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LVEJO Staff and Volunteers attend Ant-War Rally in Chicago

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War and the Economy

War & the Economy | Workers for Justice

Members and Volunteers of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization attended United for Fair Economy's newest workshop in Chicago on:

War and the Economy
Saturday, March 22nd

Some of the topics discusses were: Will a war stimulate the economy? Is military spending really taking money away from social programs? Does militarism increase inequality? The workshop looked at "Reagan Vise" which used military spending and tax cuts to squeeze out social spending, and then asked: What will "Bush vise" do to us?

The audience of the workshop was neither antiwar activists and pro-war enthusiast, but the large middle ground of Americans who are questioning the Iraq war and other parts of the Administration's agenda.

"Very informative way to learn how the war effects our own pocket and that of education and services for low income all across the U.S."

"Gave everyone a chance to understand money politics and the current administration and how it really affects us!"

"Whether you are pro war or antiwar we were able to come together and see how it impacts regardless of our opinion."

War & the Economy | Workers for Justice

PUDDJ WORKSHOP - 6th Session

Saturday, Nov. 22nd - 9 a.m. to Noon - LVEJO Office
Real Thanksgiving Discussion - Home / Community Toxic Inventory

Fifth Session - Toxic Tour for PUDDJ Community Leadership Program Participants
Saturday, Nov. 15th - 9 a.m. to Noon - LVEJO Office
Cont'd Communication Workshop

PUDDJ Participants beginning Effective Communication Activity

PUDDJ Community Leadership Program - Fourth Session

When: Saturday, Nov. 8th
Where: LVEJO's Office
Time: 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

PUDDJ Participants Evaluating Mock Father & Son Conversation Skills Activity
PUDDJ PROGRAMA DE LIDERAZGO COMUNITARIO - Quarta Sesion

Cuando: Sabado, 8 de Noviembre del 2003
Donde: La Organizacion de Justicia Ambiental de la Villita
Hora: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
PUDDJ Participants presenting a communication exercise

For Immediate Release

Contacts: Jose Landaverde 773-391-6799
Marcela Garcia 773-391-4928

Workers of the Silver Capital Corporation, G.T.C. international and the United Methodist Church call to a meeting more than 106 workers at Amor de Dios United Methodist Church located at 2356 South Sawyer, Chicago, IL on Tuesday August 31, 2004 at 7:15pm to arrange a general strike against their employer, Silver Capital Corporation. These workers demand justice for the cruel way in which they are being laid off.

Marcela Garcia, a worker of Silver Capital Corporation, G.T.C. international for the past 17 years says, "I am receiving about $700 for 17 years of work, and they want me to sign a letter that states that I forfeit any rights to compensation or to sue the company and its associates." Workers from this company received a letter from their management that declares they resign from any benefits they are entitled to or any rights as workers with seniority. They are being pressured to sign this letter with threats from management that if they do not the company will call INS.

We ask for your support in order to demand our rights as workers since the company is laying off its workers and moving to another state and forcing the workers to sign a letter forfeiting their right as workers

Congress Hotel Strike Link: http://www.congresshotelstrike.info/index.asp

For Yolanda Camacho, working at the Archibald Candy Co. has been bitter and sweet. It's backbreaking work, but after 27 years she can't imagine working anyplace else. "You feel like a horse. It's a very stressful job, but it's all that I've done," said Camacho, 55, a supervisor at the West Loop plant that produces Fannie May and Fanny Farmer candies. Starting this weekend, Archibald will begin shutting down the 70-year-old plant as it continues talks with potential buyers and contemplates bankruptcy. Camacho and many of the 625 workers at the plant--most of them black or Hispanic and middle-age--wonder how they will find comparable jobs. "I've always worked for my money," said Camacho, who came to the U.S. from Mexico at age 19, weeping out of earshot of her husband, Tavio. "Now, I won't be working." With unemployment at 5.7 percent in December, and manufacturers shedding jobs for the 41st month in a row, Archibald workers face an uphill struggle to find good-paying jobs in a sluggish labor market jammed with idle factory workers. The fact that many of the workers are older, minorities and have skills tailored to a specific employer will make their job searches more challenging, experts say. "They probably have a double whammy confronting them. Being a minority makes the uphill struggle even greater when they're in their 50s," said Clare Hushbeck, senior legislative representative for AARP.

"People will be reluctant to train them. Employers aren't going to take a look at them and say, `Let's mold them.' They are in an unenviable situation." To make matters worse, the fate of employee pensions and 401(k) plans, as well as severance and vacation pay and health coverage, remain up in the air, say representative of the five unions representing Archibald employees. One union official said Archibald offered settlement packages on Tuesday to the unions.

