Member Resources

Initiation Fee – Market Share Program – Steward Resources

MEMBER RESOURCES

UFCW 5 has implemented a program that is designed to help new members reduce their initiation fee by one-third (1/3). A new member will be eligible for this reduction in their initiation fees by getting involved with our Union. In order to qualify, the new member must do the following:

1. Attend the new member orientation meeting.

2. Participate in three (3) additional Local 5 actions; such as membership meetings, attend an office hosted virtual town hall meeting, rallies and other Union sponsored event. If a new member participates in the three (3) events over the course of an eighteen (18) month period following the new member orientation meeting, they will be given a credit of one-third (1/3) of the initiation fees.

You should always check our website for upcoming meetings and events. If you have any questions regarding this program, please contact your Union Representative.

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MARKET SHARE PROGRAM

Union Market Share and Dues Refund Program

Union market share protection is a program that UFCW 5 has implemented to help increase UFCW membership and participation in union activities. Activities in the program include supporting union organizing drives, participating in rallies, distributing information about the union at festivals, fiestas and fairs, phone banking, precinct walking, helping out on picket lines and other activities. In other words, there is something for everyone.

If you choose to participate in the program you must complete 4 hours of union activities over the course of the year. Any combination of time that equals the 4 hours is acceptable. If you participate and meet the hours requirement, $60 ($5 month) will be refunded to you from the beginning of the next calendar year. Check with your area office to sign up and for details of eligible events.

Initiation Fee Credit For New Hires New Local 5 members are invited to take part in the initiation fee credit for new hires program. By participating news members can reduce their initiation fees by one third. The attendance requirements are the same as the union market share program. The sooner the new member’s meeting and/or local 5 activities are completed the sooner the initiation reduction takes place.

This initiation fee credit applies to all job classifications and will apply to future promotions without having to attend additional meetings. Attending local 5 actions that qualify under the union market share program may be substituted for attendance at membership meetings. One action/event=one meeting. Check the website for coming events.Please contact your union representative or area office for further information on participating in the program.

Eligible Events Pledge card actions – New Members Meetings – Membership Meetings – Precinct Walking – Phone Banks – Informational Leafleting – Picket Lines

Download Steward Handbook PDF

STEWARD RESOURCES

As union members, we are all responsible for advocating respect and justice on the job and making sure we stick up for each other.

In addition to being union members, some of us choose to take a more active role, as stewards, in our workplaces. Union stewards step up, either by election or appointment, to enforce our contract and to make sure our coworkers know their rights. We accompany other workers at disciplinary and represent union issues as equals with management. Good stewards are the backbone of an effective union. We reach out to new members and help educate them on their rights. We serve as a bridge between elected union leadership and workers on the job.

We listen to our co-workers and provide a confidential way for members to bring forward their ideas and concerns. But most importantly, it is a steward’s job to inspire, lead and build a sense of unity and solidarity among the wide range of workers in our union. All union members have a right to have their steward present with them during meetings that they feel might be disciplinary.

In 1975, in NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the rights of employees to have union representation during investigatory interviews. Since that case involved a clerk being investigated by the Weingarten Company, these rights have become known as “Weingarten rights.” If you are called into a closed meeting with your manager and you start to feel nervous that things may take a disciplinary turn, you have the right to stop the meeting and request the meeting be resumed when your union steward is present. If you’ve got questions about your contract, your steward is the best person to ask.