Looks like those of us in the DC and Baltimore corridor will be able to continue to shop our local stores with pride ('cause I ain't crossing no picket line, ever).

SUPERMARKET WORKERS WIN TENTATIVE AGREEMENT: (3/30/08 12P) UFCW Locals 400 and 27 report they have reached a tentative agreement with Giant Food and Safeway which will be submitted to the membership on Tuesday, April 1. “Community support was vital to winning this agreement,” Local 400 President James Lowthers said Sunday. Activists and allies are being urged to continue support activities activities – especially the worker support cards – through Tuesday, when the contract ratification vote will be held.

I'm hoping the membership has the contract they want and can vote for this. I wasn't looking forward to finding alternatives to my store, but I was totally ready to do it.

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Andy Richards from the UnionCity e-zine provides the stroy below and he also took the picture of my daughter as she spoke to neighbors at our local Safeway on M street SW on the DC Waterfront.

More from Andy and the DCLabor Council:

SUPERMARKET WORKER CONTRACT UPDATE: As of press-time Friday, UFCW Local 400 was reporting “Some progress” in contract talks, “although significant hurdles still exist in order to reach a fair settlement.”

Keep an eye on our website all weekend for latest updates on this struggle!

Friday morning, a group of prominent ministers called on Giant and Safeway to share their success with the employees and communities that make them profitable and announced that they will actively support 23,000 area workers in their negotiations for a new contract with the supermarket chains. “This is a matter of simple justice,” said Rev. Dr. Morris Shearin, pastor of Israel Baptist Church, first vice president of the Washington, D.C., NAACP and a member of the board of the national NAACP. “If Safeway and Giant want to take profits out of our community, they must do right by our community. That means providing their employees with a living wage, good health coverage and pension benefits that empower them to achieve financial independence and give them the purchasing power to boost our local economy. It means providing the staffing to ensure good customer service. It means treating them with dignity and respect.” Click here to email Safeway & Giant management, download worker suppord cards, flyers & more!

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They are not "replacement" workers and they are not "Temporary" workers. They are scabs and Safeway and Giant advertising in the store AND in the local media for scabs is beyond the pale.



I just wish Fox 5 News could have called a scab a scab.

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Metro labor council's been following this developing story and I'm so glad they have.

REACHING OUT TO SUPERMARKET WORKERS: "I told a check-out clerk at the Wisconsin Ave/Newark St Giant that I did not appreciate Giant having job fairs and interviewing workers while (contract) negotiations were under way," says activist Brian Powers in his grocery worker solidarity action report back. "She replied that interviewing was not the same thing as hiring and she expected to get a contract. Her confidence in her union was clear and she was equally clear that she expected a contract." Powers is one of hundreds taking individual and group actions to support metro area grocery workers' fight for a good contract. Click here to find out more and get involved.

But there's more we can all do besides just telling the workers we hate it, there are actions we can take. From the AFL-CIO site...

Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 who work at Safeway and Giant stores throughout the metro Washington area are in a fight for the future of retail jobs. Under increasing pressure from big-box stores and non-union groceries like Harris Teeter, Safeway and Giant are pushing for a contract that rolls back hard-won benefits such as affordable healthcare and pensions. Safeway and Giant grocery workers and their families deserve better.

The current round of negotiations at Safeway and Giant will impact over 15,000 grocery workers in the DC area. It's time to hold the line for good jobs with good benefits. You can take action to support their fight!

FOUR WAYS TO TAKE ACTION

Hand a Safeway or Giant checkout clerk a support card
1. Download and print worker support cards.
2. Stick them in your wallet.
3. Next time you're in a Safeway or Giant store, hand a card to the checkout clerk with your payment.

Send a letter to your local store manager
1. Download and print manager letters.
2. Cut them in 4.
3. Next time you're in a Safeway or Giant store, ask for the manager and hand them this card.

Organize a leafleting action outside your neighborhood Safeway or Giant
1. Set a date, time and location for your leafleting event.
2. Outreach to friends and family to see if they'd like to join you.
3. Print out flyers to hand out to customers...and of course, remember to take pictures.

If you'd like to join me on Wednesday I'll be supporting Safeway workers on Wednesday at 6pm at my neighborhood Safeway.

Where


Waterfront Safeway, 401 M St SW

Map


Click here for map

When



Mar 26
  starts at 6:00 pm

Labor activists leaflet to support local Giant and Safeway grocery workers in
their fight for a just contract. Workers - represented by UFCW 400 - are
currently in negotiations with Giant and Safeway but the negotiations have
stalled due to the grocery chains' demands to cut healthcare and pension
benefits. The current contract expires at the end of the month and Safeway has
already started advertising for strikebreakers. For more info, contact Ruth
Castel-Branco, rcastel@dclabor.org;
202-974-8281.

For updates on the negotiations, click here.

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