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Welcome to Your New UFCW Local 7 Home Page
(To return to the HOME PAGE click the UFCW Local 7 logo in the upper left corner of any page)
Local 7 News Updates...
Political Stunner...
Bill Clinton Endorses Romanoff in Colorado Dem Primary.
Clinton rocks Colo., backs Romanoff
- Clinton endorsed former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff (shown here). AP photo composite by POLITICO
Former President Bill Clinton rocked the Colorado Democratic Senate primary Tuesday, endorsing former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff's challenge to appointed Sen. Michael Bennet.
In a message calling Romanoff a politician who will "stand up to special interests and fight for working families," Clinton praised the insurgent liberal's long work building the Colorado Democratic Party: " He worked harder than anyone in Colorado to put Democrats in positions of power — and to use that power to benefit every single citizen. Andrew led the effort to win a majority in the Colorado House of Representatives for the first time in 30 years and to keep that majority for the first time in more than 40 years."
Romanoff is the first primary challenger to win support from Clinton, who helped Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln turn back a challenge last month from Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, a former official in his administration.
And Clinton did not endorse Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak's campaign against Sen. Arlen Specter — and even worked with the White House to suggest Sestak pursue other jobs in Washington — despite his longstanding affinity for the former admiral who served in his White House.
"We need Andrew's leadership in Washington — especially now, when so many Americans are losing so much," Clinton said in his endorsement of Romanoff. "'It is not enough,' as Andrew put it at the Colorado Democratic Assembly last month, 'to put a president of real talent and vision and leadership in the White House if the same qualities are not matched at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.'"
An automated SurveyUSA poll taken earlier this month showed Romanoff with a steep hill to climb against Bennet, the former Denver schools chief who was appointed to his seat after Ken Salazar became Interior secretary. Bennet took 52 percent support in the poll, compared with 36 percent for Romanoff.
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Training Class:
SAVE THE DATE !!
Labor 2010 Campaign School
Monday, July 12th through Wednesday, July 14th
140 Sheridan Blvd., Denver
Monday – 9am to 6pm
Tuesday – 9am to 6pm
Wednesday – 12pm to 9pm
Campaign School is designed to train interested persons
for the Labor 2010 Campaign
Topics will include:
* Labor 2010 Campaign
* Fighting dangerous ballot initiatives
* Electing worker-friendly candidates
* How to talk to other union members about politics
* Skill building and leadership development
* Much, much more!
For questions and to RSVP, please contact Debbie Olander at (303) 425-0897, ext. 424 or dolander@ufcw7.com
No later than Friday, July 9, 2010
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URGENT!
Important Message for Kaiser Members...Vote Time, Schedule, Announced.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010, at 7 a.m., 12 p.m., and 7 p.m., as well as Saturday, July 31, 2010 at 10 a.m. All meetings at UFCW-7, 7760 W. 38th, Wheatridge.
(More later on this page)
Important Message for Wyoming Safeway...Vote Time, Schedules, Announced.
Dear Safeway Union Member:
Please be advised, the following are the locations, dates and times for your contract ratification vote meeting:
Laramie Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 6 pm Friday, July 2, 2010 at 9 am Quality Inn 1655 Centennial Drive Laramie, WY 82070
Cheyenne Friday, July 2, 2010 at 6 pm Saturday, July 3, 2010 at 9 am Holiday Inn 204 W. Fox Farm Rd. Cheyenne, WY 82007
Please be in attendance for the presentation to vote on your contract. Additionally, you’ll have an opportunity to meet your newly elected President, Kim Cordova. Hope to see you there.
Additional Dates...