Charles Bridgemon, spokesman for Service Employees International Union Local 1, which represents 425 candy store cashiers, said the company offered to pay 60 percent of pension, vacation and 401(k) contributions owed. He said union officials hadn't decided whether to take the offer to their members. "Our members should get everything they have coming to them," Bridgemon said. Archibald plans to close all 228 of its stores by mid-February. Archibald spokesmen Ron Bottrell declined to comment on the union negotiations. With so much still up in the air, Georgia Argyris, 51, a 19-year employee who handles supplies for Archibald's candy stores, and Ester Bravo, 48, a 12-year employee who fills orders, took Tuesday off to attend a second rally at the Thompson Center. But they were the only two who showed up and wound up listening in on a rally calling for statewide real estate tax reform.

"I'm only going to get paid for four days this week, but I'm fighting for my rights," said Argyris. "A lot of people were afraid of losing money. That's why they didn't come today."

The two women said the company passed out checks to employees worth $168 last week, paying them in advance for two personal days they won't get a chance to take this year. Both expressed frustration with the company and their union, Teamsters Local 781, for providing little information to workers at a difficult time. "They haven't told us nothing at all," said Argyris. Brian Rainville, spokesman for Teamsters Local 781, said union officials are equally frustrated, accusing company officials of "stonewalling." He said the union is considering legal remedies.

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) has asked federal and state officials to investigate if the company violated federal law because it failed to notify workers two months prior to closing a plant, as required. Bottrell declined to address Gutierrez's allegations. He also said that bankruptcy is just one option being considered by the company. Friday is the last day for many plant workers. Some like Argyris and Bravo, who work at the distribution center near Midway Airport, haven't been notified of their last day. But they said they have heard some people will be asked to stay on to tie up loose ends. Della Knox, 50, a plant supervisor, said Friday is her last day. Knox, a single mother of two, worries how she will pay off a hospital bill resulting from knee surgery she had in the fall. She said workers sacrificed pay increases and holidays last year to keep Archibald afloat as the company pursued an aggressive expansion plan. "We extended the contract for a year. We gave up two holidays, and now it's gonna close up anyway," Knox said. Archibald officials have brought in representatives from four government agencies to talk with workers about the services available to them, including job training and counseling and help with their searches.

More than 600 people are expected to lose their jobs now that the parent company of Chicago's Fannie May Candies says it will sell the business and close its near west side factory. A spokesman for the Archibald Candy Corporation says it's "no longer financially viable" to keep the plant open. It'll be closed for good. There are no plans to close the more than 250 Fannie May and Fannie Farmer stores. Company officials announced the decision in a meeting Monday with union reps. The factory, a 70-year-old, five-story building at 1137 West Jackson, will now be sold. There are reports the facility will close January 17.

Last month federal immigration agents raided 60 Wal-Mart stores across the country as part of “Operation Rollback”. Reports estimate that over 250 immigrant janitors were arrested in the raids, many after working on night shift cleaning crews. Many of these workers are now in “removal proceedings,” meaning that the government is seeking to deport them from the U.S., an act that will separate family members and generate greater fear in immigrant communities.

Raids that victimize immigrant workers do nothing to improve workplace conditions.
Send a message to the INS today asking that these workers be allowed to remain in the US.

These hard working people need your help, please log on to www.seiu.org (click on Take Action) and send a message to Mr. Michael Garcia of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement telling him not to proceed with removal proceedings against these workers.

AURORA - Basillio Bravo, a migrant laborer from Mexico, takes a chance every time he drives to work. An undocumented immigrant, the Aurora resident doesn't have the paperwork necessary to get a valid driver's license.

Miriam is a 19-year-old student from Chicago. Though she's been in the United States since she was 5, she doesn't have the right papers either, so she's afraid to give out her last name. Still, she's on her way to Washington, D.C., this week to lobby Congress for new immigration laws.

Taking a page from the civil-rights movement of the 1960s, immigrant activists from across the United States are descending on the Capitol Thursday to talk about issues like access to higher education, the right to organize in the workplace and the path to legalization. About 45 of the so-called "freedom riders" stopped at Club Boleros in Aurora on Saturday to drum up support.

It wasn't hard to find.

