Union Agrees to Concessions to End Grocery Strike

SAN DIEGO—The United Food and Commercial Workers union described its months-long strike against three major California supermarkets as “successful,” but the big winner was the grocery chains not the grocery workers, according to a local retail management consultant.

The longest strike in the history of the supermarket industry ended yesterday after 86 percent of the 70,000 regional UFCW members ratified the three-year contract agreement between the union and supermarkets that was announced late Thursday. Grocery workers were expected to begin returning to work today or tomorrow.

The new contract provisions institute a two-tier system under which new employees will be paid less and receive reduced health-care and retirement benefits compared to current employees. In addition, the current employees agreed not to accept a pay raise, will be paid less for overtime work, and may have to pay for a portion of their health-care benefits in the third year of the contract.

“It’s a permanent setback for the union,” said George Whalin, president of Retail Management Consultants in San Marcos. “The fact is, this is the first contract that they essentially didn’t get a raise.”

The current employees agreed to no pay raise.  They will also be paid $1 an hour less for overtime work on Sundays and pension credits are reduced.

For workers hired under the new contract, their top pay will be anywhere from $1.12 to $2.80 an hour less and they will have to work longer to achieve it. They will also have to work longer before they and their families are eligible for health-care benefits.

Because of 10 to 15 percent turnover of employees each year, this contract, long-term, hurts the union “significantly,” Whalin said.

Although the stores lost millions in revenue during the strike, they stand to gain tens of millions in savings under the new contract, he pointed out.

“I don’t know how you can couch that as anything but a loss for the union,” he said. “The fact that the supermarket chains played hardball to the degree that they did, I think the union finally realized that they were either going to get this settled to protect what they have for their current employees, otherwise they were going to lose even worse.”

“It was a very good job, but those days are over,” Whalin said.

http://www.sandiego.com/sdbusiness.jsp?id=245

A bill requiring employers of 10,000 or more workers to provide health insurance? Did that idea come from “Das Kapital”? Why not force ALL businesses to spend at least 8% on employee healthcare?

Most people in this country are politically and economically challenged. Health care is not a right and Wal-Mart is no more responsible for the rising cost of health care than you or I. Wal-Mart spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year on employee health care-health care that they are under no obligation to provide. If the market determines that the only way to attract and retain qualified employees is to offer great health care benefits, then I’m sure Wal-Mart would have to do so. In the meantime, the market has determined that generous employer-paid benefits are not necessary in order to turn a profit. You, as an employee, have to decide if you want to work at Wal-Mart if you disagree with the company’s benefits. If you do not want to work there, find another job, go to school, learn a trade, join the military and/or relocate. You are under no obligation to Wal-Mart just as Wal-Mart is under no obligation to you.

I find it interesting that these people point to Ford and GM as examples of good corporate employers. Both companies are losing billions of dollars. Both companies have quality issues (poor). Both companies owe tens of billions in debts and neither company has come up with new innovations. Neither company has done anything to lower the price of motor vehicles or hold back inflation. Neither company has made life better for America as a whole. Wal-Mart is responsible for holding back a substantial portion of inflation in the past 15 years. Wal-Mart has made our lives better and will continue to do so......at least until the Marxists get their way.

Well said Nick.  Perhaps we should also be writing letters to the politicians who crafted and voted on this bill to return the money they received from the unions and other retailers who would gain from it.

Thanks for the support, Cory. I am rather suprised that the UFCW, which is behind this site, actually let me reply. On the old site, I made 3 attempts to post the reasons why the UFCW wants to unionize Wal-Mart (it is not because the UFCW cares about workers). If I can’t find an acceptable thread that addresses that issue, I will respond to whichever topic I happen to be viewing at the time. It is high time the UFCW and their ilk realize that this is the 21st century. The days of mafia controlled union thugs dictating a company’s actions are over. That is one of the many reasons employers move jobs overseas: unions. Notice, too, that the states with the fastest growing LEGAL population, best economies, and most jobs are all Right To Work states. Wonder why? It’s no coincidence that the best states: Florida, North Carolina, Texas and Colorado and so on, are Republican states. Despite the fact that the Republicans are forgetting why we elected them in the first place, they are at least leaving companies like Wal-Mart and Microsoft alone. As long as a company does not break the law (which should be simple and more clearly defined) let the market work it out. It always brings the best result. Go Capitalism!!!!