· Wheatland- 7/26 at 6 pm; 7/27 at 9 am
First State Bank Conference Center 1405 16th St. Wheatland, WY 82201
· Douglas- 7/12 at 9 am; 7/12 at 6 pm
Holiday Inn Express 900 W. Yellowstone Hwy Douglas, WY 82633
· Casper- 7/22 at 7 pm; 7/23 at 9 am
IBEW #322 Hall 691 English Dr. Casper, WY 82601
· Sheridan- 7/21 at 6 pm; 7/22 at 9 am
Holiday Inn 1809 Sugarland Dr. Sheridan, WY 82801
· Riverton- 7/29 at 9 am; 7/29 at 6 pm
Holiday Inn 900 E. Sunset Blvd. Riverton, WY 82501
· Lander- 7/30 at 9 am; 7/30 at 6 pm
Inn at Lander Best Western 260 Grandview Dr. Lander, WY 82520
If you have any questions, please contact me at your earliest convenience.
Thank you,
Kyle WelshUnion RepresentativeUFCW LocaL #7800.854.8054 EXT. 504
kwelsh@ufcw7.com
(More further down page)
Following is a letter to all Kaiser members from President Cordova regading meetings and votes.
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June 23, 2010
TO: All UFCW Local 7 Kaiser Members
RE: Local and National Agreement Contract Ratification Vote
Dear Member:
We are pleased to announce that the union has reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser Permanente regarding the National Agreement. UFCW Local 7 will conduct contract ratification vote meetings for workers represented by both the multi-professional and behavioral health collective bargaining agreements on Wednesday, July 28, 2010, at 7 a.m., 12 p.m., and 7 p.m., as well as Saturday, July 31, 2010 at 10 a.m. The ratification meeting will last approximately two hours.
Voting will take place at the Local 7 Union Hall, located at 7760 W. 38th Avenue in Wheat Ridge.
The tentative agreement reached over the National Agreement is two years in duration and includes a three percent wage increase for all workers in October of 2010 and another equal increase in October 2011. The increases are in addition to the 2 percent increase you already received in April.
Additionally, all current benefits will remain the same, meaning there are no cuts to health benefits, nor are there increases in co-pays or premiums.
No changes will be made to the local agreements, except for the expiration dates. Bargaining committees for the multi-professional and behavioral health agreements both recommend acceptance of this excellent tentative agreement.
We strongly encourage you to take part in the ratification meetings and learn additional details about the agreements. Please arrive at the time the meeting commences and stay until the meeting’s conclusion in order to vote on the contract.
In unity,
Kim C. Cordova
President, UFCW Local 7
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 Kaiser Worker-Negotiators Get Two Year,
All-Gains National TA.
1536 Colorado Region Kaiser Professionals Covered
Local 7 Kaiser Members Get Raises, Mantenance of Benefits, More
Wheat Ridge, CO. June 17, 2010)—Colorado Region Kaiser professional workers got a day-long look at a new tentative national agreement from members of their negitating team Wednesday, and smiled and nodded in agreement at what they saw.
 “They like it,” said Joan Heller, a member of the Colorado worker-negotiating team that reached the tentative agreement with the health care giant.
Heller says there is plenty to like for the 1536 Colorado Region Kaiser professionals.
The national agreement calls for a three percent across-the-board increase in October 2010 and another three percent across-the-board increase in October, 2011.
The Kaiser workers already received a two percent increase in April, 2010, resulting in a total five percent increase in wages in 2010.
The new agreement also maintains current health care cost and coverage, (maintenance of benefits) a huge plus in a climate where many employers are raising health care premiums and co-pays for their workers.
“The Kaiser agreement is all gains and no losses for Colorado workers,” Heller said. She is a doctor of optometry at the Kaiser Center Point Facility in Aurora.
The agreement covers Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Registered Pharmacists, Physical Therapists, Physicians Assistants, Medical Technologists, Behavioral Health Professionals, and many other professionals.
 “We give Kaiser patients the best possible care, so it’s great to see Kaiser values our skills and dedication,” said negotiating team member Alma Navarro. She is a registered pharmacist at the Kaiser Rock Creek facility in Lafayette.
