FROM THE FIELD
ACTIVE MEMBERS BUILD A STRONG UNION
PAUL EDWARDS Field Director
Activism ( n .) The action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change .
There lies the strength of belonging to a union . Our union members ’ desire to bring about change in their work environment through activism is what propels us forward as a movement .
“ Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful , committed , citizens can change the world . Indeed , it is the only thing that ever has .” ― Margaret Mead
Our members rose to that challenge last year by successfully mobilizing in the various contract campaigns and political initiatives of 2016 . Whether it was our major food contract campaigns , our packinghouse victories , the Kaiser PSP bonus dispute , or the Fight for $ 15 - members got active and stood strong in these and several other campaigns to improve our contracts and our communities .
Shop Stewards Frank and Aaron at Vons 2124 in Sunland gathering petition signatures from customers .
Local 770 ’ s 2016 Stewards ’ Conference attended by 700 union stewards focused on the importance of mobilizing our members during the presidential election and local candidates ’ in California and surrounding states . The goals we set forth in the steward conference were to register new voters ; get our members to the polls ; as well as participate in the union endorsed campaigns and encourage our coworkers to be active . While the great majority of our Stewards were able to accomplish several of the goals , there was a select group of five of our union stewards who were the overachievers of 2016 . Those stewards are : Andrea Arhelger , Enio Bolanos ,
Mita Desai , Robert Shelven and Deborah Wink . Because of their efforts , they registered more voters ; did the important work of talking to our members and taught their coworkers how voting matters in their lives and in their workplace . As a result , our voices were amplified and our union became stronger with every conversation and every voter registration .
2017 will prove to be a challenging year for our union . We have two very important contract campaigns coming up this year with CVS and Food 4 Less contracts expiring in June . We also have several packing house contracts set to be renegotiated . This will be the first opportunity for us to negotiate a new CVS contract since the successful organizing of over 100 stores . We are looking to build on the strength of this new membership this year . Three years ago , our Food 4 Less members fought for a better contract when the company refused to give them the same respect and dignity as they give their Ralphs employees . If that happens again , we will be prepared to fight back .
Pharmacist Linh Le of Ralphs 111 getting support from his customers while fighting for a fair contract .
5 Issue 4 THE VOICE December 2016