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UFCW: A study on how they got to where they are today.
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UFCW: A study on how they got to where they are today.
UFCW: A study on how they got to where they are today.
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| SharynS |
Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 7:16 pm
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Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 2941 Location: the 'puter |
Contributed by Bill (BP) Pearson
There are reasons, solid explanations for where we are, why we end up where we do. Absolutely fate plays a part, luck invariably is also a factor. The reality is, much of it is directly related to what we have done and how we have done it. That is true for organizations as well as people. The ufcw international is a classic study in how organizations work... or don't in some cases. Let's be blunt, they have a large structure with enormous responsibilities. With a yearly budget of over 200 million dollars, they have enormous resources to work with. read more... _________________ Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself. - Salman Rushdie |
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| SharynS |
Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 11:49 pm
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Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 2941 Location: the 'puter |
Quote: ...we assume that everyone will understand that pursuit of labor parity means that we will seek to reduce competitive inequities among organized operations by raising standards to the highest levels, not retreating to the weakest contract. And who doesn't know the story about reducing the competitive inequities. The only difference is we call it rolling out the red carpet for the walmarts of the world. And I wouldn't exactly categorize the goofs who scripted workers demise as "bright" - how difficult is it to take advantage of people? Made even simpler when the trough was already loaded long before these pigs stuck their snouts in it. The right labour school, a notepad, an evil hearted mentor, the smell of lots of money and a self-serving agenda and voilą. It's not like people didn't/don't know something was going down, it's that they didn't know the specifics of it. I'm feeling that that's about to change - some more. _________________ Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself. - Salman Rushdie |
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| wm pasz |
Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 12:23 am
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Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 1219 Location: Toronto |
I've always been fascinated by the UFCW's earlypost-1979 merger history. I can hardly wait for the future segments BP (really, I mean that).
I'm wondering if you could comment though (and maybe this is going to be included in future segments) at bit about the impetus for the merger. I've heard that it was sort of a marriage of convenience: The cutters were finding themeselves in hard times and so the merger with the clerks looked like a good idea, but I've often wondered about that. The two unions had pretty different philosophies and the whole thing was pretty politically charged (at least here in Canada it way anyway). So why'd they do it in the first place? By the way, the policy on bargaining looks wonderful on paper and, I believe it really was only on paper. If it was issued in March 1985, by the following month Doug Dority (who was Bill Wynn's 2IC as far as I know at the time) was already breaking it by agreeing to a concessionary deal for a bunch of restaurant workers in Canada (per the advice of Cliff Evans, Wynn's Canadian lieutenant). I've often wondered how much the Canadian brothers contributed to the corruption of the union that had all the ingredients of a workers' powerhouse but squandered them in remarkable fashion. Looking forward... _________________ Time is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. You don't need anything else. - Malcolm X |
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| Pearson |
Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 1:21 pm
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Joined: 03 Feb 2006 Posts: 1417 Location: Sun City AZ |
Quote: The two unions had pretty different philosophies and the whole thing was pretty politically charged (at least here in Canada it way anyway). So why'd they do it in the first place? The clerks and the cutters had a stormy relationship at best. The differences were significant. Cutters were mostly full time; the clerks were both full and part time. The militancy levels were far higher in the cutters; due in large part to the merger with the packinghouse workers. An interesting footnote is there are those coming from the packinghouse workers who felt that merger with the cutters was the beginning of their demise; it made them less militant. Across the US and Canada there were often raids and infighting that left the only winners the employers. The merger made sense, but the motivation behind the marriage was driven monetarily. The average age of the meat cutters was dramatically higher than the clerks. That has a huge impact on benefit plans. Where the meat cutter locals had both the front and back of the store, they were fine. Where they only had the meat shops, they were being crushed by the cost of health insurance and pension plans with too few members. Arguably, Bill Wynn's biggest accomplishment was to pull off the merger. It was done the same way every acquisition they ever put together...they bought it. The meat cutters international pension plan was no where near as good as the clerks, and it was more expensive to belong to. Wynn waved pension improvements, retiree health care paid for life and cash back for all officers who had more than 20 years on staff. It was yet another magical moment in the ufcw history; the merger came off without a hitch. Well that's not quite true. The clerk health care plans were impacted by the influx of older members. There were any number of costly administrative problems we inherited and some legal liabilities that put us in harms way as well. As we will see in coming days, there were always guys in the background trying to work out their own best deal. Another opportunity to enrich oneself in the ufcw was always just around the corner. I did/still do think the retail bargaining bargaining policy was one of the best written agendas they have ever produced. The time, effort, amount of booze and cost of hotel stays that went into it may have been staggering, but if they had enforced it, it would have been money well spent. _________________ If we don't do it, who will? |
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| SharynS |
Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 1:50 pm
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Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 2941 Location: the 'puter |
Quote: ...the retail bargaining bargaining policy was one of the best written agendas Sorry people but these goofs didn't go into the merger with clean hands or pure of intent - they had to make it work without compromising their end goal - to own exclusive rights to labour or at least be on the bottom floor for the global market boom. I'll give them this, damn good long range planning. 