Colorado Kaiser professional employees are represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 in Wheat Ridge.
Kaiser Permanente professionals work in a unique “partnership” with the company that gives them a strong voice with their supervisors and managers and contributes to the decision-making process from the clinic up to senior management.
The goal of the partnership is to provide the highest quality medical care in the world, with the patient always at the center of medical decisions.
Health care experts and even President Barack Obama have hailed this unionized organization as a model for health care for the future.
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Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions
Delegate Conference March 14, 2010
Left to right, back row: Barb Pederson, Tony Johnson, Helen Spiegel, Meg Tannenhill, Judy Jacobson.
Next Row: Wanda Titus, Gina Duran, Cleesie Miles, Lisa Harris, Joan Heller, Linda Focht, Pam Howard, Nicky Sassaman.
Front row: Nate Bernstein, Debra Little, Roberta Nunemaker, Tony Caliendo, Tom Merry
NEW!
Wyoming Safeway Workers Reach Tentative Deal with Corporation
First Votes Laramie, July 1, 2. Cheyenne, ZJuly 2,3. July 2-3.
Signing Bonus, Insurance, Pensions and Raises Equal to Colorado Workers
Agreement Covers More than 600 Safeway Workers in Eight Wyoming Communities.
Worker-Negotiator: “We did good. We got the same pension benefits and raises as Colorado, the same improved health insurance, and a signing bonus, too."
Cheyenne, Wyoming. June 29, 2010)—Wyoming Safeway workers reached a tentative agreement with the company Tuesday afternoon in Cheyenne. The worker-negotiating committee, made up of Safeway workers from around the state, unanimously recommended ratification of the agreement.
The new 52-month contract affects more than 600 workers. A ratification vote for workers around the state will be set soon.
After months of negotiations, the workers achieved their top goal…getting the same pension benefits as their Colorado counterparts.
“The pension deal is huge,” said Tommy O’Reilly, a negotiating team member. He is also on the Executive Board of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, which represents the Wyoming workers. “Now our pension is the same as Colorado’s, and that’s great,” he said.
The workers also achieved another goal…a health care plan that gives Wyoming Safeway workers an improved insurance package like the one Colorado workers fought for in their new contracts earlier this year.
Those improvements include expanded “wellness” care that consists of 100% payment for preventative care coverage, like colonoscopies and mammograms, well-baby checkups and adult annual physical exams.
The insurance plan negotiated by the Safeway workers will also significantly lower the cost of co-pays for “maintenance drugs.” Those drugs are used to treat long-term diseases like hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes. In addition, the families of newly hired workers will be eligible to join the insurance plan after one year.
“You have no idea how big that preventative care is to Safeway workers,” O'Reilly said.
Top journeyman workers will get hourly raises of 30 cents per hour and an additional 25 cents per hour for the next three years. Courtesy clerks will get a dime-an-hour-per-year raise...the same as Colorado.
Wyoming Safeway workers also will get a signing bonus equal to their Colorado counterparts. Full time workers will get $1,000, part time workers $500. Workers with less seniority or experience will get less.
The workers also got a commitment from Safeway to start employees' pay at least at the state minimum wage.
"We did good. We got the same pension and raises as Colorado, the same improved health insurance, and a signing bonus, too. We wanted the same benefits as Colorado, and we got them," said Tammy Baker, a Casper Safeway employee who is the senior member of the worker negotiating team.
"Once Safeway said we get the same deal as Colorado, the worker committee voted unanimously to recommend the offer to the members, she added.
The new tentative agreement covers Safeway workers at ten stores in eight Wyoming communities, represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 from Denver in the talks.
While all negotiation decisions are made by a committee of workers representing the stores, negotiators complimented Local 7 President Kim Cordova for her leadership in the talks. Cordova took over as president of Local 7 in January.
Sheridan worker-negotiator Jackie Newell, who has been pushing for equal pay for her store said, "I just wish we had Kim fighting for us years earlier."
