Organizing

UFCW Local 700 Members Stand Together with 100% Membership at Indianapolis Kroger Store

Jun 22, 2018

Hardworking men and women at Kroger J1 in downtown Indianapolis know we are stronger together – everyone who works
at the store is a member of UFCW Local 700. Union Representative Mary Parker says that membership is a result of building power and relationships; members in the store know, respect, and rely on one another. Stewards play an integral role in ensuring that the company plays by the rules we negotiated. Members know one another and welcome new workers into our union family.

“There is power in numbers,” said UFCW Local 700 President Joe Chorpenning. “A store with 100% membership is the foundation building a better life for our members. This is how we negotiate strong contracts – solidarity every day in the workplace.”

Negotiations, Organizing, Worker Action

UFCW700 Adds New Staff Position to Better Enforce Contracts

Mar 28, 2017

Jason Morey has joined the staff of UFCW Local 700.

UFCW Local 700 members work together to build a better life for our members and all middle class families. Members recently approved a dues restructure to build a bigger, stronger union, and to give us more resources and power at the bargaining table, in organizing new members, and in strengthening our communities.

This week, Jason Morey joined the UFCW Local 700 team. A member of UFCW for eleven years, Jason worked at Kroger, served as a Union Steward, and worked on special projects with the Indiana AFL-CIO. Jason’s job will be to lead audits to ensure that members are being paid appropriately by the company, monitor full-time and part-time positions, update classification and contact information, and other projects. The information provided by the internal audits will be invaluable for grievance management, bargaining, and communication.

Jason has hit the ground running and Is looking forward to his role to better enforce our contract language and ensuring the most accurate and up-to-date information for our members.

Sec.-Treas. Mike Merrell and Jason Morey review a membership audit.

Negotiations, Organizing, Worker Action

UFCW President Perrone Makes Statement on Amazon Go

Dec 08, 2016

Marc Perrone, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), the largest private sector union in the nation, made the following statement about Amazon Go:

“Amazon believes that America’s hard-working men and women are irrelevant to customers – they couldn’t be more wrong. The amazing people who work inside grocery stores are more than neighbors and friends, they provide an invaluable and vital service.

“Those who work in our local grocery stores do a lot more than just ring people up at the register. They are professionals who advise customers about the right cut of meat, help them find the products they need, create expertly prepared meals and most importantly, can be trusted to ensure that everything bought in their stores is safe to consume.

“Amazon is masking its blind greed as progress. This is not about improving customer experience: It is about destroying good jobs, with no regard to the families and communities impacted. This is not the America that hard-working families want and deserve.”

The UFCW is the largest private sector union in the United States, representing 1.3 million professionals and their families in grocery stores, meatpacking, food processing, retail shops and other industries. Our members help put food on our nation’s tables and serve customers in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Learn more about the UFCW at www.ufcw.org.

Negotiations, Organizing

UFCW Local 700 Members at ConAgra Bakery Approve First Union Contract

Aug 23, 2016

Members of Union Bargaining Committee

In June, workers at ConAgra in Indianapolis chose to join the UFCW Local 700 union family; last week, members approved their first union contract!

Together, and thanks to the efforts of the Union Bargaining Committee and SubCommittee, we reached an agreement that provides a better life, a more secure future, and respect on the job for the hardworking men and women of ConAgra bakery, and their families.

The new, three-year contract includes:

Mutual agreement to evaluate hours of work to create a pathway for more stable hours and more full-time jobs
Seniority protection for layoff and recall, job bidding procedure preventing favoritism and disparate treatment
More flexible leave policies, including union and personal leave
Strong language protecting the rights of Immigrant workers
Preferential hire provisions for workers at ConAgra Bakery who choose to transfer to 62^nd Street plant
Labor-Management committee to discuss workplace, and health and safety issues
Lump sum bonus and guaranteed wage increases during the contract
Weekly pay for workers at the plant
Protection of wage rates, including increases prior to ratification
Guaranteed call-in pay for either four-hours or four-hours of work
Health care coverage maintained over term of agreement; company may not change benefit levels

Negotiations, Organizing

UFCW700 Members Approve First Contract with Chartwells

May 14, 2016

After fighting for years to win their union, workers at Chartwells approved their first contract!

About sixty people work in cafeteria services at Anderson University; they are employed by Compass Group, a major corporation that manages vending machines and cafeteria staff for mostly schools, private prisons, and large workplaces.

Like too many other companies across our state, and the country, it was becoming harder for workers at Chartwells to get by. Their benefits were cut and wages were stagnant. They joined together to form a union.

The workers’ first election was overturned due to employer violations following an NLRB hearing and trial. Subsequently, the company agreed to card check, or voluntary recognition. Voluntary recognition means that the workers must not hold another election, but rather that when a majority of workers have filled out union cards, the employer recognizes the union to negotiate a contract.

Workers at Chartwells met and completed bargaining surveys in order to develop a list of priorities for negotiations. A Union Bargaining Committee met with the company over the course of a few months and finally reached a tentative agreement for a first contract, which was recently approved.

The new contract includes regular, guaranteed wage increases; advance notification for scheduling; paid time off (vacation and holidays); seniority rights; and affordable quality health care. Part-time workers now have provisions for funeral leave; paid time off, including vacation and sick days; and holiday pay.

“Our new union contract is going to improve the quality our lives,” said Sybilla Bryson, an organizing and bargaining committee member, and part-time employee at Chartwells. “It was definitely worth all the hard work of organizing. The experience of helping with organizing and negotiating our contract has changed and shaped me as a person in ways I didn’t know were possible; I am so much stronger now.”

Congratulations to workers at Chartwells for joining our union family, and coming together to negotiate with their employers for the kind of wages, benefits, and working conditions that help to build better lives.

Organizing

Indianapolis ConAgra Workers Join UFCW700 Union Family

May 10, 2016

On May 5, hardworking men and women at a ConAgra plant in Indianapolis voted to join the UFCW union family and become part of UFCW Local 700.

Nearly 300 workers make Marie Callendar’s pies at the plant, which was formerly owned by another company and purchased by ConAgra about three years ago. Organizers handbilled the plant and learned about the issues most important to this diverse group of workers: better pay, fair treatment, and respect on the job. UFCW Local 700 represents about 300 workers making Reddi-Wip and margarine at a ConAgra plant less than three miles away from the newly organized facility; at the union plant, workers earn higher wages, have better benefits, and have job security through their union contract.

“We can now join our sister plant with the right to negotiate for a brighter future,” said Kenny Green, a lead organizing committee member. “By forming our union, we’re standing up for better wages and benefits, and most importantly, a voice on the job.”