Change to Win - An Island of Two?

Mike Elk scored a huge scoop this past weekend, reporting that UFCW will vote to rejoin the AFL-CIO after its upcoming convention in August.

You can read Mike's full story at In These Times.

When I covered LIUNA's decision to return to the AFL-CIO back in 2010, I interviewed James Williams, President of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades(IUPAT) to get his opinion on LIUNA's return.  One of my main inquiries was regarding whether the AFL-CIO should require LIUNA to pay back per capita as a condition of rejoining the federation.  My feeling back then was that not requiring some form of repayment would make it attractive for unions to leave the federation to avoid per capita for a time if they ran into financial trouble.  The union could then hypothetically rejoin the AFL-CIO without any penalty.

As Mike Elk reports in his story,

Details of the negotiations between the UFCW and AFL-CIO are unknown at this time. However, inside sources say the AFL-CIO is likely to offer the UFCW some sort of deal, such as a discount on dues, as motivation to rejoin.

I understand that having UFCW back in the fold is more important o the AFL-CIO than some back per capita taxes, but it doesn't exactly set a good precedent going forward.

The larger implication for the labor movement is that Change to Win can't really be looked at as a labor coalition or federation anymore.  However, I am floating a few new name ideas for the two remaining unions.  How about Steamsters, or SEI-2.  They could make t-shirts saying Purple and Black Attack.

Although the return of UFCW will certainly get people wondering if SEIU and the Teamsters will rejoin the AFL-CIO, I don't foresee that happening any time soon, with different reasons for each organization.

The departure of the Teamsters was almost entirely about two things: 1) money and 2)money. Also 3)Article 20.  The Teamsters are in deep with their pension plan, and I don't see them willingly adding more per capita taxes when they don't even have a way to pay for their own pension fund 20 years from now.  They also still like to raid other unions, which Article 20 prohibits.  It would be something to see the Machinists and Teamsters under the same roof again.

I could actually picture SEIU coming back to the AFL-CIO before the Teamsters.  SEIU has the money for per capita, and rejoining the AFL-CIO could be used as a strategic way of blocking the National union of Healthcare Workers(NUHW) from organizing more members, as NUHW is now affiliated with CNA, and therefore subject to Article 20, which prohibits raiding other AFL-CIO member unions.

However this hashes out, this will be an interesting year in the House of Labor.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Giant and Safeway Looking For Scabs

Just a thought for anyone who shops at Safeway or Giant:

As the UFCW contract nears its expiration date, both of the aforementioned companies have begun to look for anyone without a conscience who is willing to be the lowest form of life on the planet - a scab.

Here's the full story:

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/blog/real-estate/2012/03/giant-safeway-hiring-as-potential.html

I have mentioned how I feel about scabs here:


http://virtualpicketline.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-is-scab.html

If you are in the Baltimore or DC region and would like to organize a picket outside the scab hiring location, please send me an email at unionanswers@gmail.com.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Black Friday's Attack On Workers

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is known for being the busiest retail shoppping day of the year, and a precursor for sales throughout the holiday season. As a result, retailers across the nation are always looking for a way to jump start their holiday sales.

In years past, this translated into most retailers forcing their staff to come in to work as early as 3am to staff stores that would open at 5am - 6am.  This would mean that many employees would have to cut their Thanksgiving celebration short to prepare for the early start.  Unfortunately, many big retailers feel that 5am is not early enough.  This year, several big box retailers are breaking with tradition and kicking off their sales events as early as midnight Thursday.  This means that most of the employees of these stores will have to report to work before Thanksgiving Day is even over.

The employees of these stores are largely non-union, and therefore have no recourse to fight this mandatory overtime.  For the record, K-Mart, Meijer,  and J.C. Penney are resisting the urge and are not opening until 4am - 5am, but Wal-Mart, Target, Macy's, Best Buy, Kohl's, and many others are forcing their employees to open the stores at midnight. 

If labor oranizations that represent employees in this industry are looking for an opportunity to organize new facilities, it would be hard to find a better one than this. 

I do believe that we, as labor friendly consumers, ought to make our voices heard both physically, by not shopping until regular hours on Friday, as well as contacting companies to let them know this is not ok.  Finally, we can approach employees with information on how to organize.

If you are an employee in the retail industry, and have had enough and want to organize, you can contact the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union here:

http://rwdsu.info/join-us.html

In Solidarity,

Joseph

UFCW Wins Free Speech Battle in Canada

http://www.ufcw.org/press_room/index.cfm?pressReleaseID=516

If only they were as successful in their attempts to organize Wal-Mart...

2010 Elections: Was Labor's Effort Worth It?

Well, if you were looking for suspense and unpredictability this election cycle, you probably woke up Wednesday morning as disappointed as the DNC leadership team.  This mid-term went just as we all knew it would, despite Big Labor's strong effort to mobilize its membership. Perhaps without Labor's contribution, the Democrats might have lost a few more seats in the House, and Harry Reid owes SEIU his soul for sparing him eternal Tom Daschle icon status, but aside from these situations, what did we get for the millions of dollars in membership dues spent on this election?