UFCW Local 7 represents workers at two stores in Cheyenne, two in Casper, and one store in Laramie, Douglas, Wheatland, Lander, Riverton and Sheridan.
Local 7 earlier wrapped up three-year contracts with Colorado Safeway, King Soopers and Albertsons stores.
UFCW Local 7 is the largest labor organization in Colorado and Wyoming, with 23,000 members, mostly in the grocery, food production and health care business.
Contact:
Dave Minshall, Communications Director, UFCW Local 7, Wheat Ridge, CO O-303-425-0897, C-303-513-5613
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Wyoming Trubune Eagle
Cheyenne, Wyoming
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By Becky Orr
borr@wyomingnews.com
CHEYENNE - Safeway workers in Wyoming reached a tentative agreement with the company Tuesday for wages and benefits. The deal affects more than 650 Safeway employees who work at 10 Safeway stores, including two stores in Cheyenne. These stores are in eight Wyoming communities.
Wyoming workers soon will vote to ratify the proposed 52-month contract.
Kris Staaf, director of public affairs for Safeway's Denver Division, said in a statement that "we are very pleased we have reached a negotiated, recommended settlement" with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7. The union is based in Wheat Ridge, Colo.
Workers met a top goal in negotiations, which was to have the same pension benefits as Safeway employees in Colorado. Employees also got a health-care plan that improves the insurance package and pays for preventive care.
Top journeymen workers will get a 30-cents-an-hour raise when the contract is approved. They will get a 25-cents-an-hour raise on top of that in each of the next three years.
Courtesy clerks will get the same raise as clerks in Colorado, which is 10 cents an hour. Safeway workers in Wyoming also will get signing bonuses, which Colorado workers get. Full-time employees will earn a $1,000 bonus, and part-time workers will get $500. Those with less experience will get less, based on a news release from UFCW Local 7.
Safeway committed to start employee pay at least at the state minimum wage.
Tommy O'Reilly, a negotiating team member from Cheyenne, said he is pretty happy with the agreement. "We basically agreed to the same increases that the Colorado Safeway people got," O'Reilly said Wednesday.
Wyoming workers work for the same company as those in Colorado and are in the same union, he said. But wages and contributions to the pension plan have been less.
Safeway officials agreed to make the same pension contributions as for Colorado workers. "It is a pretty big deal for us," O'Reilly said.
Wyoming members achieved a health-care plan like that of Colorado employees. The plan provides 100 percent payment for preventive care like mammograms, colonoscopies and adult physicals.
"That doesn't count against our co-pay or deductible for our insurance. That is a really a big deal," O'Reilly said. He added that the procedures are pretty expensive.
Employee co-pays will be less for drugs that treat long-term illnesses like diabetes.
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(To see other news coverage of Wyoming TA, click "news" on the top of this page)
New!
