to our community. It’s bad enough good American jobs are exported overseas at an alarming rate. Now this global giant from the UK is coming to our country thinking it can take advantage of American workers on our own turf,” Loveall said.

“We will not allow that to happen,” he said.

Loveall noted that Fresh & Easy’s incursion into the United States poses a threat to Union market share and to the living standards of Union members’ wages and benefits.

“Our members are prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure that workers at Fresh & Easy have the same access to the good pay, health care, pension and job security that are enjoyed by Union members,” Loveall said.

UFCW 8-Golden State represents 35,000 working men and women throughout the state of California.

ROSEVILLE, CALIF. (Sept. 30, 2009) — UFCW 8-Golden State President Jacques Loveall announced that Union volunteers established informational picket lines at Fresh & Easy stores in Bakersfield and Delano today.

The Bakersfield stores are at 11100 Olive Drive, 5190 Stockdale Hwy. and 6601 Stine Road. The Delano store is at 611 Cecil Ave.

Loveall said the Union is asking the public not to shop at Fresh & Easy and to shop instead at stores such as Save Mart, Food Maxx, Foods Co, Albertsons and Vons.

“Tesco, which is Fresh & Easy’s parent company in the United Kingdom, is siphoning money out of our community,” Loveall said. “We are responding to that provocation.”

“California has enough challenges without a foreign company coming in with substandard jobs that threaten good, local companies that bring value and good jobs to our community. It’s bad enough good American jobs are exported overseas at an alarming rate, now this global giant from the UK is coming to our country thinking they can take advantage of American workers on our own turf,” Loveall said.

“We will not allow that to happen,” he said.

Loveall noted that Fresh & Easy’s incursion into the United States poses a threat to Union market share and to the living standards of Union members’ wages and benefits.

“Our members are prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure that workers at Fresh & Easy have the same access to the good pay, health care, pension and job security enjoyed by Union members,” Loveall said.

UFCW 8-Golden State represents 35,000 workingmen and women throughout the state of California.

ROSEVILLE, Calif. (May 19, 2009) –– Members of UFCW Local 8-Golden State and members of Southern California UFCW Local 1036 in three counties — Inyo, Mono and Kern — have voted in overwhelming numbers to ratify an agreement to join forces.

"The ratification vote affirms UFCW 8’s standing as a statewide voice that commands the respectful attention of employers," President Jacques Loveall said.

"I have always advocated stronger solidarity among UFCW sisters and brothers in Northern and Southern California," he said. "This merger means that UFCW 8 will have a voice in matters that affect the UFCW membership from the Oregon border to the Mexican border."

Loveall noted that UFCW 8 will have a seat at the bargaining table when Southern California’s UFCW Local Unions meet with the major supermarket employers to negotiate a new contract in 2011.

"This will be an important step toward marshaling all of our Union’s strength throughout California to win the strongest possible contracts for all of our members," Loveall said.

The merger was supported by the UFCW International Union, which encourages Local Unions to combine into stronger bargaining units.

UFCW 8-Golden State now represents some 35,000 members who work in stores, plants and offices from the Oregon border in the north to Kern County in the south.

The Trust Fund’s HRQ Is Your Ticket to Better Health

What
The UFCW & Employers Benefit Trust Fund’s Health Risk Questionnaire (HRQ) is a fun and informative way to earn up to $250 credit toward medical costs just for learning about your health. It’s completely confidential and it’s easy to do.

What’s more, the HRQ could be the single most important thing you do for your health this year.

“HRQ” stands for Health Risk Questionnaire. You are asked simple health questions about such factors as your lifestyle, your diet, and exercise choices.

Why
Two good reasons.

Reason No. 1: Your Health. The HRQ lets you take stock of what’s going on with your health and what you can do about it. You will see firsthand just what you can do to start living healthy. The HRQ provides you with specific information customized to your answers, but it also provides the opportunity to talk to a doctor about your personal healthcare questions, if you choose. And it’s completely confidential.

Reason No. 2: Your Reward. The Trust Fund is taking a good-faith step on your behalf. This means a credit directly into your Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) just for completing the HRQ!
· $200 credit if you complete your Health Risk Questionnaire (HRQ)
· $50 additional credit if your spouse or enrolled domestic partner also completes an HRQ

The Trust Fund believes in you and wants you to succeed in fulfilling your healthy potential. The HRQ is provided by MedExpert, a trusted partner that has helped thousands of UFCW members improve their healthcare. In short, this HRQ is an ideal platform from which to launch a healthier you!

When
Complete the HRQ before March 1, 2009 to claim your credit. You can take the online version any time of day or night, and it takes only about 10 minutes to complete. The feedback is immediate, and you can also have your results emailed to you. After that, you can expect to see your reward appear in your HRA account within 45 days.

Go to UFCW8.org to find out more information today!

Your union is about more than your paycheck and benefits. The UFCW is about workers coming together to build better lives for ourselves. It's about creating opportunity.

That's why each year the UFCW awards several scholarships of up to $8,000 each to UFCW members or their unmarried dependents.