According to a report issued the US Census Bureau in 2004, so-called “Right to Work” states average by region the highest number of people living in poverty and without health insurance, and real income per person/family is lower as well.  If these are strong economies at work, they certainly aren’t doing such a good job of taking care of their citizens.  Wal-Mart needs to be a leader here, and set the standard for treating workers with dignity and respect.  I’m glad someone is holding them accountable.

Were back to days of the Trusts controlling everything.
Public trust in these large corporations is near record
lows. Watch out below when the stock market crashes.
I would like to shove credit cards up president bushes
butt.

This domain is registered to the UFCW, and the SEIU President is on the board of the “organization” so I think that Nick speaks the truth. 

I would submit that the vast majority of Wal-Mart’s employees don’t have a problem with their employer, or they wouldn’t work there.  Wal-Mart has to compete for employees just like every other employer.  Their press releases show that every time they open a store they seem to get 10x the number of applicants for the number of jobs available.  If there is a “fundamental problem” with the way they treat their employees then they wouldn’t be able to attract candidates so easily.

Face it, most of their jobs are retail jobs.  These employees aren’t skilled workers and the marketplace is pretty efficient at determining what workers should be paid.  Plus, if you do a little research into Wal-Mart you’ll see story after story of people who started at the bottom and rose through the ranks.  The head of Sam’s Club started as a cashier.  Can you think of any other company that offers that sort of opportunity for advancement.  One of my sisters worked there and got promoted rapidly just because she did her job and did it well.

As a hundred million or so Americans have figured out, when it comes to household goods, Wal-Mart offers an unbeatable combination of low prices and selection.

Wal-Mart can offer low prices because it relentlessly seeks to reduce its costs of doing business.

According to Wal-Mart’s annual report, in each of the last three years Wal-Mart earned about three cents on each dollar spent at its stores.

A consistent three cent margin means two things. One, Wal-Mart has been sharing its lower costs with its customers; otherwise we’d expect its margin to increase as it lowered its costs. Two, any increases in wages or cost of goods will require Wal-Mart to increase its prices; there’s not much of a cushion in a three cent margin.

So, if you want Wal-Mart to pay more to its workers, or if you want Wal-Mart to pay more for American-made goods, you’re simply offering to transfer money from your pocket into the pockets of Wal-Mart’s workers and its suppliers.

Of course Wal-Mart pays low wages to its workers. Retail work is usually unskilled or low-skilled, and it’s usually pretty easy to find enough people to do the work. For this reason, apart from the few unionized retailers (grocery stores), no retailers pay high wages to their employees. Wal-Mart is not leading the way in low wages; it’s just continuing a long retail tradition.

The Wal-Mart phenomenon is the latest development in a retail revolution that dates back to the late nineteenth century, when chain stores like Woolworth’s began replacing local general stores. The one constant in this revolution has been the consumer’s insatiable demand for ever lower prices and ever greater selection. Those who’ve attempted to quell this retail revolution, by striking for higher wages, higher costs and the resulting higher prices, have consistently lost to the consuming hoards.

If Wal-Mart is forced to increase its wages or purchase higher cost goods, others will steal its business by selling goods at lower prices by paying lower wages and buying cheaper goods. One of its new low-price competitors might even be the next Wal-Mart. In 10 years, we may read of the sad plight of Wal-Mart workers being displaced by the next big discounter.

The retail revolution has created a lot of temporary winners—each retailer leading the new wave has eventually lost out to new retailers leading the next wave. The battlefield is littered with dead and wounded retailers who led the revolution at various times—Woolworth’s, Sears, Montgomery Wards, K-Mart. If Wal-Mart survives and thrives, history suggests that it would be the exception.

If every retailer was as efficient as Wal-Mart, we wouldn’t need higher wages. An economy of Wal-Marts would be deflationary. As the goods we bought got cheaper each year, we could maintain our purchasing power with lower incomes. In other words, we’d be just as well off while earning less. If that sounds crazy to you, it’s just because Wal-Mart’s hyper-efficiency is so exceptional that we don’t expect it from other parts of our economy.

