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]]>Members of UFCW Local 354 who work at GEO Specialty Chemicals in Cedartown, Ga., in partnership with another local company, recently manufactured thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer and disinfectant in response to the recent coronavirus outbreak. The members are employed as engineering and process technicians.
The GEO Specialty Chemicals Cedartown facility, which manufactures and supplies chemicals worldwide, was recently approached by the local economic development council and industrial development board about the company’s capability of manufacturing hand sanitizer and disinfectant using an approved World Health Organization formula. In partnership with another local company, Meggitt Polymers and Composites in Rockmart, members of UFCW Local 354 quickly and successfully identified on hand raw materials and converted an idle process reactor in the facility to produce enough sanitizer and disinfectant for 2,500 bottles or over 8,000 pounds of hand sanitizer and disinfectant. The bottles will be distributed to local hospitals and other organizations in the area where there is the greatest need.
“We consider our members to be our greatest asset, and the reason for our long history of success at GEO Specialty Chemicals,” said UFCW Local 354 President Jason Stroup. “This is just an extension of our willingness to work together to show what we are capable of when challenged with a project.”
“This is a small, rural and tight knit community of which I am proud to be a part,” Stroup added. “Currently, it is incumbent upon all people of all walks of life to give of themselves during this time of national crisis to help our neighbors, our communities, and our country and put away our differences. I can speak for everyone at GEO and Local 354 when I say it is the least we can do and what we have done here at GEO for the past 83 years.”
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UFCW Local 338 members at A&J Foodtown in Bellerose took two minutes of reflection this Workers Memorial Day to honor those lost serving their community during the COVID-19 crisis throughout the country.
According to the UFCW’s internal reports, there have been at least 72 worker deaths and 5,322 workers directly impacted among the UFCW’s 1.3 million members who work in grocery, retail, pharmacy, meatpacking, and other essential industries.
Those directly impacted include workers who tested positive for COVID-19, missed work due to self-quarantine, are awaiting test results, or have been hospitalized, and/or are symptomatic.
“These workers never signed up to be first responders in an emergency, but that is exactly what they are now and they need protections immediately before more lives are needlessly lost,” said UFCW International President Marc Perrone. “The human cost to America’s food, retail, and commercial workers is real and growing.”
“As we remember all of America’s brave frontline workers, across every industry, who have died from COVID-19, we are calling on all of our country’s leaders in the White House, in Congress, and states across the country to strengthen safety standards and take immediate action to protect the millions of workers who are keeping our communities strong throughout the crisis.”
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]]>The post What the UFCW is asking the CDC to do in response to the coronavirus appeared first on The United Food & Commercial Workers International Union.
]]>This guidance is based on both the advice of health and safety experts as well as needs we have heard echoed from hard working UFCW members across the country who desperately need better protections in place in order to continue to serve the American public.
“It is absolutely critical that the CDC do more to help protect frontline workers who are at daily risk of becoming infected and even dying from the Coronavirus,” said UFCW International President Marc Perrone. “This is about not just saving the lives of these workers, but also about protecting the customers they serve. It is about protecting and maintaining the safety of our food supply. Keeping these workers safe will help keep America safe. The CDC must act now to issue strong new safety guidance. American lives are on the line. These workers’ lives are on the line. We cannot wait any longer.”
If you are a UFCW member and you are experiencing problems where you work because of COVID-19, please submit a report to us so we can continue to track what is happening across the country.
Grocery Stores and Pharmacies
In-Store Social Distancing
- Limit the number of consumers in a store at any given time to 20 to 30 percent of the store’s capacity.
- Implement procedures to ensure that both employees and customers always remain at least six feet apart.
- Procedures should include a marked “social distancing line” which begins six feet away from all checkout counters.
Improve Disinfecting, Sanitizing & Hygiene Practices
- Employees must be provided with sufficient break times to wash their hands as necessary or, at a minimum, every 30 minutes.
- Sanitize frequent touchpoints, including point of sale terminals at registers throughout the day.
- Provide disinfecting wipes for customers to disinfect carts, as well as at cash registers.
- Designate employee(s) to ensure cleaning guidelines set by the CDC are followed.
- Provide set time to allow for stores to be properly sanitized and re-stocked.
Mandate Wearing of Personal Protective Equipment
- Mandate that all workers wear masks, gloves, and any other personal protective equipment (PPE) available at the workplace.
- Mandate all employers to provide N95 masks, gloves, and other PPE when it becomes available.
Urge Americans to Help Save Lives by Shopping Smart
Call on all Americans to practice the following each time they visit a grocery store or pharmacy:
-
- Always wear a cloth face cover, ideally a mask, when inside the store.