The scholarship application will be available January 15 - APRIL 15, 2009



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Rules, Process for applying
Frequently Asked Questions
2008 UFCW Scholarship Winners

Other Scholarship Opportunities

Since 1992, Union Plus has awarded over $2 million in scholarships to union members and their families. Learn more and apply for the Union Plus Scholarship here. (Union Plus Scholarship applications must be postmarked by January 31, 2009)

Do you have an academic field of study in a food-related field, business, or marketing program? You may also be eligible for the International Dairy·Deli·Bakery Association scholarship.

Contact scholarship@ufcw.org with questions.

ROSEVILLE, CALIF. (Oct. 8, 2008) - UFCW 8-Golden State President Jacques Loveall announced today that the union is expanding its informational picketing campaign against non-Union Foods Co stores to Fresno.

Union volunteers established an informational picket line at the non-Union Foods Co store at 3053 East Shields Ave. this morning.

“The decision by Foods Co to open new stores non-Union is hostile and anti-worker,” Loveall said. “It poses a threat to Union market share and to the high standards of our members' Union wages and benefits. We will not allow that to happen.”

UFCW 8 volunteers and community activists have picketed a non-Union Foods Co store in South Sacramento since last July, handing leaflets to shoppers and distributed fliers to homes in the area.

Loveall said the Union is asking the public not to shop at non-Union Foods Co stores and to shop instead at Union stores, such as Save Mart, Safeway, Vons and Raley's.

“Our members are prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure that all workers at these and other non-Union Foods Co stores have the same access to the good pay, health care, pension and job security enjoyed by Union members,” Loveall said.

UFCW 8-Golden State represents some 30,000 members who work in stores, plants and offices from the California-Oregon border in the north to Kern County in the south.

ROSEVILLE, CALIF. (Sept. 19, 2008) - A Sacramento Superior Court judge has rejected an attempt by Ralphs Grocery Co. to restrict informational picketing at a Foods Co store in Sacramento.

Judge Loren E. McMaster denied the company's motion for a temporary restraining order. He found that the company failed to support its claim that the picketing was unlawful, disruptive or threatening.

“This ruling is a victory for working people and the Bill of Rights,” said UFCW 8-Golden State President Jacques Loveall.

“This was a clear attempt to unfairly limit the ability to get our message across,” Loveall said. “It was an attempt to deny our legal right to free speech and assembly.” If Ralphs had succeeded in obtaining the restraining order, it would have affected similar activities by unions across California, Loveall said.

The Union has been picketing the store, at 7421 W. Stockton Blvd., every day since July 2007, shortly after it opened. In January 2008, the company sought to limit the picketing efforts and force the Union to adhere to unilaterally created company rules that would significantly limit the time, place and manner of the picketing. When the Union rejected the company's unlawful attempt to limit its rights, Ralphs filed a motion for a temporary restraining order. UFCW 8-Golden State represents some 30,000 members who work in stores, plants and offices from the California-Oregon border in the north to Fresno County in the south.

http://www.ufcw8.org/index.cfm?zone=/unionactive/view_article.cfm&HomeID=100852

June 23, 2008 - Members of UFCW Locals 5, 8 and 101 in Northern California voted overwhelmingly to ratify a three-year labor agreement with Rite Aid Corporation.

UFCW 8 President Jacques Loveall, UFCW 5 President Ron Lind and UFCW 101 President Mike Borstel hailed the contract as “a milestone in the retail drug industry.”

“In an age when workers across the nation are seeing their wages frozen and their health plans cut - or even eliminated altogether - this agreement gives all of our Rite Aid members wage increases or bonuses and improved health coverage,” the UFCW presidents said.

“Our local unions worked together effectively through more than a year of negotiations that were, at times, difficult. Our united front gave us unprecedented clout with the Rite Aid management. We were proud to present to our members an agreement they could endorse with enthusiasm.”

The three UFCW unions represent approximately 4,300 workers in Rite Aid stores in the northern two-thirds of California. UFCW 8-Golden State extends from the Oregon border in the north to Fresno County in the south. UFCW Locals 5 and 101 represent members in the San Francisco Bay Area, San Jose and Silicon Valley.

ROSEVILLE, Calif. (April 28, 2008) –– Jacques Loveall, president of UFCW 8-Golden State, said today that misguided management decisions led to the closure of a Grocery Outlet store in Rocklin.

“We don’t take joy in this store’s failure,” Loveall said. “We wish its managers had better sense. Had they worked with us and treated their employees well, they would be prospering today.”

Loveall noted that the store’s management tried to deceive the public when it opened under the Lucky banner.

“Lucky is a Union employer,” Loveall said. “It pays its employees fair wages and provides them with good union-negotiated benefits. This store did not.”

He said that Grocery Outlet exploited its workers by paying wages below industry and area standards.

“That’s why Union supporters picketed the store for the past two years,” Loveall said. “The public needs to know when a non-Union store mistreats its employees and tries to pass itself off as a Union shop.”

The Union supporters picketed the store five days a week and handed out leaflets to shoppers informing them of the deception and asking them to patronize nearby Union stores instead.