It’s ironic that Wal-Mart—whose low prices make it easier to live on low wages—is the prime target of those who purport to champion the cause of low wage workers.

Rock on Mitchell, Cory, and Nick! 
-"This domain is registered to the UFCW, and the SEIU President is on the board of the “organization” so I think that Nick speaks the truth. “ -

Convenient they don’t brag about this fact on the ‘About us’ portion of this site. 

I will spend more money than I used to at Wal-Mart as long as this sham of a website exists.

Unions are parasitic and a drag on our economy.

Mitchell,

Don’t tell them the truth. You’re going to destroy their communist fantasy! Anyway, I wanted to post some info to show the “unbiased” and completely “a-political” organizers of this “forum of the people.”

First of all, the Center’s Board of Directors [of walmartwatch.com] includes:

* Andrew Stern, President, Service Employees International Union
* Judy Lichtman, Founder, National Partnership for Women & Families
* Chellie Pingree, President and CEO, Common Cause
* Carl Pope, Executive Director, Sierra Club
* Roger Wilkins, George Mason University

If you don’t believe me, go to the About section of this website. (I can’t believe they actually posted it.)

Then, the group that registered and financed (financeS) this website:

UFCW INTERNATIONAL UNION
1775 K Street, NW
Washington, PA 20006
US

(Source: whois command)

Is that what union dues are used for? Interesting.

I wonder how long my post will last before the UFCW removes it.

Let me clarify who runs this website.  WalmartWatch.com is a project of the Center for Community & Corporate Ethics, and its 501c-4 organization, Fives Stones.

We have leased this website address from UFCW—which now runs a different website: http://wakeupwalmart.com

We are proud to be partners with UFCW in our efforts to reform Wal-Mart.  But we are not run by them.

I hope this resolves your confusion.

We all know that the UFCW union is behind this site. Perhaps they are affiliated with the fringe groups mentioned above. In any event, they fool no one.

I have said all this before but I will repeat it for those of you who missed it. Unionism is on the decline in the United States. With declining membership, unions lose their politcal clout because they have fewer members and thus, less dues money to finance liberal politicians. With this in mind, the unions have targeted Wal-Mart. Let’s all do the math and you’ll understand why the UFCW hates Wal-Mart.

1.3 million workers each pay an initiation fee of $50-$100 for the “right” to join the UFCW. That is, at a minimum, $65 million dollars in the UFCW’s bank account, upfront. Then, there are the monthly dues. 1.3 million workers paying $30-$150 a month (let’s say $50) brings the UFCW $65 million per MONTH. In the first year of a Wal-Mart unionization, the UFCW will take a minimum $850 million out of workers pockets. That is a lot of money with which to buy a lot of left-wing political clout and maybe hold on to their cushy union jobs forever. The union may force up wages and benefits in the short term. But it will also help to increase inflation and unemployment and it will discriminate against the very young, the very old, minorities and women. If you lack a basic understanding of how economics works, perhaps you shouldn’t be reading this.
1.3 million workers, working an average of 22 hours per week, comes to 28.6 million man hours per week. With an average wage bump of $2/hour and another $2-$3/hr for benefits, that comes to an additional labor cost of $114.4 million dollars per week (roughly $5.95 billion per year, or more than 50% of Wal-Mart’s annual profits). This does not include ridiculous union work rules and increasing demands for more money and benefits. It also does not include the increased tax payments required for higher wage payments. Do you really think the union cares about the consumer, the worker, the stockholder or the community? Digest this lesson and think again.

Freedomville?  Come on.  If you’re so worried about freedom, why’re you so worried about this website?  It’s a free country, dude.

What I’d like to know is how many of you anti-worker trolls posting on here were hired by Wal-Mart to do so.  Lot’s I’d imagine though none will admit it.

Those of us who work in retail know the value of those “ridiculous union work rules”.  Yes the union functions as a business and needs dues to operate.  But to charge that organized labor does nothing to improve the lives of average workers being shit on by corporate amercia is simply stupid. 

Take your unregulated free market mantra for the next Cato convention.  Puh-leaze!

