Food Maxx Stores Join UFCW 8 Family In the course of nine days in September, 1,300 workers at 17 Food Maxx stores became the newest group of members to join the Union family. UFCW 8 president Jacques Loveall discusses the successful organizing campaign in this edition of “Jacques’FAQs.”

Q:  How does the success of this organizing campaign affect the other members of UFCW 8 in Northern and Central California? A:   This is great news for all of our members. Our market share — the percentage of stores with Union contracts — has suddenly jumped in communities that are served by Food Maxx, from Visalia in the South to Redding in the North. This means that our negotiating power is stronger with all employers in those areas. Q:  How does bigger market share translate into stronger negotiating power? A:   Non-Union employers pay less in wages and provide poorer, if any, benefits. This allows some companies to undercut the business of Union employers, which complicates our ability to negotiate good contracts for our members. When most or all of the employers in an area are Unionized, they can compete fairly on the basis of efficiency and service instead of squeezing their workers to get an adequate margin of profit. If the current trend continues, there will be no reason why an employer will not want to have a Union contract, because every well-run company will want a stable and loyal work force. Q:  Food Maxx was mostly non-Union for years. How did UFCW 8 convince employees and management to work under a Union contract? A:   An important factor was our reputation for having the best Union Representatives in the industry. These men and women provide excellent member service and contract enforcement. In addition, we already had an excellent contract for workers at eight Food Maxx stores in the area. Because of this contract, workers at these Union stores had much better wages and benefits than did workers at the 17 non-Union Food Maxx stores. We had hard evidence to present to the non-Union workers that their jobs would be much better after they joined UFCW 8. Q:  Did the merger creating UFCW 8-Golden State have an effect on the negotiations? A:  Absolutely! When UFCW 588-Northern California combined with UFCW 1288-Central California, we forged a Union with size and strength that couldn’t be ignored. Our recent experiences once again proved the principle that consolidating our forces will increase the bargaining power of workers. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: “Solidarity Works!”

Jacques Loveall President International Vice President