"It's time for a new legalization in this country," said Bertha Manzo of Centro Cristo Rey, an Aurora agency that helps people fill out the paperwork necessary to become citizens. Even once the papers are in, Manzo said it takes years to get a visa. For one young man she helped, it took a decade. She told the crowd at Club Boleros about another client who was fired from his $14-an-hour job in January after the Internal Revenue Service alerted his employer to the fake Social Security number he was using. He had worked there 10 years.

Lydia Montanez of Color Caulk in Aurora came out to tell the other end of the story. She recently had to fire an employee who had no driver's license because he couldn't get to work on time. "He had a family to feed; he had two little kids," she said. "This happens every single day in Aurora. "There are millions of people in that situation," said Gonzalo Arroyo of Family Focus. "Some have been here for years; they have raised their families, and they are still undocumented."

Arroyo won't be riding the bus, which is making several stops throughout Illinois before arriving in Washington, but he and a carload of activists will leave for Washington Wednesday, he said. Another group from Aurora also is leaving Wednesday. Five representatives from St. Nicholas Catholic Church will join about 45 riders from across the Midwest who are affiliated with the Metropolitan Alliance of Congregations, according to Juan Escareno, a community organizer for the group.
09/28/03

On their seventh month of strike, workers for Azteca Foods, Inc., rallied in front of a Jewel store in Chicago on Wednesday, demanding that Jewel boycott the Mexican-American food company's products until it grants new contracts. Approximately 40 people, predominantly Mexican immigrant workers, gathered in front of the store on 1224 S. Wabash Ave. protesting for "justice now." Roughly 95 percent of workers at Azteca, based in Summit, Ill., are Hispanic.

Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) joined James Thindwa of Chicago Jobs with Justice and an Azteca worker to deliver a letter to the Jewel store manager during the rally. Munoz announced that the store manager agreed to take the letter to his superiors. “As long as Azteca tortilla products are stacked on [Jewel’s] shelves, the company is taking sides,” Munoz said. “We asked them to boycott the products and make sure to send a strong message to Azteca to come to terms with their employees.”

Jewel spokesperson Lauri Sanders had no comment on the issue. “We have told all the parties that we are not involved,” she said.

Leah Fried, field manager of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Local 1159, which represents the striking workers, said that her union will continue to keep up the pressure. "We're going to have delegations speak to [Jewel and Azteca], and we're going to let them know that we're not going away until they do the right thing," she said. According to Fried, Azteca sells about 20 percent of its products in Chicago. Jewel is one of the largest vendors of Azteca’s tortilla products. “We’re letting [Jewel] know that there are a lot of people in Chicago and all around the country who are very concerned that Jewel is continuing to sell Azteca scab products,” said Carl Rosen, district president of Local 1159.

Art Velasquez, chief executive officer of Azteca, said in a telephone interview that he believes Jewel, who has been an Azteca customer for about 30 years, will handle the situation in the appropriate way.

"Most of the people leading this march are not even employees of Azteca," said Velasquez, who did not attend Wednesday's rally. "I don't think it's even employee-inspired. It's unfortunate that a few people are putting this out and making unproven charges." Many of the Latino workers expressed disappointment towards Velasquez's actions. "We feel betrayed because [Velasquez] is a Latino, too,” said Maria Montes, 60, of the Southwest Side, who has worked at Azteca for 17 years. “He’s considered a community leader, but that’s not the way we see it. We feel very hurt by him.” Ethnic loyalties tend to die down once people reach a certain point in the economic ladder, said Thindwa, executive director of Chicago Jobs with Justice. “It becomes more of a class issue,” he said.
A majority of the workers have been Azteca employees for over 12 years. A third of them have been with the company for more than 20 years.

“A lot of us started with [Velasquez] when his company was small,” said Edvuges Martinez, 44, of Cicero, who has worked at Azteca for 26 years. “We helped make him rich. We’ve been with him always and he mistreats us.”
Since last September, workers have been requesting a "fair" raise, but especially have been opposed to company plans for a pay cut. Current salaries range between about $9 and $10.75 an hour. They say they also want seniority rights. But most of all, they are calling for respect.
“Our foremen treat us like garbage,” Montes said. “We all have names, but instead of using our names, they whistle when they need us. They use foul language and we don’t agree to that. We want respect.”

