Help Local 5's Union Printer Fight
Rett Syndrome, Vote with a Click
Steve Jones, owner of Pacific
Printing and a Local 5 member, and his wife are facing a
situation no parent wants to be in. Their daughter Brynn
has a rare neurological condition called Rett Syndrome.
With typical Jones optimism, though, they are facing
this challenge head on.
Pepsi is holding a contest where
various foundations and charities can get a $250,000
grant based on the number of votes they get form the
public. You can help by voting! You can vote every day
through July 31. Please
click here for further details.
You have to register for your
vote to count, but all that is required is your name,
email and birth date. Brynn and the Jones family thank
you!
AFL-CIO Leader Blasts DC for
Lack of Leadership on Economy
Local 5
Labor Foundation
for Working Families
Annual Golf Tourney Set
The annual
Local 5 golf tournament has been set for September 15 at
Sunol Valley Golf Club. This year both courses have been
reserved so no one will have to sit out the match,
according to Tim Hamann Tournament chairman.
Berkeley Bowl Workers Rally Against Company Inspired
Decertification
Workers at
Berkeley Bowl are rallying to defeat a management
inspired decertification election Wednesday June 23.
Instead of coming to that table to negotiate a renewal
contract upon the expiration of the first agreement, the
company promoted a decertification.
Bowl
employees, other Berkeley workers and their unions,
customers and community members are having no part of
the company's union busting actions. Union delegations
are taking place daily through the day of the vote and a
rally will be held Monday June 21.
Local 5 Scores Huge Victories
Against Wal Mart and other
Non-Union Retailers in Milpitas and Dublin
On the
evening of June 1 Local 5 scored significant victories
in the fight against the spread of non-union grocery in
the Bay Area.
In Milpitas
the city council voted 4-1 to deny Wal Mart the ability
to convert its existing discount center into a super
center. Despite the fact that the planning commission
sided with Wal Mart on the issue the city council did
the right thing for workers. This decision by the
council will mean that union jobs in Milpitas and the
surrounding areas will not fall victim to the
introduction more unfair non-union competition.
Local 5
President Ron Lind commended Art Balangue, Jerry Lee
Ruggiero, Tina Mendoza, Tony Alexander and Phil Tucker
for their efforts to win this fight.
In Dublin the
city council also voted 4-1 (there's always one in every
crowd) to direct staff to draft an ordinance requiring a
conditional use permit (CUP) for grocery sales within
the city limits. This regulation will give the union the
tools necessary to prevent retailers like Wal Mart,
Target and a host of other anti-worker outfits from
setting up shop in Dublin.
The effort in
Dublin was headed by collective bargaining director John
Nunes and Local 5 development consultant Mark Wolfe.
Celebration
of Life Scheduled
for Chris Gray
Details for a
celebration of Chris Gray's life have been released by
the family and the Martinez office.
On Saturday
May 15 a candlelight vigil was held in memory of Chris
Gray at the Martinez office. Many Local 5 members, their
families and friends attended the emotional event.
The family
has announced that a memorial service will be held for
Chris in the first part of June. Details of the
celebration of his life will be posted here.
Please
Click here for a memorial flyer with additional
information compiled by fellow union
representative Oscar Orozco.
Labor
Warrior Chris Gray
Passes Away
On May 12, 2010 UFCW Local 5 Union Representative
Chris Gray died in a tragic accident. While retrieving
one of his dogs, who had gotten off leash during their
daily walk, he was struck and killed by a train at
Pinole Shores Regional Park.
Chris Gray
1950-2010
Chris was a longtime
representative at UFCW Local 1179 in Contra Costa County
prior to the merger and post merger he continued to work
out of the Martinez office. He began his career in the
grocery industry in Massachusetts in 1966. Chris took
his responsibility as a union representative extremely
seriously and was a very effective advocate for the
membership. He always kept a cool head about him but
also would not shrink from a fight if need be.
Local 5 President Ron Lind
commented On Chris’s passing by saying, “Chris was a
fine representative of Local 5, dedicated to our union
and respected by our members. He will be missed by all
of us. Our thoughts are with his family.”
Funeral arrangements are pending
and will be announced on this website.
President Obama Signs Health Care
Bill
Signals New Beginning
President
Obama has signed the most significant piece of
legislation to wind its way through the Washington
bureauracracy in recent memory, health care reform.
It is
expected that once the changess contained in the bill
take hold health care costs will flatten out. Bringing
cost containment to the wild annual premium increases
that plague the current system will have a positive
effect on bargaining. Eventually health care will move
out of priority one in bargaining (trying to preserve it
for the union and trying to reduce the cost for
management) and be replaced by other topics, like wages,
that have taken a back seat for years.
US House of
Representatives Passes
Health Care Reform Package
On Sunday
March 21 the United States House of Representatives
voted 224 to 206 to begin the process to institute
health care reform. The vote proved that the Obama
administration and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
(D-SF) had the votes necessary to pass reform.
"This vote
signifies the achievement of a goal that has been
elusive since Teddy Roosevelt first attempted to pass a
national health plan" said Local 5 President Ron Lind.
"The efforts over the years to get this done have been
well worth it. I can say with no fear of contradiction,
that he role of the labor movement in general and Local
5 in particular have been key factors to this major
achievement."
Is
Massachusetts or Oregon
the Guide to the Future?
Millions of
Gallons of ink for print and billions of pixels on the
internet have been spilled trying to explain how a
former Playgirl model got elected Senator from the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Most prognosticators
predict this is the beginning of the end for the Obama
Administration and its goals and the progressive agenda
in general.
However, if
one takes a deep breath and looks at the results of a
recent election in Oregon it is possible to come to a
completely different conclusion.
The
electorate in Oregon, like voters in Massachusetts, were
not in a mood to be messed with. On January 26 they
voted to uphold the state's authority to tax the wealthy
and corporations at higher rates.
Last year the
state legislature, like every family, business and
county and city government found themselves in a tight
financial position. Instead of participating in massive
reductions in services and pay and benefit reductions,
like in California, they chose to make the rich and
corporations pay their fair share. Business and the rich
didn't like this and got enough signatures to put the
question on the ballot.
On January 26
the people spoke. They registered their consternation,
but unlike their counterparts in Massachusetts, there
was no confusion where they were coming from. They voted
to retain their quality of life by making sure that
those who have benefitted he most share with everyone
else.
Click here to see a good editorial on the
Massachusetts election from the AFL-CIO.
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right.....in miraculously few cases."Ed
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(SAG) 1982
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