- Limit number of shoppers to one per family
- Practice social distancing throughout the store – not just at check-out stands.
- Properly discard their own PPE in trash cans.
- Respect special shopping times for seniors.
Food Processing and Packing Plants
Improve Safety Conditions
- Mandate that all employers provide PPE, and that workers wear PPE during the workday.
- Ensure social distancing practices are implemented across the workplace at all times where possible.
- When social distancing is not possible, PPE must be provided and used by all employees. No exceptions.
- Make sure that safety practices are clearly posted throughout facility and are in the necessary languages for employees to read.
- Provide PPEs for workers, including face masks.
Learn more at
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]]>A few weeks ago, we received a letter from Ed Marquard, a service mechanic and member of UFCW/ICWUC Local 121C. He asked us to share his story about what happened to him, and how his UFCW/ICWUC membership meant he was able to get his job back.
“Most of you do not know me. Most of the members of my own Local 121C do not know me. But I very much want you all to hear me and acknowledge something to yourselves. That being, the significance of enjoying the benefits and protection of formal Unionized Representation in your respective workplaces.”
Ed had been wrongly fired by his employer and fighting for justice since 2013 up until this year. According to Ed, his employer hadn’t exactly been cooperative, as is common in such cases, unfortunately.
“Contractual dispute resolution procedures were trivialized. Federal Arbitration rulings were appealed or ignored. State Superior Court and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reviews drug things out for years. Contest and protract. This was the Company drill for essentially six years.”
You don’t have to go it alone
Even if you know you are in the right, fighting such resistance on your own would be at the very best a lonely, exhausting, expensive experience. We know that most of the time, in the face of all the obstacles irresponsible companies can put up, many workers who have been wronged simply give up and try their best to move on with their lives. But for Ed, he didn’t have to go it alone, and he didn’t give up.
“During this time, I came to understand that only 8% of the American workforce enjoys the protection that our Union affords us as workers. Not to mention the far better wages and standard benefits we take for granted. And I do mean take for granted!”
The benefits of a union
One thing that separates workers who have union representation from the rest of the workforce is that what you are entitled to at your job and what your employer can and can’t do is clearly spelled out in a written, legally-binding contract. Unlike a company handbook, which employees have no say in, a contract is an agreement drawn up between the union, which speaks for the interests of the workers, and the employer, which represents the interests of the company. When everyone plays by the rules, it’s a fair and balanced system that ensures businesses can still operate in a way in which they can thrive, but not at the expense of the men and women who sacrifice their time and energy to make those companies successful.
Unfortunately, whether out of ignorance or malice, companies don’t always play by the rules. In Ed’s case, his employer violated their contract when they terminated him. But the UFCW anticipates that there are always going to be some bad actors out there, and the staff at UFCW/ICWUC Local 121C were ready to fight for Ed every step of the way.
“My story stands to archive what Union Representation can accomplish in the face of Corporate mistreatment. Our Union stood by me steadfastly and patiently pursued every legal measure to be my advocate and represent my interests. We did not compromise or settle. We trusted that the Arbitration System would render an objective result and we prevailed.”
More than just back pay
No one wants to have to deal with something like this happening to them. Even with the union to back you up, it’s a difficult experience, and infuriating to be treated so disrespectfully by the company you’ve worked hard for. But more than just getting a job or lost wages back, what it’s all about is just as much about reclaiming your dignity and being able to draw a line in the sand about how you expect to be treated. In a world where the cards seem to be increasingly stacked against everyday people, UFCW membership is a way to put just a bit more control back in your hands.
“Thank you for your support, faith and professionalism. I have my job back. I am still working and I have been made whole for all lost wages and benefits….because I am a dues paying member of a good Union.”
Congratulations to Ed from the rest of our UFCW family. We’re sorry you had to go through such a stressful and unfair experience, but we’re so happy you stuck it out to the end and were able to get the justice you deserve.
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]]>After eight months of negotiations with their employer, PeroxyChem workers in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., ratified their first contract on Oct. 25.
The workers first joined the ICWUC Local 61C in December of 2018 because they were concerned about wages and lack of respect from managers.
The three-year agreement addresses those issues and includes annual raises, job security, just cause discipline language and many more protections and benefits that will set these new members up for success.
PeroxyChem is a leading global manufacturer and supplier of hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid, persulfates and adjacent technologies.
The ICWUC is an important part of our UFCW family and represents primarily workers in the chemical industry. If you work in the industry and are interested in improving your wages and working conditions, contact the ICWUC about how you can become a member.
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On June 25, Cottonseed Co-op Corporation workers in Jonestown, Miss., joined the ICWUC.