Velasquez disagreed with the strikers.
"We treat our employees very well," Velasquez said. "The truth and facts are that we have high rates of seniority and the highest paying benefits in the industry. Our responsibility to our customers, employees and company are top in the industry."
Safety is also a problem, the strikers said. Many employees claim they work under harsh conditions. Rodrigo Mina, a temporary worker at Azteca who was present at the rally, this year lost the use of one arm after his hand got caught between two conveyor belts for 10 minutes. None of the workers crossing the picket line knew how to turn off the machine, he said.
“Since he’s been injured in February, no one from Azteca has called to see how he is or to apologize for what happened,” Fried said.
Sixty-three of the 87 Azteca workers walked out in September 2002 to demonstrate against what they called labor law violations and Azteca's attempts to eradicate items in previous union contracts.
“When Azteca workers decided to join [the union], the company came to the negotiations wanting to take away things that the workers already had for no real reason,” Fried said. “When the workers held a rally protesting this, the managers told all the participants that they were fired.”

On Sept. 30, 2002 Azteca workers went on strike to protest illegal threats, intimidation and unjustified takeaways in what workers have had for years.
Although Azteca Foods is a profitable and growing company with annual revenues of up to $33 million, they insist on cuts in worker's pay, seniority and overtime protections, free speech rights and more.

Nachos made with Azteca tortilla chips are made by strikebreakers in terrible working conditions. Don't buy Azteca products until Azteca workers are treated with respect.

Contact the baseball team's management and tell them to stop selling Azteca Nachos until the Azteca strikers win a fair contract!
Terry Savarise - Vice President - Stadium Operations - Chicago White Sox - Cominsky Park - 333 W. 35th Street - Chicago, IL 60616
Andy MacPhail - President and CEO - Chicago Cubs - 1060 West Addison - Chicago, IL 60613-4397

Boycott Chicago Sweatshop Nachos!

Wednesday, April 16, 2003 at 12noon
Jewel Store location at Rosevelt and Wabash, Chicago

Join with religious, student and community leaders as we demand justice for the Azteca Foods workers who have been on strike since September 30, 2002.

Jewel Stores management has refused to meet with the strikers or community representatives to discuss the treatment of Azteca's workers or the national boycott of Azteca tortillas, tortilla shells, chips and Buena Vida brand tortillas.

Jewel refuses to pull the product from its shelves. Let's remind them that the community demands justice and with your help this strike could end.

For the latest up-to-date information about the Azteca Foods strike and national consumer boycott of Azteca tortillas, tortilla shells, chips and Buena Vida tortillas, please visit our web site at: http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/1159azteca_home.html or call 312-829-8300

(Chicago) - March 25, 2003 - At a press conference today, a temporary worker who was injured at Azteca Foods called for justice in his fight against the Chicago-based company. Rodrigo Mina, who fell and got his right arm ground up between two conveyor belts, appeared at the noon conference sponsored the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. Workers at Azteca have been on strike since September 30, 2002, over 6 months.

Mina claimed that he was untrained by the company and had no experience with the machinery. He stated that he was trapped for ten minutes until another worker was able to shut off the machine. Mina has had three operations to repair the injury. Mina's leg and arm were wrapped and he clearly was in pain and had trouble walking through the union's hall to get to his seat at the dais.

The union announced that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Azteca Foods with providing no lockout tagout training, A serious violation was also announced. Azteca was cited for leaving dangerous equipment exposed that caused the accident in question. Strikers had complained of this danger previously with little reaction from Azteca's management.

Mina appeared with his mother, his attorney Kenneth Lewis, Steve Frederick, Director of CACOSH- the Chicago Area Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, Jamie Daniel, Professor at UIC and a member of the Chicago Workers Rights Board and Leah Fried, an organizer with (UE) The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.

Azteca Foods, Chicago's largest tortilla manufacturer with sales of up to $33 million, is demanding takeaways that include an effective pay cut, gutting seniority and overtime protection, and the right to fire a worker for having a union leaflet on company property.

The United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE) has called a national consumer boycott of all Azteca Foods products.

For the latest up-to-date information about the Azteca Foods strike and national consumer boycott of Azteca tortillas, tortilla shells, chips and Buena Vida tortillas, please visit our web site at: http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/1159azteca_home.html

AZTECA FOODS STRIKE BREAKER PERMANENTLY DISABLED ON THE JOB
Workers AllegeAzteca a Dangerous Place to Work
Contact: Leah Fried - 773-550-3022 cell - 312-829-8300 office
Photo Opourtunity - Injured Worker - Community Leaders - Interviews Spanish and English

Press Conference will be held Tues. March 25th at 12:30pm - UE Hall 37 S. Ashland
The use of untrained and inexperienced strike breakers has left one young man permanently disabled when his right arm was ground and crushed between two conveyor belts. The worker was trapped for ten minutes until someone was able to shut off the machine. Workers at Azteca have been on strike since September 30, 2002, over 6 months.