_________________ Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself. - Salman Rushdie |
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| wm pasz |
Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 2:51 pm
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Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 1219 Location: Toronto |
I'm very curious to read the rest of Bill's article. The bargaining policy looks wonderful on paper. I have to wonder why they never enforced it or abided by it. Was it just a smokescreen (as I think siggy is suggesting) or were there two different forces at work in the newly-merged organization - people who really believed in the power of the new union and people who had their own selfish agendas uppermost in their minds?
BP - can you provide some background about Bill Wynn? I've never been able to find much background information on him. _________________ Time is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. You don't need anything else. - Malcolm X |
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| Pearson |
Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 5:39 pm
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Joined: 03 Feb 2006 Posts: 1417 Location: Sun City AZ |
Quote: BP - can you provide some background about Bill Wynn? I've never been able to find much background information on him. I didn't know Bill well. But, from talking to folks who did know him, he was one tough, feisty labor leader. He came out of the midwest and had a reputation of not taking shit from anyone. Here is where the disconnect comes in. I've known a dozen guys like that. They were smart, aggressive and capable. They also wanted very badly to get ahead. Within organizational structure, that comes at a very steep price. Allegiance is more important than any other quality they bring...and it isn't to the membership. If you want to get ahead, you best be willing to compromise those values that got you to the dance. The irony is, the guys who prove their mettle at the local level then have to transform and become a wholly different animal. Let's be blunt; it becomes fairly easy to do because the price they are willing and able to pay is significant. Then there's the other pitfall of life at the top...you change. Most become overly impressed by their new found stature; especially the guys at the top. Two quick stories: The ufcw held a pretty impressive conference in Las Vegas. It was the early 90's and the idea was to move locals to a whole new level of membership involvement. As usual, it was well put together, and one of the few times there was as many rank and file there as there were staff and officers. The meeting was at the Tropicana and on Friday morning as we were set to close, Bill Wynn stepped to the mic. He was bleary eyed and hadn't slept at all; it was obvious. With a slurred speech he announced the conference was almost a bust. Fortunately, he and two of the other officers had made a huge run on the table during the early morning hours and recovered all of their losings and had walked away with a $10,000 profit. The crowd of members who came to be educated, motivated and inspired sat stunned. What they heard was the conference being deemed a success because their president was leaving a winner. The other was right after Joe Talirico was named vice president. We were in a mixed crowd of members and staffers and somebody must have told Joe to tell a joke as an icebreaker. This idiot gets up and tells some crap about having three wishes and the punch line being about pussy willows. A number of us had already heard the very sexist joke and groaned when he started it. He plowed through it and the collective groan from the audience went unnoticed by the new vp. God, there's a million of these. I cringe when i think how guys who once were good, tough, well meaning labor leaders become enamored with their own importance. I guess the toughest thing to understand is how an executive board of 50 plus could allow some of the sweet deals they did. There were policies put it place that would have a staggering impact on the ufcw and their ability to represent members. I guess rather than fight it, a number of them just went back to their locals and tried to insure they got theirs. _________________ If we don't do it, who will? |
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| SharynS |
Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 11:05 pm
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Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 2941 Location: the 'puter |
Quote: ...an executive board of 50 plus... _________________ Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself. - Salman Rushdie |
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| Pearson |
Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 2:08 pm
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Joined: 03 Feb 2006 Posts: 1417 Location: Sun City AZ |
Quote: who were/are they and where are they now? The names change, the faces change, but the outcomes are always pretty much the same. I had an old ufcw convention booklet where i would line out the men and women (very few of those around) as they retired. It was amazing to see every five years how a new slate of hand picked candidates would emerge. It was quite an honor to become an international vice president. Along with the extended working vacations to way awesome destinations, came the $20,000 yearly stipend. Nice perk, especially when a third or better of the ufcw members were making less than that. But back to the topic at hand. The internationals policy on retail bargaining has lasted some 20 plus years. In that time period we have seen three different ufcw presidents oversee it. I would guess there have been near on 100 folks who have contributed to it. In the next installment, one of those guys who was around for almost the entirety of its existence will be highlighted. Our old friend Captain Jack was surely a player in its creation; now the question is, how did he help strengthen it? Stay tuned, perhaps later today. _________________ If we don't do it, who will? |
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| wm pasz |
Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 5:59 pm
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Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 1219 Location: Toronto |
BP, when did concession bargaining begin between the UFCW and the larger US supermarket chains and which employers were involved?