Cottonseed Co-op was previously known as Delta Oil Mill and was represented by the ICWUC until its bankruptcy and closing approximately five years ago. The cottonseed processing facility reopened approximately two years ago under the name Cottonseed Co-op, and the company rehired many of the previous employees from Delta Oil Mill.
When the workers came back to work without a union contract, they found that many of the benefits and protections they once had when they were members of the ICWUC were now gone.
These hard-working men and women knew they had earned and deserved better, so they reached out to their former union representative, Regional Director Ricky Lawrence, in early May. Lawrence sent them cards to sign to see how much interest there was at the facility and in a couple of weeks they had mailed him back signed cards for approximately 80 percent of the current employees. Organizer Ernest Perkins visited with the workers, and then contacted his organizing colleague, Lance Heasley, to come assist in the NLRB petition process.
During the petition process, the organizing team gave the company the option of having a neutral third party count the cards rather than go through with the NLRB election process. The company agreed to have a neutral third party and on June 25, the neutral party determined that 47 of the 57 employees had signed cards. The company then voluntarily recognized the ICWUC as the bargaining agent for the Cottonseed Co-op employees and agreed on a date to begin negotiating a contract.
The ICWUC is proud to welcome back these workers and looks forward to working with them in negotiating their first contract.
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]]>John Morawetz, president of the International Chemical Workers Union Council (ICWUC), one of the councils within the UFCW, testified before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on June 4th to advocate on behalf of the safety of both everyday Americans and those who work in the chemical industry.
Morawetz has three decades of experience investigating occupational health hazards and currently serves as the director of the nationally-recognized ICWUC Training Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. His expertise in both safety and worker issues allowed him to present a unique perspective to the committee, which had gathered to discuss the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program. Managed by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and established in 2007, CFATS is the country’s first regulatory program focused specifically on security at high-risk chemical facilities.
“Unions have made sure their members are educated and trained on the safety and health hazards they face on the job,” said Morawetz in his written testimony. “Union negotiators bargain over health and safety contract language, actively participate in the investigation and identification of health and safety hazards and testify in support of legislation which strengthens workplace security. Unions are actively involved in making our workplaces safer.”
Morawetz had four recommendations to the committee to ensure safety and security at chemical facilities:
1.) More worker involvement.
Workers have expertise and are ultimately the most familiar with the day to day reality of what’s really happening on the ground, and that knowledge and expertise shouldn’t go to waste.
“Chemical workers have direct, current knowledge and experience of plant operations that is invaluable in solving site specific problems. Chemical workers know first-hand how a plant works, what chemicals are used, how those chemicals react to one another, their facilities’ weaknesses and the most recent operational changes. We also know if backup systems will work when the power goes out. We know the exact location of the CFATS hazardous materials and we know if training is effective. All these responsibilities make chemical workers the first and best line of defense.”
That includes more union involvement with CFATS inspections
Though federal agencies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), NIOSH, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) all have procedures to work with both management and labor during their inspections, the same cannot be said for CFATS.
“I’d love to tell you about what takes place during a CFATS inspection, but we don’t know since we are not informed of these visits. Right now, the law allows discretion on the part of inspectors as to whether workers and the union are advised of an inspection. We know of very few locals or members that have been involved in inspections, and this means an important stakeholder and their valuable information may be excluded from the process.”
2.) Better training.
Everyone, including inspectors, should receive relevant and regular training. Of chemical workers surveyed in union-led safety classes at the Center for Workers’ Health and Safety Education, more than eighty percent had no employer training in the last year in 9 out of 10 key worker safety areas.
Implementing good training is not easy. One facility that I reviewed was trying to implement the right procedures but after careful review, I realized that all the drills were taking place on the first shift because that is when the salaried employees worked. The facility has three shifts and operates continuously, so only a fraction of the workers were being drilled for these types of events.
For over 30 years my union has run training programs and collected data on how much training our members received. OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard is the primary OSHA standard requiring training on hazardous chemicals, and the requirement is minimal. Workers are trained when they initially assigned to a job, and then again if new chemicals are introduced. Other than this initial training, workers often do not receive further training on hazardous chemicals. According to data collected by our union, we found that from 2017 to 2018 over 80% of workers who attended ICWUC training had no training in the last year in nine of the ten key worker safety areas. The nine areas not trained on were: Engineering Controls, Air Monitoring, Decontamination, Toxic Effects, Emergency Response Procedures, OSHA Regulations, Plugging and Patching, Selection of Protective Clothing or Respirators. The government and companies must increase the amount and type of training for all workers inside of CFATS covered plants.
3.) Strengthened protections for whistleblowers.