OSHA has cited Azteca Foods no lockout tagout training and leaving dangerous exquipment exposed causing the accident. Strikers had complained of this danger before with little reaction from management.

Azteca Foods, Chicago’s largest tortilla manufacturer with sales of up to $33 million, is demanding takeaways that include an effective pay cut, gutting seniority and overtime protection, and the right to fire a worker for having a union leaflet on company property.

Injured Worker Rodrigo Mina will tell his story with his attorney outlining their lawsuit, Chicago Area Committee for Safety and Health (CACOSH) and a summary of recent OSHA violations at Azteca Foods.

Starting on March 8th. Chicago area grocery chain, Jewel Stores will be the target of community activists. The Azteca strikers are asking for volunteers to visit area grocery stores, hand out Azteca foods boycott leaflets to customers and visit store managers. Volunteers will be encouraging managers to agree to take Azteca products off their shelves until the strikers get a fair contract out of Azteca.

For more information or to volunteer your organization, please contact UE at 312-829-8300.

Participate in the Azteca Boycott National Week of Action March 31- April 6, 2003. Activities are being planned all over the country in solidarity with the strikers from Azteca Foods.
For more information, visit http://www.ranknfile-ue.org

This Wednesday the DePaul Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild is sponsoring an event in support of the striking Azteca workers. Speakers will be on hand to talk about the ongoing struggle and the role that we can play in support of justice for the workers. The event is to take place at the DePaul College of Law building at 25 E. Jackson Street at 12:20 pm in room 903.

Workers at Azteca Foods have been on strike for almost 6 months--that's almost months without any sort of pay to support their families. The workers are striking against Azteca Foods because of the company's rising health insurance costs, threat to take away any sort of protection for seniority and overtime, and threat to also take away union rights. Workers have faced workplace injuries like burns and rashes, and they have been violated through threats, interrogation, and acts of surveillance.

The workers have been on strike since September 30, 2002, and have gathered much solidarity and support within the Chicago community through rallies and press conferences. So far, various congressional representatives, city council members, religious leaders and other community leaders have urged the owner of Azteca Foods to come to a fair agreement with its workers.

If you still need more information to convince you that this is a worthwhile event, go to: http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/1159azteca_home.html and read about it.

You may have heard about the accident at Azteca Foods. Here's what happened. Rodrigo Mina, a temporary worker replacing strikers at Azteca Foods was seriously injured on February 20, 2003 while at work at the Chicago plant.

Mina was clearing tortillas away from the location where two conveyor belts meet when he slipped on a package of Azteca tortillas. As he fell his hand got caught between the two belts in a space approx. 2" wide. The belts pulled his hand and then his arm in up to above his elbow. According to Mina, he was trapped with his arm being ground up for about 10 minutes before the belts were shut off.

He was hospitalized for over two weeks and he has had two surgeries to reconstruct his arm using bone, veins and skin from his foot and leg. He is unable to use his arm. His doctors tell him that with a year of intense therapy, he may be able to have limited use of his arm.

UE representatives and strikers have visited Mina to ensure he knows his rights and to tell him that he is not alone. The strikers are particularly disturbed by this accident since they all know how to shut off the belts in question. The strikers had also complained to management about a lack of a safety guard around the belts to prevent exactly this type of accident.

Mina is now home but unable to walk not to mention work. If you would like to send a donation to him, you can mail it to:

Rodrigo Mina - 2749 South Tripp - Chicago, IL 60623
Strike support donations can be made online via Paypal at http://www.ranknfile-ue.org or can be mailed to:
UE Local 1159 - 37 South Ashland - Chicago, IL 60607
For more information, visit our website at http://www.ranknfile-ue.org or call UE at 312-829-8300.

Thanks For Shopping at Wal-Mart -- NOT
- By Liza Featherstone, The Nation - November 22, 2002

"Wal-Mart is going to take your job," speaker after speaker told the crowd of mostly African-American unionists assembled in Grace Cathedral, an evangelical church in Uniondale, Long Island.

Like workers and other activists in more than 100 cities nationwide participating in a "Day of Action" initiated by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the assembled were preparing to march up the street to Wal-Mart to protest the corporation's horrendous labor practices and urge its employees to unionize. "If we fail to lift them up," one union organizer said of the Wal-Mart workers, "they'll drag us down." UFCW officials say that nationwide, Wal-Mart, whose workers earn far less than the industry average and must pay for their own health insurance, is endangering wages and benefits for their members, many of whom work in grocery stores that face increasing competition from the retailer. As speakers enumerated the company's violations of labor rights in China and in the United States alike, loud murmurs of agreement swept through the church, giving it the feel of a revival meeting. Grace Cathedral's bishop, R.W. Harris, whose congregation includes many Wal-Mart workers, told the crowd: "If Jesus were here today, he'd be at 886 Jerusalem Avenue with you," protesting Wal-Mart.

