UFCW 2011: Heros or Zeros?

This year grocery workers under UFCW contract in California will have expiring collective bargaining agreements and will enter into negotiations with the major grocery chains.

For any of us in the business or others interested in labor issues you’ll know the massive concessions shoved down grocery workers throats since the 2003/2004 grocery strike in Southern California. Wages, health care and pension benefits gutted! The only people who came out unscathed form these cuts were the UFCW leaders and staff who work for the California locals. Their wages sky rocketed! Their pensions increased and they maintained Cadillac health care packages all coming off the union members backs while the members gagged on concessions and poor working conditions. While the grocery corporate and the UFCW leadership claimed partnership the working people for these companies barely made ends meet

But this year in 2011 the UFCW has an “historic chance” to improve working conditions for their members! The question is....will the UFCW take advantage of that chance or will they, as they have in the past, cozy up to the butts of grocery’s corporate management?

For the first time in California UFCW history contract expiration dates in Southern California and Northern California fall on the same year and only within a few months of each other! Southern Cal expiration date is March 6 2011 while Northern Cal expiration date is October 8 2011. If the UFCW used the weight of these same year expiration dates they could collectively hold the greedy corporate grocery chains feet to the fire and “demand” win backs for their members!!! With close expiration dates like this the UFCW could theoretically shut down a company like Safeway/Vons throughout the entire state of California! With a strike like that even a company like Safeway would feel the pressure! Especially in an economy like this one.

The big question is....does the UFCW care enough about their members well being and working conditions, or is their partnership with the corporate grocery chains more important?

In 2011 will the UFCW be labor’s Heros.....or will they be labor's Zeros?