Making sure workers who spot problems feel safe enough to speak up and not face retaliation is vital to ensuring problems are dealt with before they cause an incident.
“Whistleblowers who disclose wrongdoing at chemical facilities can save lives and help improve public safety and plant security and should not face retaliation.
Regretfully fear is a fact of life at all too many workplaces and jeopardizing one’s job by blowing the whistle is a risky thing to do. Workers, who bravely come forward to protect themselves, their co-workers, and communities around the plant, should not fear losing their jobs when they speak out. Whistleblower protection is vital in assuring the free exchange of ideas, improving security and ensuring that effective measures are actually implemented. Workers must have the ability to come forth and communicate program deficiencies without fear of retribution.
DHS is responsible for managing the CFATS whistleblower process and procedures, but DHS lacks processes and procedures to address whistleblower retaliation reports.”
4.) Regular information exchange
The Department of Homeland Security has information on best practices plants use to reduce their risk and should share that information so other plants can learn from them.
Although reducing potential consequences may not be feasible in all circumstances, because of technological or economic constraints, steps such as substituting safer solvents or formulations for more dangerous ones can be implemented if companies know about it. The quantities or concentrations can be reduced to below threshold amounts, some substances can be used in a less dangerous form, alternative processes can be used, chemicals can be used “just in time” (without storage), vulnerable sections can be reinforced, inventory control can be improved, bulk storage can be minimized and maintenance schedules can be reviewed regularly. Many companies have implemented these changes and there is much to be learned from which changes have been the most effective. This information sharing can be done without identifying individual companies or locations.
About the ICWUC
The ICWUC was originally founded in 1944 and represents approximately 20,000 chemical workers in 32 states. The union merged with the UFCW in 1996, and has operated as a council within the greater UFCW ever since. ICWUC members are full-fledged UFCW members and eligible for UFCW member benefits, including education opportunities and discounts.
Improving on-the-job safety for members and negotiating strong contracts with good wages, benefits and job protections are priorities for the ICWUC. UFCW members work in many different manufacturing industries including petroleum and coal products, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and other agricultural chemical smelters and refineries, as well as, natural gas distribution, nuclear weapon production and power plants. For their own health, for their coworkers’ health and for their communities’ well-being, UFCW members responsible for working with the extremely hazardous substances involved in these industries have a vested interest in the safe operation of their facilities.
In addition to advocating for better legislation at both the state and national level, the ICWUC operates the nationally recognized Center for Workers’ Health and Safety Education in Cincinnati, Ohio, and where it regularly trains union members to become experts in on-the-job safety.
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]]>For those of us fortunate enough to be able to sit down and spend time with our loved ones, let’s pause to be thankful for the holiday heroes whose hard work and dedication help make possible the traditions and warm memories we make year after year.
UFCW members are the heart behind the holiday brands we’ve all come to love—brands like Butterball, Boar’s Head, Hanover, Reddi-Wip. For those who work in food processing, their knowledge and expertise help ensure the turkey that makes its way to your grocery store has been properly prepared and is safe to eat, and their skilled quality control makes sure Stove Top Stuffing and Marie Callender’s pies will taste just like you remembered.
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UFCW members also sacrifice time with their families to keep Albertsons, Kroger, Safeway, Giant, and so many other union grocery stores open during the holidays. We know they’ve saved countless holiday feasts from disaster by making sure families across America can make that last minute run to the grocery store if they need to.
From our family to yours, we wish you happy holidays and all the best in the new year.
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]]>It’s the most wonderful time of the year! For the hardworking men and women in our union family, it’s also a super busy time.
They’re serving customers and families in their communities–not just in grocery stores but across all our industries–to make the holidays happen.
Are you a member making the holidays happen? Share with us on our Facebook page.
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]]>The post ICWUC Holds Officer Training and Steward Class appeared first on The United Food & Commercial Workers International Union.
]]>Earlier this month, 21 officers and stewards at UFCW Local 504T honed their skills at a training held by the International Chemical Workers Union Council (ICWUC) in Scottsboro, Ala.
Participants learned about the duties of officers and shop stewards, as well as the duties of the organizing and safety committees. The training session also provided participants with an overview of health and safety issues officers and stewards may face in the workplace.
The training session was hosted by UFCW Local 504T, and ICWUC Secretary-Treasurer and Regional Director Neal Dillard and ICWUC Recorder Chuck Denny served as the instructors.
The UFCW Local 504T officers and stewards are employed at Lozier Corporation in Scottsboro, and work in the maintenance, production and warehouse divisions producing metal and wood shelves and their braces. UFCW Local 504T’s current contract with Lozier Corporation covers 325 members.
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