Some 400 unionized workers showed up, including Melissa Webb, a UFCW Local 1500 member. The shop steward at the Shop Rite next door to the Uniondale Wal-Mart, Webb enjoys the advantages of union membership. When she began working at Shop Rite five years ago, she made $5 an hour, and she now makes $19. But she and her co-workers were protesting out of solidarity as well as self-interest. "I get real emotional when people aren't treated well," Webb said. A few years ago, she said, some of the workers at this Wal-Mart, "mostly African-American females" like herself, wanted to join the union. "Now they're not there."
The Day of Action protests, from Scarborough, Maine, to Waipahu, Hawaii, inaugurated a new "Peoples Campaign for Justice at Wal-Mart." The campaign, which is backed by an enthusiastic coalition of feminist, environmental, religious, anti-sweatshop and a wide range of other organizations, represents an attempt by the union to bring its case against Wal-Mart to the public.

In Uniondale, an aptly named working-class and heavily unionized town, the public heard the message. The protesters, carrying pro-union signs and chanting "Bring the Union to Wal-Mart," were greeted by jubilant honks, waves and smiles from passing drivers. Most protesters relished the support of the honking cars, but it wasn't enough for Melissa Webb, who wanted love and solidarity from all of Uniondale. When one bus drove by in silence, she shouted indignantly: "Come on, bus driver, you know you're union!"

Elsewhere, some former Wal-Mart employees participated in the nationwide event. Gretchen Adams, a former Wal-Mart manager who now works for the UFCW, spoke at a rally in Louisville, Kentucky. Linda Gruen, who recently quit working at a Las Vegas Sam's Club (a division of Wal-Mart), now works for the UFCW as well; she traveled to Seattle to help organize an action there. "As an ex-worker, I'm really glad that the issues we had can be brought to the attention of other union members and the general public," she says. "A lot of people think it's a great place to work because they see those bullshit commercials on TV!" While most current Wal-Mart workers stayed away (the company has fired workers for union-related activity) April Hotchkiss of Pueblo, Colorado, who had the day off Nov. 21, said she would have participated had there been a Day of Action in her town. "I would have loved to rally that store. The prices are low because they pay people crap and the healthcare is a joke. I tell customers, 'You're benefiting from me getting screwed. Thanks for shopping at Wal-Mart!'" She laughs: "Hey, I try to be positive!"

Liza Featherstone is a New York City-based journalist whose work on student and youth activism has appeared in The Nation, Lingua Franca, the New York Times, the Washington Post and Ms. She is co-author of "Students Against Sweatshops: The Making of a Movement" (Verso 2002).

1. Learn more about the background of the strike and what choices workers have been given in contract neogtiations
2. Then send a boycott message to Azteca President Arthur Velazquez
3. If you want to volunteer for Workers for Justice call, fax or email LVEJO: ask for Dagoberto Ospina or any LVEJO Member

The Struggle for Justice at Azteca Foods

CHICAGO — For many years workers at Azteca Foods, a tortilla factory on the southwest side of Chicago, were represented by a corrupt company union that threatened the workers and did its best to protect the company.* Three years ago, Azteca workers began their struggle for a real union that would represent their interests. Last April 12, they won a NLRB election to form a union with UE by a vote of almost 3 to 1. They have been in contract negotiations with the company since May 14, 2002. Azteca workers have given many years to the company. The majority have been working there more than 12 years. The majority are Spanish speaking Mexican immigrants. Azteca workers describe their workload as being very heavy, and they work under a lot of pressure from often verbally abusive supervisors. They are concerned about the rashes, burns and workplace injuries that occur. It is a very hot and very fast paced production. Azteca has a estimated revenue of between $30-33 million a year. Their tortillas and chips are sold in major grocery chains throughout the country, including at Jewel and Dominick’s here in Chicago. The average wage at Azteca is $9.64/hr.

The Fight For a Fair Contract

Azteca workers want fair improvements in their wages, benefits and working conditions. They are seeking a fair raise, health and safety protections in the plant, improvements in their health insurance, a fair pension for retirement, union security, and respect for their years of service.

