It’s hardly a secret that election season is in full swing. From the clusters of campaign signs on street corners to the doom-and-gloom attack ads on our TVs, it’s a time when political messages are hard to miss and even harder to decipher.
As you and your family sort through this flood of information, I want to make one thing clear: Our Labor Movement is stronger today because of the Biden-Harris administration. After nearly four years of pro-Labor leadership at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., workers have more protections, better opportunities to support their families and a clearer pathway to union representation.
When President Biden and Vice President Harris took office, our essential workers faced a global pandemic and a deepening financial crisis. Within the first few months of their inauguration, the president stepped in and delivered for working families by signing the American Rescue Plan. In addition to providing billions in direct aid to communities nationwide, the plan ensured the solvency of union pension plans for more than one million workers and retirees.
The president also pushed Congress to pass the CHIPS Act as our nation navigated the pandemic-fueled supply chain crisis. Allocating $6.6 billion to Arizona alone, the new law rectified decades of underinvestment in semiconductor chip production, which we need to power our phones, computers and cars. The CHIPS Act has already created thousands of union jobs in our community, driving business to retailers, building demand for new grocery stores and putting money in our members’ pockets.
For workers who seek union representation, President Biden’s appointee to serve as general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, Jennifer Abruzzo, has steered the board to several landmark rulings. Perhaps the most notable is Cemex, which makes it easier for workers to demand union recognition and tougher for employers to delay bargaining by union-busting.
Kroger/Albertsons merger looms
President Biden has accomplished more for union families in one term than most presidents do in two. Yet, as we celebrate these accomplishments as worker-won victories, I want to address an unresolved issue for our union movement: the Kroger-Albertsons merger.
Since the proposed deal was announced two years ago, UFCW 99 and our International Union have worked tirelessly to ensure the best outcome possible for our members. Thanks to our persistent advocacy, President Biden’s Federal Trade Commission and Arizona Atty. Gen. Kris Mayes have pressured Kroger and Albertsons to promise to divest 101 stores in Arizona to C&S Wholesale, aiming to increase competition and avoid store closures. The fate of the merger is still being decided in court.
C&S has committed to honor all existing union contracts, assuring us that all union members will maintain their current seniority, benefits, wage increases and vacations should the merger be approved. The UFCW is continuing to meet with C&S executives to secure guarantees for our members.
UFCW Local 99 has ushered our grocery industry members through countless mergers over the years. In every recent instance, these members have retained their union-negotiated wages, health care, pensions, seniority rights and other workplace protections. If this merger is approved, members of Local 99 will have those rights protected and will continue to have the best jobs in Arizona’s food retail industry.
You can be sure that no matter what happens in the elections and in the courts, we will always have our members’ backs. We will keep pushing lawmakers to pass pro-worker legislation and use our collective power to leverage contract wins.
We will do whatever it takes to protect your jobs and rights.