“Let me clarify who runs this website.  WalmartWatch.com is a project of the Center for Community & Corporate Ethics, and its 501c-4 organization, Fives Stones. “

OK, this website is run by Center for Community & Corporate Ethics.  Or put another way, a front group(puppet group) for the UFCW.

You can twist it how you want, but it won’t change the truth.

I think that the union has made great strides in the way employees are treated unionized or not.  I am a union worker and my grandfather and 6 of his brothers were part of the sit down strike at Buick.  He used to say that if a person got hurt or killed on the job, they would just haul them out and replace them within the hour.  the hours were long; the pay was not enough to feed the family on; and the safety equipment was nill.  Now we have osha regulations and msds (material safety data sheets) and ppe (personal protection equipment) and the like.  These didn’t happen by osmosis. No matter how hard you try bashing unions, we have all, paying member or not, been helped by unions.  Our quality of life, from overtime pay to 8 hour days have been pushed by the union and put into practice by the other companies.  I am uaw proud.  Maybe we need to keep the watchdog around awhile longer.  Unions were needed when started, and lest we revert to the 18 hour days and 6 to 7 day weeks with minimum wage, are needed today.  I will be proud to pay for a part in keeping companies from taking without giving.  I have a beef with wal*mart, because of the way alot of my friends who worked there were treated.  But if they are union or not, when you make the profits that they show than you need to give a few more raises and a few more benifits.  Don’t go bashing unions until you learn how they started and what they truly represent.  Don’t say they are not needed just because you can’t remember what work was like without them.  Read some Dickens books sometime.  It will enlighten you.

Susan,

I tend to agree with much of what you posted.  The unions did accomplish some much-needed changes long ago.  As you correctly point out, most of these changes have now been written into law.  As a result, it seems that many unions have out-lived their usefulness.  For example, the UFCW didn’t seem to represent its members too well in the Southern CA strike.  Take a look at the article posted at the top of this blog.

Keep in mind that you work for an auto company, whose margins are much higher than retailers’ margins.  Your job also requires a certain skillset.  Many retail jobs--like many food service jobs--are low-skill jobs.  They pay accordingly.

I’ve worked for Wal-mart for over two years as a truck driver.  I like most people that work for Wal-mart am very happy with my job! I make top wages and have good benefits!  Why have we not heard how much better K-mart or target pays? Guess its because they cant compare? and they dont have enough employees for the unions to mess with? Wal-mart is a great company to work for.!!!!!!!

Nick,
Where are your references? I can say anything I want to too and appear to get away with it.  I couldn’t care less about hearsay.

Check this article out:

“Everyday Low Prices, The Hidden Price We All Pay For Wal-mart”

I do not need references to state a well-known fact, thank you. Where is the hatred for Target or K-Mart or the suburban shopping mall? Why is all this hate directed at Wal-Mart? I will tell you why: the same reason Microsoft was targeted, which is envy. I don’t know how clear I can make this so I will just spell it out for the uninformed.

*If you don’t like Wal-Mart’s wages, don’t apply for a job there.

*If you don’t like Wal-Mart’s practices, don’t shop there. Spend more money at another non-union retail store.

*If you are a supplier and you can’t provide the efficiency and pricing Wal-Mart demands, don’t supply Wal-Mart.

There, it is that simple.

And I can bash unions all I like. This is a free country. My father was in the steelworkers union and they sold their membership down the river through ridiculous and unrealistic demands.

GM and Ford both had their debt lowered to “junk” status today. Will you blame Wal-Mart for the decline of Detroit?

Why should those who “make the profit” give more wages and benefits? They do not make you work there, do they? If you are lazy and unmotivated and refuse to leave your small town for a better job, is that Wal-Mart’s fault? Wal-Mart got to where they are through superior customer service, super efficient distribution, great management and the enlightened use of technology. Oh, and by customers shopping in their stores through their own free will.

What part of FREE COUNTRY don’t you people get? Wal-Mart owes you nothing. If you choose not to shop there, fine. Shop elsewhere. But don’t feel sorry for the employees. No one made them fill out an application. It has been my experience that the people who whine the most about their job are generally the least motivated and least intelligent and they will not go far in life. That is a fact.

