1. Sweets

This is the bakery dept at store 649 in Manahawkin NJ  and they are making the sweetness happen! They and other talented UFCW bakers make holiday pies, cookie trays, and all those sweet things we can’t resist. Thanks, guys.

2. The Feast of the Seven Fishes

The Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian-American Christmas Eve tradition. Visit the hard-working UFCW members at the meat counters of your local Safeway, Albertsons, Kroger, or other union grocery stores and they can help you put together a traditional seven fishes meal of anchovies, whiting, lobster, sardines, eels, squid, octopus, mussels, or other tasty seafood. They’ve got your shrimp cocktail covered, too.

3. Ham! Turkey!

Not only do UFCW members work the deli counter and help you find the perfect star for your holiday feast, but classics like Butterball turkeys and Smithfield hams are made by UFCW meat-packing members.

4. Christmas trees made from cupcakes

I know we already put sweets on this list, but this Christmas tree made of cupcakes was too good to pass over. Thank you, UFCW members, for making that happen. It’s like two of the best holiday things combined. That’s some holiday magic.

5. Green Stuff

If you are like us and have been eating nothing but cookies and cakes for days, don’t worry. Vegetables do still exist and UFCW members are always happy to help you find the freshest, healthiest greens for whenever you’ve run out of pie and are ready to start on those New Year’s resolutions.

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.

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.

For those of us fortunate enough to be able to sit down and spend time with our loved ones tomorrow, let’s pause to be thankful for the Thanksgiving heroes whose hard work and dedication help make possible the traditions and warm memories we make year after year.

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UFCW grocery workers in California reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with Kroger Company and Cerberus Capital, the owners of Ralphs and Vons/Albertsons, respectively.

After intense negotiations following the imposition of an August 8th deadline by seven California locals of the UFCW, the federal mediator helped guide the parties to a proposed contract.

“We are happy to say that five months after our previous contract expired, the corporate owners of Ralphs and Vons/Albertsons have agreed to a proposed contract,” said Rick Icaza, one of the chief negotiators for the UFCW and the President of one of the largest UFCW locals in the country. “This would not have been possible without the strength and solidarity of all the 50,000 grocery workers throughout central and southern California, the cooperation of the seven California UFCW locals and the UFCW International Union. We also owe deep thanks to the support of consumers and community leaders. Because of the unshakable unity of our membership, we were able to bring these negotiations to a conclusion, and will present the offer to membership for ratification on Monday, August 8th.”

“While we are unable to divulge the details of the agreement until we inform our members, we would like to thank the Federal Mediation Conciliation Service (FMCS) Deputy Director Scot Beckenbaugh and Commissioner Isael Hermosillo, without whom this agreement would not have been possible,” said John Grant, Secretary­Treasurer of Local 770. “We believe this contract will address our members’ concerns and begin to secure the important role grocery workers play in our community.”

The previous contract covering nearly 50,000 central and southern California grocery workers expired nearly five months ago. Since then, grocery workers have worked without a contract, staging numerous rallies, marches, and events designed to bring attention to their fight and to bring the corporate owners of Ralphs and Vons/Albertsons to the table. Last Tuesday, thousands of grocery workers, community members, clergy, and fellow union members marched across Los Angeles to demand a conclusion to negotiations.

UFCW grocery workers across central and southern California will gather to review the details of the contract and vote on the offer. Results of the vote will be released when voting is complete by the seven UFCW locals.

For those of you who don’t know Phil, “Mr. Picketman” was a name given to him during a rally one day, after he scrawled out a song on the back of his picket sign – a song he would soon lead the crowd in singing.  Music has been a lifetime hobby for Picketman, but, throughout his 20 years as a union member and Albertson’s employee in Southern California (where he served as a department manager for years, and then as a front end service supervisor) he’s developed ideas for songs that he could use to help further the fight to protect working families.

On what the union means to him, and how it has prompted his songs, Mr Picketman has this to say:

“Over the years, working at Albertson’s and being able to negotiate contracts and the conditions in which we work under, its been a positive experience.”

Mr. Picketman has been a union member ever since he began working at Alberston’s, but says that he became much more involved within the union during the 2003-2004 Southern California strike:

“That’s when I learned how to stand up for what I believe in.”

After returning from the strike, Mr. Picketman became a steward within his store, as well as Local 1428 executive board member. Phil wrote several songs about the strike, and from there, the music sort of “just took on a life of its own.”  His songs got out to all sorts of people all over the country and Phil then began receiving calls from people wondering if he could tailor songs to various causes.  Phil helped out a few of these callers, but found that nothing resonated with him as much as the union related songs he had created from the heart, and from his own experiences.

“After making the first song for the union, about pro-worker type stuff, its just become an even bigger hobby of mine.”

Phil soon gained more popularity with the creation of an Obama-themed song, during the 2008 election. Of course, he says, he has a 2012 re-election song in the works too.  His recent work includes two songs with OUR Walmart, inspired by his work as a member organizer on the Making Change at Walmart campaign. He has also been contacted by a Local 8 member for help making a song related to the ongoing negotiations with Raley’s in northern California.

“I love being part of organizing and helping membership within UFCW grow.  I know that if we can rebuild union membership we can rebuild the middle class and the economy. Definitely having the experience of helping the union, helping others achieve a voice in their workplace has really been the most rewarding experience. And as for working on the OUR Walmart campaign, being able to talk to the workers who don’t have some of the benefits and privileges that we have as union members.”

One of Picketman’s recent songs, about the situation in Wisconsin and Scott Walker’s agenda to take away  collective bargaining, is a rousing hip-hop style anthem that calls on workers to “build our communities to save our jobs”, and to “stand up, get up, we gotta keep our head up.” The song, entitled “Fight On” has a motivating and catchy chorus that begins: “Anything in life that’s worth having is worth fighting for.”  Picketman’s musical style is one that many of our young members are sure to be drawn to, yet members of all ages can appreciate the message in each song, and the vigor with which he sings them.

The following YouTube video provides a slideshow of pictures capturing scenes from the Wisconsin protests for a re-election, set to “Fight On.”

Click here to download another catchy beat from Mr. Picketman.