Vote Unites UFCW 8-Golden State With Local 45D,
Increases Bargaining Power of Working People

Roseville, Calif. (Feb. 8, 2008) – Northern and Central California members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 45D and UFCW 8-Golden State voted overwhelmingly to combine forces. The balloting to ratify the merger was conducted by mail in January and early February.

UFCW 8-Golden State, already the product of 11 mergers over the past years, is the largest UFCW affiliate in the Western United States. Other recent mergers have created large UFCW affiliates in the San Francisco Bay Area, New Jersey, Seattle and Chicago, among other places.

The size and innovative approach to bargaining implemented by UFCW 8 has had a powerful and beneficial effect on the wages, benefits and working conditions of its members. In 2007, the Union negotiated contracts with the major food employers that are extremely popular among the membership.

“We applied a non-traditional, 'win-win' approach to negotiations,” said Jacques Loveall, President of UFCW 8-Golden State. “It helped that all sides recognized the need to work together to face the challenges of our industry.”

With the addition of 45D’s membership, which primarily serves the distillery industry, UFCW 8 represents more than 30,000 working people in 54 of California’s 58 counties. Its members work in supermarkets, drug stores, food-processing plants, factories, distilleries, health care facilities, offices and other locations.

Ken Jacobs, deputy chair of the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, noted a nationwide trend toward mergers throughout the American labor movement.

“Small, geographically-based unions made sense when employers were local operations,” Jacobs said. “Today, when dealing with national and international companies with deep pockets, it's a different ballgame. Unions like the UFCW will have to find ways to restructure themselves in order to have leverage at the bargaining table. Merging local unions is a smart way to do that.”

President Jacques Loveall added: “We expect more successes in the future as we continue to grow. Through unity and solidarity, we will wield our increased negotiating, organizing and political clout to improve the lives of all working people and their families.”

Email me when the scholarship application becomes available and keep me informed of UFCW news.

• Rules, Process for applying
• Frequently Asked Questions
• 2007 UFCW Scholarship Winners

Other Scholarship Opportunities

Since 1992, Union Plus has awarded over $2 million in scholarships to union members and their families. Learn more and apply for the Union Plus Scholarship here.

Do you have an academic field of study in a food-related field, business, or marketing program? You may also be eligible for the International Dairy·Deli·Bakery Association scholarship.

Contact scholarship@ufcw.org with questions.

ROSEVILLE, CALIF. (Dec. 27, 2007) — UFCW Union members in Northern California voted overwhelmingly to approve a new four-year contract with the Safeway and Vons supermarket chains. The agreement affects approximately 25,000 workers at 300 stores.

“Our Safeway and Vons members deserve congratulations. They stood together and backed the leadership to achieve the goals they set out to achieve from the beginning,” said Union Presidents Ron Lind (UFCW Local 5, http://www.ufcw5.org), Jacques Loveall (UFCW 8-Golden State, http://www.ufcw8.org), Mike Borstel (UFCW Local 101, http://www.local101.com) and Michael Sharpe (UFCW Local 648, http://www.ufcw648.org/).

“This innovative agreement includes wage increases across the board and improvements in health care, pensions and job-protection language,” they said. “It bucks the national trend in which employers are cutting benefits and shifting the costs of health care onto employees.”

In October, UFCW members agreed to a contract with Save Mart (Lucky in the Bay Area), Raley’s and Bel Air Markets. Parallel negotiations with the Safeway and Vons chains continued until a last-minute agreement was reached on Dec. 1, just as the previous contract was expiring.

All of the contracts are concession-free and include the largest across-the-board wage increases in the history of Northern California grocery industry contracts. They also improve medical benefits and reduce or eliminate medical deductibles. As in previous contracts, the UFCW members will not be required to pay premiums for health care.

The contracts establish a single benefit fund, allowing for more effective administration of benefits, and employ progressive ideas that encourage efficient use of health benefits.

The four Union locals negotiated under the banner of UFCW Solidarity, representing workers from Fresno to the Oregon border and from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe.

ROSEVILLE, CALIF. (Dec. 2, 2007) - A UFCW work stoppage at Safeway stores was avoided after round-the-clock negotiations resulted in a tentative agreement with four UFCW Unions representing 25,000 workers at some 300 Safeway stores in Northern California.

The four-year agreement was reached the day the contract was set to expire. Strike authorization votes scheduled to take place on Sunday and Monday have been cancelled.

No specifics on the new pact were released pending distribution of the agreement to Union members.

In a statement, the UFCW presidents did reveal: “Our goals were to achieve:

· Substantial wage increases
· No employee-paid premiums for medical benefits
· Improvements to the medical benefits
· Protection of pension benefits
· No concessions

“We achieved our goals reaching an agreement that benefits the specific needs of our members working in Safeway stores,” said Jacques Loveall, president of UFCW 8-Golden State, (http://www.ufcw8.org/).

“We are pleased that we were able to reach this fine agreement. This model contract sets the standard for workers in the supermarket industry. Next we will focus our energies on bringing these benefits to non-union workers doing the same work for less,” Loveall said.

The four Union locals negotiated under the banner of UFCW Solidarity and represent workers from Monterey and Fresno County in the south to the Oregon border.