As is often the case, we will probably never know exactly how much money was spent by Big Labor during the 2010 election cycle.  However, we do know that it was a LOT.  AFSCME, along with SEIU, likely spent upwards of $100 million each.  UFCW, CWA, and the other larger unions probably spent around $50 million as well.  These rough estimates do not even count the amount of money donated in the form of paid union staff sent to battleground states working as de facto volunteers for the DNC.

I can't help but think that this massive amount of money could be better spent on some wild idea like, say, addressing the direct needs of our membership.  Think of what we could do if we invested the several million dollars into organizing and member education and mobilization.  Hell, we could start a program to give high school graduates full scholarships to the National Labor College.  Any of the aforementioned possibilities sounds better to me than the flushing noise that is still ringing in our ears from Tuesday.

The Democrats received this shellacking, as Obama properly phrased it, not because the Democratic base wasn't mobilized enough, or because rank-and-file union members didn't do enough labor walks in October.  The Democrats lost because they lost their memory of the last decade and decided it would be nice to try bipartisanship.  They lost because they sucked at governing over the last two years.  The lack of a unified strategy exacerbated their situation.

I hope I live long enough for the labor movement to come out of this comatose state in which we hand over large amounts of cash every two years to an entity that hasn't reciprocated since FDR was still alive.  Now's as good a time as any.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Organizing In The Retail Sector: Starbucks

I live in Washington, DC. There is a spot in Dupont Circle where you can actually see three Starbucks simultaneously. There are approximately 11,000 Starbucks locations in the United States, which with an average of 7 employees in each store, would equal about 75,000 employees in the US, out of the 142,000 total employees worldwide.

While there is an existing upstart Starbucks Workers Union, it has not attracted much of a following outside of New York and Chicago. The main reason for this is that they are affiliated with the IWW(Industrial Workers of the World) which according to its own estimates, currently has around 900 members in good standing. While I support rank-and-file unions in general, and I support what the IWW does most of the time, I believe that it will take significant resources in order to organize Starbucks employees in the Unites States. Here is why:

1. Starbucks does not franchise.

Because of this, there will pretty much need to be an all out blitz across the nation. This would take an army of organizers and volunteers. The IWW simply does not have the resources to accomplish a campaign of this magnitude, and unfortunately, many Starbucks employees would balk at the dues rates of the UFCW, who is big enough to do it.

2. Starbucks has the money to launch a serious union-busting campaign.

Given the fact that organizing Starbucks would likely have to be a national campaign, it would give the corporation the time to coordinate a massive union-busting effort. A lot of employees would probably get fired in the process, and high turnover rates would make the job even more difficult.

I think that Starbucks can be organized, but it will take an effort that will require significant cooperation from various labor organizations that frankly, do not have a good history of working together.

In the meantime, why not donate to the SWU(Starbucks Workers Union) ? They have been fighting this battle for six years, and could use all the help they can get.

Organizing In The Retail Sector: Pizza Delivery

When you look at union membership in the retail sector(or the lack thereof), it's striking how many retail and food industries are completely unorganized across the board.

Most labor unions are unwilling to devote the time and resources needed to organize workers in low paying jobs in the retail and food service industries. Their reasons vary from the high turnover rate, to the small bargaining unit in some fast food stores, to the fact that low income workers will have lower dues. While some of this reasoning makes sense, especially with the turnover rate with younger workers, ignoring entire industries is a failed strategy in my opinion.

In the next few entries, I will explore some of these industries, and whether union organization is feasible. The first industry I will look at is Pizza Delivery.

There have been two major efforts to organize this industry in the past. The first was an organization I was involved with, the Association of Pizza Delivery Drivers(APDD), lost an organizing campaign by one vote in Nebraska. The APDD subsequently ran out of money, and is now a distant memory.

The 2nd was run by a Domino's driver named Jim Pohle, who founded the American Union of Pizza Delivery Drivers(AUPDD). He successfully ran an organizing campaign and won a NLRB vote in Florida. Unfortunately, like 2/3 of workers who vote in favor of union representation, they never could get the owner of the Domino's franchise to negotiate a contract. Jim eventually ran out of money and merged his upstart union with the Amalgamated Transit Union(ATU) who promptly forgot about him. As a result, the AUPDD is now defunct.

I still think that the pizza delivery industry is ripe for union organization. There are an estimated 10k big 3(Domino's Papa John's, Pizza Hut)stores in the United States. Pizza drivers are already inoculated against management, as they have been getting screwed by them for years. With tip credit laws that are lowering hourly wages to sub-minimum wage, and lackluster mileage compensation, the vast majority of drivers are supportive of the idea of unionization.