Profitable Azteca Foods Wants Cuts

Unfortunately, this profitable company had a very different idea. They came to negotiations with a set of concessionary proposals aimed at cutting the minimal level of protections and benefits workers have had for many years. The company is seeking to cut worker’s medical and maternity leaves, take away seniority rights, expand the use of temporary workers who make around minimum wage with no benefits, ban all union newsletters from the company premises, and more. In spite of appeals from religious and community leaders to negotiate fairly, Azteca owner millionaire Arthur Velasquez continues to demand concessions from the employees.

When workers protested the company’s proposed cuts at an informational picket outside the plant, the company threatened workers with termination for participating in the picket. In response to this illegal activity, the UE filed Unfair Labor Practice Charges against Azteca for threats, interrogation and surveillance. These charges have been upheld by the National Labor Relations Board.

* Azteca’s former union is run by the Duff family, who are currently under federal investigation for their temporary worker agency Windy City Temps, which was allegedly falsely registered as a minority/woman-owned business and in turn received millions in city affirmative action contracts and for receiving kickbacks from the bank where they kept union funds. John Duff Jr. spent 17 months in jail for embezzlement of union funds.

Labor Savings Top List of Grocers
Contract talks are under way for Dominick's

November 3, 2002 - By Delroy Alexander - Tribune staff reporter

In what promises to be an old-fashioned slugfest between management and labor, the battle lines are being drawn at supermarkets across the U.S. Grocery chains want to roll back union benefits and limit pay raises as they face fresh competition from non-unionized supercenter stores, led by Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Chicago, which has two major grocery chains--Albertson Inc.'s Jewel Food Stores and Safeway-owned Dominick's--is right in the eye of the storm.

Arguing that spending on wages and benefits accounts for half of every dollar retail grocers take in, many supermarket giants appear to be growing weary of unions and their demands. For the entire food industry, labor accounts for an estimated 38 percent of costs. For their part, union chapters across the nation are locking horns with grocery-store management in a bid to maintain their hard-won benefits. Contract talks at Dominick's, which has 113 stores in Chicago, are being watched closely as they could help set the tone for the industry for years to come, analysts say.

The United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents about half of the estimated 3.5 million supermarket workers nationwide, already is galvanizing the rank and file locally and nationally for a prolonged struggle.

Typically, 1 percent to 1.5 percent of workers' salaries goes toward union dues, a small portion of which is allocated to a strike fund. On Thursday, the UFCW will poll thousands of local Dominick's workers, asking them to approve a $2-per-week increase in union dues. The national UFCW plans to help build a special "war chest" that would ensure workers would continue to receive wages in the event of strike. The Chicago vote on increasing the strike fund comes just two days before Dominick's existing three-year pay deal is due to end on Saturday. Although the negotiations have been described by participants as "excruciatingly painful," neither side will say much publicly about the discussions.

"We are in contract negotiations for the next five or six days," said S.J. Peters, a spokesman for one of two local UFCW chapters that represent close to 10,000 Dominick's workers in Chicago. " The negotiations are tough, but that's all I can say." David Faustman, vice president of labor relations at Dominick's parent Safeway, also is reluctant to comment on the state of negotiations but said his team of local managers is negotiating in "good faith." "I don't think its fair to say we are trying to reduce living standards of our workers," said Faustman. "We are just trying to keep competitive in the Chicago marketplace. That's what any responsible company would do.'

However, the pressure is on Safeway to improve Dominick's operating performance, which has become a drag on earnings since its $1.9 billion acquisition four years ago, said Bob Summers, an analyst for Banc of America Securities. "The Dominick's acquisition really hasn't gone that well," Summers said. "Since [Safeway] acquired the company, they've done nothing but lose market share. They put too many Safeway components into the business, and it wasn't well received by customers."

Non-union costs lower. It's little surprise to Summers that labor negotiations across the network of 1,800 Safeways stores and elsewhere in the industry are increasingly tense. Summers points to growing tensions in California, Safeway's headquarters state, where Wal-Mart has aggressively opened up stores with a full grocery component inside. But it's not just in California where supercenters are popping up in growing numbers. The number of Wal-Mart Supercenters in Illinois rose by three, to 33, over the past 12 months. In neighboring Michigan, the company has doubled its presence to 14 over the past year, and in Missouri its up to 58 from 53. In October, Wal-Mart said it would continue its aggressive growth in the fiscal year beginning Feb. 1, 2003. Wal-Mart will open approximately 45 to 55 discount stores and 200 to 210 supercenters.

