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Creative Action Gets the Goods

By thinking outside the box, we can often come up with creative solutions to problems that arise in the workplace. Grievances are important, but they alone aren’t visible to most workers and can be drawn-out and feel bureaucratic. When workers are involved with directly challenging issues, it can help inspire confidence, build the union and sometimes lead to a faster resolution. 
 
from Leslie Bond, UFCW Local 23

One member-driven internal organizing effort that I recall happened in one of my stores, surrounding tattoos and piercings.  There was an outdated policy regarding tattoos and piercings, but the company, Giant Eagle, hadn’t enforced it for many years.  One day, rather suddenly, a manager at one store decided to be vindictive and said that going forward, all tats and piercings on employees in his store would have to be covered.  We had a grievance filed, but everyone realized that it would likely take a long time to settle and they were miserable with this idea.

So the members decided to cover them rather creatively. A member with wrist tats came in with gauze wrapped around her wrists with duct tape, leading customers to look at her sadly, thinking she had attempted suicide.

drea

Two women in the bakery wore ear muffs to cover multiple ear piercings and scarves to cover their neck tats.  Because they wore all white uniforms, they looked very much like snow men, which was especially attention-getting because it was the middle of summer. Customers – those with and without their own tattoos – made comments to managers about how ridiculous it was.  Not only were some offended with the idea that vets with military tats couldn’t show them off proudly, but they found it to be unnerving that people who were handling their food were bandaged.  The crackdown on tattoos and piercings was basically over by noon and was finalized by a grievance settlement soon after.

amy

Relying on the Strength of the Steward Network

With all the demands on our time, sometimes it’s easy to feel stretched thin and overwhelmed by the amount of work piling up. In these moments, it’s important to remember that we aren’t alone. Identify what can be delegated to others and ask for help where you need it. Remember the skills and talents of the stewards and the value of steward/ staff collaboration. Always look for ways to engage stewards and develop their leadership skills. With having strong stewards at each worksite, you’ll be better prepared when crunch times, like possible strike preparation, hit.

 
from Joe Solorio, UFCW Local 21
 
joe21

During our grocery negotiations, we were getting really close to a strike vote.

All of us reps were assigned to make sure our stores were ready to walk at any time. Since we each have a lot of stores on our route, this task was a huge assignment.

We decided it would be best to use our steward network. At one of our CAT (Contract Action Team) meetings, we trained our stewards how to write a schedule. We also discussed how to deescalate members who might panic or get scared, and also how to talk with management if confronted or bullied.

At one store in particular, there is a steward, Jason, who works in QFC. I told him that we needed to start writing picket schedules and to make sure that we had coverage at all times since his store is open 24hours. I asked if he felt comfortable with the training or needed more hands on time with me, but he declined. He knew that I had a whole route of other stores and that he could manage his.

Within a couple of days, I checked back with him and he informed me that he only had a couple of people who were out on FMLA who he still needed to check in with. He’d already scheduled everyone else. I was excited to see how the members at the store rallied around Jason and stood with him to get it done.

He did it all on his free time and would ask people their availability and which shifts they preferred. He even managed to have buddy shifts during the overnights so that no one would be alone. He really stepped up and got it finished.

I was happy to have him help because even though I had a handful of stores with stewards that were also stepping up, I needed as much time as possible to work with the weaker stores, where we hadn’t yet identified and recruited members who felt comfortable enough to do the strike prep on their own.