Unfortunately, most labor organizations that have been contacted by pizza delivery drivers have been dismissive or completely unresponsive. One driver I know already have several signed cards in hand, and was flatly turned down by an organizer for the UFCW. This kind of attitude must be changed if the labor movement wants to start winning over the unorganized.

This industry could be organized if a dedicated(Unite Here! anyone?) union takes the strategy of organizing the biggest franchises first. There are franchises in each of the Big 3 that have over 100 stores. There is also a dedicated base of career drivers that are willing to jump in on the front lines if there is an effort with some legitimacy.

That is the key. Legitimacy.

A New Direction: Reform Ideas For The Labor Movement

I've given a lot of thought lately to the future of the labor movement, and where we're heading. I had a nice conversation over the weekend with a Political Director from an unnamed union regarding where the labor movement is headed in the next twenty years. It was his prediction that within the next two decades, at least two dozen mainstream unions will cease to exist. Although it is a sad thought, I have to agree with his sentiment.

What can be done to help change our direction?

1. I believe that unions must go back to a rank-and-file style of operation. We operate too much like corporations, and not enough like the people who fight against them. Although it's not anywhere near the level corporate CEO's are paid, we still pay our national officers too much.

2. I know I've said this before, but we need to stop wasting our money on PACs, and start using it on member education programs, organizing, and actual political action. It's time to admit our PAC money has been wasted, and return to actual mobilization that yields actual results.

3. There needs to be some serious consideration given to merging some of the overlapping trade unions. This will have to be done by the members, as leadership will not want to give up their fiefdoms.

4, We need to create a new union specifically for Retail and Food Workers. Specifically, one that is not the UFCW. I have coined the name: FARWA, which is an acronym for Food And Retail Worker Association. This would cover the service industry workers that the labor movement has ignored. They have ignored them because the workers are young and turnover is high, or because the small workforce.

I believe we can be successful in organizing these industries if we go franchise by franchise. I believe the main reason the turnover rate is so high is because of the poor work conditions and low pay. These are the very things that unions are supposed to exist to combat!

These are just a few points to start with. We have to change direction soon, or it will be too late.

The Case For Salting: Wal-Mart

What is Salting?

Salting is the act of gaining employment with the sole intent to organize a union.

As many people in the labor movement know, Unite Here! is well known for their use of salts in their organizing campaigns. While many labor unions officially oppose these tactics, they are perfect for labor organizations like Unite Here! who represent workers in the service industry, including retail, food service, and in hotels. During an open mic session at the Young Workers Summit, I proposed the following action:

Develop a well-trained force of 200-500 young workers to employ in Salting campaigns around the country. One of the biggest sectors of non-union involvement in the United States is the service industry. The 800lb gorilla in the room is that most permanent(non-student) service industry workers tend to be less educated. I should know - I was one for several years. These workers trust someone they work with who is in the trenches more than they will ever trust some Yalie organizer who was hired by an International Union right out of college having never worked a real job.

Want to know why the UFCW has been unsuccessful thus far in their attempts at organizing Wal-Mart?

It's not the toothless NLRB, the Wal-Mart corporate union-busting team, or the intimidated employees, although the aforementioned factors definitely play their part. The real reason is the strategy. UFCW has historically focused on organizing a few stores at a time. This approach allows Wal-Mart to send in their very effective union-busting team to kill the efforts. Even in Canada, which has more union-friendly laws than the US, Wal-Mart shut down the first store that won an organizing campaign.

If The Old Strategies Won't Work, What Will?

I truly believe that in order to win the war with Wal-Mart, the UFCW must change its strategy.

I propose the following action:

1. Train 80-100 workers to go to work at Wal-Mart locations spread around the country in a massive Salting campaign.

2. The Salts must work for at least a year before any type of mobilization is attempted. This is for the reasons I explained earlier in this article.

3. At the appropriate time, launch a concerted, all-out blitz. This will have to involve an army of organizers. It will also have to be coordinated with every allied community action group possible.

By spreading out the Salts geographically, it will nullify the ability of Wal-Mart's union-busting team to kill every organizing drive. If only 10% of the drives are successful, seven stores will win their campaigns. While Wal-Mart was able to close a single store in Quebec and get away with it, the likelihood that they would get away with closing 7-10 stores in the Midwest or South is unlikely.

I admit that this would be a costly campaign with no guarantee of success, but nothing in the labor movement ever is. One thing we know for sure though, the way we've been doing it isn't working.

Striking UFCW Workers March To Boston

Over 300 workers represented by Local 791, UFCW, have been on strike from the SuperValu owned Shaw Distribution Center in Methuen, MA since March 7. They began marching from Methuen on May 23rd, and arrived in Boston to rally in front of the Statehouse on May 27th, before finishing the March at a local Shaw's Market.

Full coverage here:

http://www.jwjblog.org/2010/05/strikers-march-from-methuen-to-boston-to-win-justice-at-shaws/