_________________ Time is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. You don't need anything else. - Malcolm X |
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| Pearson |
Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:23 pm
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Joined: 03 Feb 2006 Posts: 1417 Location: Sun City AZ |
Quote: BP, when did concession bargaining begin between the UFCW and the larger US supermarket chains and which employers were involved? Good question and one that is due a more than cursory answer. My guess is the boys would take offense to your term "concessionary bargaining." I think they like to refer to it using the more politically phrase cost neutral agreements. The concept of reducing labor costs didn't begin with grocery stores in the ufcw. The cutting started with the packinghouse industry. Swift, Armour, Cudahay and several others began in the late 70's and all through the early 80's the ufcw was at a loss how to stop it. I suspect in part, the ability to dismantle one of the most militant of unions, the old packinghouse workers, was a clear sign we could be had. In fact, the theory that bigger was stronger certainly didn't bare out. As i am want to do, i drift. Even back in the early 80's we saw an interesting change in the dynamic of bargaining. Unionized retail grocers were the best part time game in town; and the full timers fared even better. Remember, back then there was virtually no non union operators in any of the markets that were heavily unionized. Wages and benefit costs didn't matter much because employers could just raise the price on a can of peas to cover the higher labor costs. There were lots of reasons things changed, not the least being the anti union mentality under the Reagan administration. The grocers were far more subtle in their approach than say the airline industry. Their goal wasn't to gut contracts, but to reduce starting rates for new hires; create second tiers of workers and increase the numbers of part timers while lowering the number of full timers. That worked fine until the mid nineties and the argument that wal mart and the other non union players were going to cause them to go out of business. It was the birth of the cost neutral contract; perhaps what was most frightening was how easily some of the biggest, baddest local union leaders were willing to buy into it. Within the next day or two, i will post a copy of the settlement agreement from 1995 in Northern California. There are numerous accounts of how Loveall and a number of Bay area locals crippled the employers. The seven day strike was unbelievably successful. To this day, there are hoards of folks who are staggered the strike ended with hardly any improvements; save one. I hope as this is posted, laboryes and others can find some of the old timers to contribute to this discussion. I hesitate to accuse anyone, but as you read the settlement reached, there will clearly be questions raised. In the end, people will have to make up their own minds; at least now they will have more of the facts which should make it easier. _________________ If we don't do it, who will? |
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| wm pasz |
Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:55 pm
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Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 1219 Location: Toronto |
Thanks for the pronto reply BP. What was the concessionary deal that really got the race for the bottom going? Here in Canada, we can point to the deal that the UFCW did with Loblaws Westfair Foods in 1989 in BC (the one where they created the special local to keep existing locals and their superior agreements out of Loblaws new Superstores). This was the deal that got the race going among all the other larger grocery retailers although there had been some tinkering with collective agreements since about 1983 or so.
I'm wondering what the race starter was in the US and when it might have happened. _________________ Time is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. You don't need anything else. - Malcolm X |
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| SharynS |
Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 9:25 pm
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Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 2941 Location: the 'puter |
Quote: who were/are they and where are they now? Quote: The names change, the faces change, but the outcomes are always pretty much the same. Quote: But back to the topic at hand. 
I would think people involved in getting ufcw to where it is today is very much the topic. What if I rephrase the question? Can you tell us if any of the original 50 of the ufcw executive rat pack, who are referenced above, are still doing ufcw business, practicing their craft - pension notwithstanding - drawing a ufcw salary? _________________ Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself. - Salman Rushdie |
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| Laboryes |
Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 2:40 am
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Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 1967 |
Quote: To this day, there are hoards of folks who are staggered the strike ended with hardly any improvements; save one. I hope as this is posted, laboryes and others can find some of the old timers to contribute to this discussion. BP, We are the old timers now! I have many memories of that strike but the one that sticks out the most is after kicking the shit out of Luckys & Safeway and only being on the streets for 8 days we walked away with a 3 year wage freeze and I also believe that was the beginning of Loveall's pension give aways to his buddies in corporate...correct me if I'm wrong. Here is a little diddy! Members are out on the streets for a week and it's Easter week! Yes we killed the companies Easter sales all except Raleys stores they excepted a "sweet heart" deal and raked in all the profits due to the strike. The small Raleys by my home had million dollar sales that week! Rumor has it that the top Raley executives and Jack Loveall sit arm and arm in some of the best seats at Arco Arena in Sacramento for the Kings games. Back to my point! While members stood strong and killed the companies being that they weren't out for two weeks we were not intitled to any strike pay!(so we were told anyway) So the union (Loveall) didn't lose one dime only us members! How convenient eh? _________________ "When people refuse to obey, then democracy comes alive." Howard Zinn |
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| Pearson |
Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 2:13 pm
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Joined: 03 Feb 2006 Posts: 1417 Location: Sun City AZ |
Tinkering was a way of life during negotiations starting in the 80's and early 90's. I think by almost everyone's standards the pension givebacks in the late 90's in California was the granddaddy of them all. There were folks shouting from the rooftops over this giveaway.
The retail strike in Northern Ca was the one that left people most puzzled. The settlement and the 1995 extension that was reached was the door opener, for some very curious goings on. It will all fit together once the settlements from 1998 are posted, but we will do it incrementally so it all makes sense. Quote: Can you tell us if any of the original 50 of the ufcw executive rat pack, who are referenced above, are still doing ufcw business, practicing their craft - pension notwithstanding - drawing a ufcw salary? _________________ If we don't do it, who will? |
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UFCW: A study on how they got to where they are today.
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