message from the secretary treasurer

We are All One in This Fight!
 
As the warm weather finally settles into our area, I can only hope it is accompanied by some good news on other fronts as well. The economy is finally making some improvements with job growth. It is at least going in the right direction, however anemically. The attention being paid in Washington to our enormous budget and debt is long overdue. But the battle now is to keep the attention focused on balancing the right spending along with the right cuts to keep us going. We need to be sure that the entire burden is not centered on one group- the middle class, working families of America- leaving the wealthiest among us out from sharing in the pain. Corporate America, who for too long has held everyone of us hostage in fear of our jobs being sent overseas, should not be allowed to keep their tax liabilities at ridiculously low rates or take on no tax at all, especially as they are shipping the jobs overseas anyway.
 
Now we, as union members, find ourselves the target of other working people simply because they think what we enjoy as union members is just too much and that somehow those benefits are harming them.
 
Of course we realize that this attitude is a product of those on the right; the corporate leaders and bankers and Wall Street money people controlling the discussion and making the argument about what we, as Union members, have rather than about what those non- Union working men and women don’t have but should. When the men and women controlling the discussions are more concerned with what religion you are, whether or not your sexual preference matches theirs, whether or not you believe in a woman’s right to manage her own body, or a person’s right to pursue their own happiness and marry the person of their choice, then you must recognize this as a giant ruse being perpetrated on the middle class. This ruse is the giant shiny object meant to keep us distracted while they pick our pockets clean. At the same time, if we are arguing amongst ourselves we are only being weakened, divided, and decimated to the point where we are allowing this distraction to affect us and we will soon be non-existent.
 
 If we don’t stand together now and fight back it will be too late. We are brothers and sisters in the sense that we all share a common goal. We want to provide for ourselves and our loved ones today and in the future, not with some heirloom or property rights or some great inheritance but with basic necessities. We simply want a roof over our heads, food on the table, an education for our children and a chance at a healthy life.
What more basic needs and desires could anyone aspire to?
 
For us in Local 338 this has never been truer. We are currently fighting for our collective lives in negotiations with our employers. Obviously, the situation with A&P is problematic in many ways. We are not sure where that will end and what that company and this Union will look like at the end. But in the mean time we are dealing with our other employers: Gristede’s, Shop Rite and King Kullen, just to name the chains.  Some of these employers feel that since A&P may be in difficult straights they can use that to their advantage and get give-backs or concessions. The independent operators will, I am sure, try the same thing as they come due. We have sent them all a letter in advance of any negotiations notifying them that this is a non-starter and that we, as your Union leaders, are not intending to let this go in that direction. We will negotiate fairly with all the employers and, as always, try to make sure that they stay strong and competitive because that ensures our jobs. But we are not going to let anyone take advantage of the suffering of our members. Not today, not ever!!!!
 
We will undoubtedly be involved in some labor actions throughout the area. Some will be issues with our own employers and some will be in partnership with other unions in our area. We are all “One” in this fight. A fight, unlike any we have been in in our lifetimes. Please keep your eyes and ears open for events and be willing and ready to get out there and help. The job you save will, without a doubt, be your own.
 
Enjoy the summer. Please take your vacations and enjoy them. The fact that we enjoy that paid time off is testament to the hard work and efforts of our predecessors on the Union staff, and rank and file members as well, and we should never take that for granted.