WWW.UFCW.ORGJanuary 23, 2013 Volume 17, Issue 6

CVS and UFCW Announce Coop-eration Agreement in 500 Stores

CVS Caremark and the UFCW announced last Thursday they have signed a cooperation agreement giving CVS pharmacy employees at approximately 500 stores in the metropolitan Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego areas the opportunity to vote on whether or not they want to be represented by the union.

According to CVS Caremark and the UFCW, this cooperation agreement will help promote the success of the company and demonstrates the shared commitment of both parties to ensuring that employees have the right to choose whether to be repre-sented by a union without pressure or undue infl uence.

“We share a commitment to making retail jobs secure, allowing workers to pay their bills, raise a family and live a middle class life,” said Joe Hansen, International President of the UFCW.

The fi ve-year agreement also establishes a quick and simple election process that allows workers to vote on whether or not to join the union.

There are more than 8,300 CVS pharmacy employees who are currently UFCW members in 11 states and in the District of Columbia. In California, CVS recognized the workers’ union in 100 former Sav-On stores following the company’s acquisition of those stores in 2006. Under this new cooperative agreement, both parties have agreed to extend the existing collective bar-gaining agreement for other California CVS pharmacy employ-ees to incoming union members for the next fi ve years. OP

CVS/pharmacy employees at 500 stores in Calif. have the opportu-nity to vote on whether or not they want a union voice on the job.

UFCW Local 5 President Ron Lind Appointed to CalPERS Board

UFCW Local 5 President Ron Lind has been ap-pointed to the CalPERS governing board. The Cali-fornia Public Employees’ Retirement System runs a $253 billion investment portfolio.

Lind was appointed to the slot by the Senate Rules Committee, which shares responsibility for that seat with the Assembly speaker’s offi ce. His ap-pointment reinforces the board’s labor orientation; six of the 13 positions are elected by current or former public employees.

Lind is also a trustee of the UFCW pension plan run in tandem with employers.

“Decisions around investments totaling more than $100 billion can clearly have an impact on UFCW members as well as the rest of the labor movement. CalPERS is already well-known for socially responsible investment guidelines and I look forward to my role in continuing and enhancing that focus,” Lind said.

The appointment puts the veteran labor offi cial in a leadership position at America’s largest public employees pension fund. It reinforces the board’s labor orientation; six of the 13 posi-tions are elected by current or former public employees. OP

UFCW Local 5 President Ron Lind was appointed to board of the larg-est public employee pension fund.

Union Plus Scholarship DeadlineThe deadline for the Union Plus Scholarship is Thursday, Januray 31. Members can learn more about the scholar-ship and register at http://bit.ly/A3wFXN. Since 1992, the Union Plus Scholarship Program has awarded more than $3.2 million to students of working families.

WWW.UFCW.ORGJanuary 23, 2013 Volume 17, Issue 6

President Obama’s Inaugural Speech Addresses Equality and Economic Opportunity

On Sunday, January 20, The UFCW hosted a reception for local unions in Washington, D.C. for the 57th Presidential In-auguration. It was an opportunity to both celebrate an historic event and coordinate on how to build upon the accomplish-ments of the previous four years.

President Obama’s second inaugural address stressed that America’s journey as a nation will not be complete until we achieve equality and economic opportunity for all is achieved.

“For our journey is not complete until our wives, our moth-ers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law—for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we fi nd a better way to wel-come the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.”

After President Obama won reelection in the fall, UFCW President Joe Hansen hailed the moment as “a victory for UFCW members and workers across the nation.” OP

Walmart Supplier Abandons Cambodian Workers without Pay-ing Wages or Benefi ts

More disappointing news of workers being cheated, mis-treated, and abused by Walmart suppliers has surfaced, this time in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. There, workers from an undergarment factory that supplies to retailers such as H&M and Walmart have been keeping vigil outside their workplace, Kingsland Garment because in late December, without warn-ing, managers shuttered the factory and fl ed without paying workers hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid wages and benefi ts.

Workers believe the motive for the abrupt move by manage-ment is a plot to shed long-time employees, and then re-open, in order to avoid paying for the benefi ts of workers who have seniority – a tactic many other suppliers for Walmart and other large retail chains employ in order to take advantage of temporary workers and to make forming a union virtually impossible. The garment workers wait, ready to confront any management that may return to gather equipment.

Without their pay and without work, many of the workers can-not afford rent, and have been evicted.

To support the workers who have come together to demand what they are owed, the UFCW together with Making Change at Walmart, and Warehouse Workers United and other organi-zations are calling on Walmart to force the supplier to pay the workers their severance. Visit http://bit.ly/VWNmjr for more information and to watch the video of the Cambodian garment workers. OP

Cambodian workers protest after managers closed the factory with-out paying workers unpaid wages and benefi ts.