As far as Wal-Mart’s low prices, clue me in. One day, the UFCW says Wal-Mart is not actually the cheapest place to shop, it’s all a myth, image, etc. Then the next, they say that Wal-Mart’s low prices are bad for the country. Okay, fine. Then if Wal-Mart is not the cheapest place to shop, and if their low prices are bad for America, what about those places that are CHEAPER than Wal-Mart? Aren’t they also bad places?

I shop, sometimes, in unionized Giant Eagles and Kroger stores and I will tell you, Wal-Mart and Target have friendlier and more helpful employees. Try it for yourself sometime. Why should I pay higher prices so that low-skilled workers can be rude to me? I would rather go to Wal-Mart. I know that, as a consumer, they are actually using their power to make my life better by saving me a lot of money. Thus, they raise my standard of living and they help fight inflation.

Respond only if you can handle logic and reality. Thanks.

Oh yeah, did you see that the AFL-CIO is laying off 500 employees?  Also, how did the UFCW help the Southern California employees who went on strike.  For the millions in dues they collect, and then to call a strike only to sell out a few months later, while their members go broke?  And some of you think unions still have a benficial purpose?  I think the unions should tend to their own houses before they try to mess with someone else’s. 
And Nick, you Rock; very well-formed and logical.

Nick,

Although I agree with most of you post, you are dead wrong in regards to vehicle prices and GM and Ford.  The real price of a new car today is actually lower than it was 20 years ago with much better quality and more features.  If one takes account of these, the real price of a vehicle is MUCH lower today. 

Susan,

Unions have actually decreased standards of living for those that are not members.

Unions have actually decreased standards of living for those that are not members.

At least you waited until your <BIG HINT>->>weekend<<-</BIG HINT> was over to treat us to that particular bit of nonsense.  Honestly, I hope you’re getting paid to write this stuff—otherwise, where’s the free market headed?  Down the toilet with idiots who applaud the invisible hand that flushed them, I suppose.

And what do you mean exactly by ‘sell out’, Larry?  You guys have unions coming and going, don’t you—if they stick to a position, it’s all ‘unrealistic’, if they have to give in, it’s ‘sell out’.

What a bunch of morons.  Unions aren’t the ones with the money (another dumb point upstream), their counterparts in industry are.  Unions are just as much a part of a real and sane economic system as companies are; just as there are ground rules about, say, insider trading (after all, why exactly? that’s not “free"), so there are or should be rules about workers being able to organize and bargain collectively without fear of retribution.  Companies and unions bargain: that’s a free market too.

Meanwhile, if you think those weekends or health benefits of *yours* are sacrosanct, just wait a few months; they aren’t either, in the ‘free’ market you adore so much.

Thomas,

Instead of making unsupported assertions why don’t you logically refute my point?  To reiterate, that point is that unions have decreased standards of living for those that are not members.  Please explain to me why you believe that to be false. 

Keep in mind that those who are not members include workers in other industries as well as consumer of products that are produced/serviced by union members. 

You seem to be a bitter and hateful person.

Thomas,
Well, let’s see here.  By “sell out” I mean that the union leadership(with their big paychecks that they hypocritically chastise business execs for) called a strike because they wouldn’t agree to changes the stores in CA wanted.  Months later, while their membership(the workers) went broke, they agreed to almost exactly what they refused to initially agree to.  So, the bottom line is they hurt their own constituents unnecessarily.  They could have agreed in the first place and there would have been a lot less heartache for those workers...And yes, Unions do have money.  Have you ever paid dues?  have you multiplied that by the number of union members paying those dues?  They have money, rest assured.  So how do they spend it?  They start a website and a $25 million(yes, a fact, read the press releases from the UFCW and SEIU) campaign to attack a company.

One last note, yes companies and unions bargain.  But in this case everything I’ve read shows that the employees have voted against unions every time.  If they don’t want a union, why is the UFCW so persistent?  Simple, read Nick’s post above. money.

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I’m a journalism student working on a project involving Wal-Mart’s political connections and donations.  Specifically, Wal-Mart has a tendency to donate to Congressmen, local officials, and city halls where there is any opposition to their building a new store.

Is there anyone in your organization I could talk to about this subject to get more understanding/info?

Thanks.

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