Politics: Get Involved. Volunteer to help UFCW-7 endorsed Andrew Romanoff
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Dear Friends,Do you have a few days to spare? How about an hour or two?Our fundraising quarter ends at midnight on Wednesday, June 30. We're going to use the time between now and then to reach as many voters as possible. Volunteer at one of our nine campaign offices this weekend or sign up here to help on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.Thanks to you, we won the State Assembly by 21 points, and we've enlisted thousands of new supporters since then. But we need your help now, more than ever. Canvass your neighborhood. Phone your friends. Join our cause.Our campaign is powered by people like you. Nearly 95 percent of our donors live here in Colorado -- and, as Andrew likes to say, 100 percent are human. Andrew is the only candidate in this race, and one of the few in America, who refuses to accept corporate cash.Imagine that: a senator accountable to his constituents. If that's worth at least an hour of your time, click here.Most of our opponent's money comes from outside Colorado. Special-interest groups have poured more than $1 million into his campaign coffers. Sen. Bennet's commercials ought to say "Brought to you by BP" or "Paid for by the executives of Goldman Sachs."Plenty of candidates promise to stand up to special interests. In a fundraising appeal he sent out last week, for example, Sen. Bennet criticized the "lax regulations and long-standing corporate loopholes" that lead to "catastrophic financial and environmental disasters." Mr. Bennet's stance, however, contained a loophole of its own. Twenty-four hours earlier, he voted to preserve more than $35 billion in tax breaks for the oil and gas industry, instead of using that money to reduce the deficit and advance energy efficiency and conservation.We can do better. Sign up to volunteer today.Record numbers of Americans are facing foreclosure. The Senate Banking Committee had a chance to help families save their homes, by allowing relief in bankruptcy court. Our opponent voted no. Wall Street receives hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer bailouts. The Senate had a chance to prevent banks from becoming too big to fail. Our opponent voted no.This is not the change we voted for. In many ways, it's no change at all. Join us now.Luckily, we have a choice this year. Andrew Romanoff has devoted his life to the fight for justice and equal opportunity. That's why he worked at the Southern Poverty Law Center and in the villages of Central America. That's why he ran for the state legislature and led the battle for a Democratic majority. And that's why he's running for the U.S. Senate.Andrew has always stood with us. It's time we stood with him.Thank you.Sincerely, Rep. Paul Weissmann (D-Louisville)
House Majority Leader PS: Andrew will be visiting several of our campaign offices throughout the next five days. Volunteer now, and we'll buy him a sleeping bag!
Romanoff for Colorado Offices
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Adams
2004-B West 120th Ave., Westminster (map)
Contact: Larry Dunn
larry@andrewromanoff.com
720-329-5243
Boulder
2520 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder (map)
Contact: Diana Caile
diana@andrewromanoff.com
720-329-4586
Denver/Arapahoe/Douglas
2223 South Monaco Parkway, Suite E8, Denver (map)
Contact: Anne Collins (Denver)
denver@andrewromanoff.com
303-204-4165
Contact: Susie McMahon (Arapahoe and Douglas)
susie@andrewromanoff.com
303-810-6351
Denver (Five Points)
2645 Welton St, Denver
Contact: Denice Edwards
fivepoints@andrewromanoff.org
720-885-7570
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El Paso
711 S. Tejon, Colorado Springs (map)
Contact: Rolf Jacobsen
rolf@andrewromanoff.org
720-364-4006
Jefferson
7400 West 14th Ave., Suite 8, Lakewood (map)
Contact: Bobby O'Mara
Bobby@andrewromanoff.com
720-885-2004
Larimer
317 N. Meldrum,Fort Collins (map)
Contact: Andrea King
andrea@andrewromanoff.com
970-673-7712
Pueblo
2701 S. Prairie, Pueblo (map)
Contact: Norma Oldham
norma@andrewromanoff.com
720-629-7141
Weld
918 1/2 9th Ave, Greeley
Contact: Andrea King
andrea@andrewromanoff.com
970-673-7712
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More on candidates and elections, click "Politics"
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We're Baaack!
Denver Gender-Discrimination Protest Rattles Walmart
UFCW Local 7, Community Groups, Alert Customers to Class-Action Lawsuit
“Nobody ignored four-year old Lily”
(Broomfield, Colorado June 4, 2010)--More than 20 members of UFCW Local 7, joined by Colorado Jobs with Justice and 9 to 5, the National Association of Working Women, passed out handbills to Walmart customers Friday afternoon, alerting shoppers to the giant retailer’s dismal record of gender discrimination and riling store managers.
“Most shoppers seemed surprised when they learned Walmart is the defendant in a class-action lawsuit that claims the corporation discriminated against female workers in pay and promotions,” said Andrea Kania, a Local 7 union representative who helped organize the effort.
The case may involve up to one million Walmart women workers who say they were passed over while men with less experience or seniority advanced in stores.
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