"This represents a continued acceleration of supercenter unit expansion and reflects the strong consumer acceptance and financial results from the format," said the company in a statement. "Relocations or expansions of existing discount stores will account for approximately 140 of the supercenters, while the remainder will be built in new locations." One of the biggest advantages of the Wal-Mart Supercenters, say supermarket managers, is in the cost of hiring and keeping its service clerks, bag packers and meat cutters.

In Wal-Mart's California stores, which are not unionized, basic pay for a service clerk is about $8 per hour, compared with as much as $18 an hour for unionized employees at a Safeway store in the same area. But even where this competitive dynamic doesn't appear to hold true, Safeway and other chains are attempting to contain labor costs, which is the single largest expense in the highly competitive food arena.

New contract in Hawaii. For example, Safeway is the dominant player in Hawaii, where its 18 stores account for about 60 percent of the market, Nevertheless, the company has taken an especially hard stance in contract negotiations. Recently, UFCW members in Hawaii completed contract talks with Safeway. Pat Loo, president of Local 480 in Hawaii, said his negotiating team had to swallow some tough concessions. He expects Safeway to make similar same demands in Chicago.

"The company pretty much has a cookie-cutter approach to things," said Loo. One demand by Safeway was to change progression rates: the speed at which junior staff make it through the ranks to journeyman status. It typically would take a new service clerk in Hawaii about two years working full time to go from an hourly rate of about $7.50 to $14.61. But under the new deal, that time has been extended to about 5 1/2 years. Dominick's service clerks in Chicago start at about $6 per hour. A similar demand is on the negotiating table, according to sources close to the talks. Like many chains, Safeway is relying more on part-time staff, so it could take employees as long as 10 years to reach journeyman status, Loo said.

Also under the new Hawaii contract, new employees no longer will be eligible for pension benefits immediately after their 60-day probation period. Instead, they will have to wait a full year before being eligible. Union health and pension benefits cost Safeway an extra $1.10 per hour. In addition, time and a half for overtime and other premium rates during holidays have been slashed in favor of an extra 50 cents per hour. One area the union would not compromise on, Loo said, was Safeway's desire to build a second tier into the pay structure, which would have effectively created a lower pay scale for new hires. "We couldn't agree to that," said Loo. "But I can see them trying this elsewhere." Loo intends to ask his members in November to ratify an increase in dues for their own strike fund. "I kept in close contact with my Chicago brothers," said Loo, who represents about 1,600 store workers on four Pacific islands. When the new contract ends on July 31, 2004, Loo will negotiate for the first time as part of the 60,000 strong Northern California UFCW region.

"There is strength in numbers," said Loo. "I am telling my members it's not a question of if [we have to strike] but when."

Hundreds of Little Village residents work in hotels throughout the Chicago area. Last month we won a historic victory along with our brothers and sisters everywhere in the city and suburbs:
9/5 News Flash: Chicago Hotel Workers Ratify Contract
892 Yes, 153 No

Chicago Hotel Union Reaches Historic Settlement
Illinois Governor George Ryan Averts
Citywide Hotel Strike

Thousands of hotel workers march on Magnificent Mile to demand a fair contract
On September 3rd, the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) Locals 1 and 450's rank and file negotiating committee voted overwhelmingly to approve a settlement proposal. The historic settlement, which was ratified today, includes major improvements in wages, healthcare and job protection language.
Contract highlights include $3.27 in raises over the four-year agreement for non-tipped workers. This represents a 37% wage increase for union housekeepers. The overall economic package increase is over 54%.
Worker contributions for family medical coverage will decrease from $85 per month to $30 per month over the life of the contract. Employer contributions to the health care fund will increase 94% over the four year contract. In addition, the health care benefits will improve in the first year with an expanded network of hospitals covered at 100%, and will further improve in the second year with an expanded network of covered doctors.
The union also won four paid sick days over the life of the contract. The previous contract had none. Other contract highlights include immigrant rights language and subcontracting and successorship language which will provide a high degree of job security. In addition, the union won improvements in bereavement leave, jury duty pay, and one paid 15 minute break per day.
The settlement proposal is 15% higher in wages and benefits than a "final" offer proposed by management last Thursday afternoon. That offer was soundly rejected by the negotiating committee Friday, making a strike seem inevitable until Governor Ryan stepped in at the last minute.
The new contract proposal affects 23 downtown and 4 suburban hotels.

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Other important topics
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Clean Air/Lulac Study
Healthy Schools In Latino Communities flyer
"Tips on Base Building" from LVEJO Board Member Carlos Fernandez

El Cilantro Youth Newsletter
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