This Valentine’s Day, it doesn’t matter if you’re single or committed, male or female, a romantic or a raging cynic. Anyone at all can take a few minutes out of their day to show their love to somebody... your local grocery workers.
Issues of class and labor seem to pop up quite a bit on Daily Kos as sidebars or as impacting other topics in important ways, but they don't get their own diaries as often as they perhaps should.Yet work and class have enormous relevance in American life. Almost all of us must work for a living. Most of us who work owe a great debt to organized labor - even if we are not ourselves members of unions, we benefit from the advances unions have made over the years, in safety conditions, limited hours and overtime pay, benefits, child labor laws. And while a shrinking percentage of American workers are represented by unions, not only do union members earn more than their nonunion counterparts, but nonunion workers in highly unionized industries and areas benefit from employer competition for workers, leading to better pay and conditions. Class issues, too, apart from the question of organized labor, are central in many of the political struggles of the day. From bankruptcy legislation to the minimum wage to student loans, legislation affects people differently based on how much they make, what kind of access to power and support they have.
With this series we aim to develop an ongoing discussion around class and labor issues. Such ongoing discussions have emerged in the Feminisms and Kossacks Under 35 series, and, given the frequent requests for more (and more commented-in) diaries on these issues, we hope this series will accomplish the same. Entries will be posted every Tuesday night between 8 and 9pm eastern. If you are interested in a writing a diary for this series, please email Elise or MissLaura and we will arrange for you to be put on the schedule.
You probably have a favorite grocery store, one you prefer to shop at if you can, right? And you probably have a bunch of reasons why it’s your favorite—-whether it’s in your neighborhood, or has a great wine selection, deli counter, or produce department. Or maybe you’re like a lot of people, and the reason you shop where you shop is the employees—-all the friendly faces who greet you by name when you walk in, keep the shelves stocked, cut and wrap your deli meat, ring up your purchases, and help bag your groceries.
So why not say thank you and show your support for grocery workers?
If you’re reading this diary, you obviously care about working people. But did you know that over 400,000 United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW)-represented grocery workers are joining together in a national campaign to fight for better wages and benefits this year? These grocery workers are united in the belief that grocery jobs can and should be career jobs, with affordable family health care coverage, and wages that pay the bills. They’re fighting for grocery jobs that can sustain families and communities.
But they can’t accomplish this alone. They need the support of grocery shoppers across the country to convince their national and international employers—-Fortune 50 companies like Kroger, Safeway, and Albertsons—-to treat workers with the respect they deserve.
That’s why Grocery Workers United, the campaign site for the UFCW grocery workers’ national campaign, is holding a a 24 hour "Show Your Love for Grocery Workers" rallythis Valentine’s Day. Please stop by the rally between midnight EST tonight and midnight EST tomorrow, and sign the petition of support for grocery workers. While you’re there, you can learn more about the campaign and what’s at stake for grocery workers across the country in 2007.
And you don’t even have to get up from your chair or spend a dime. Which is more than you can say for the poor saps who’ll be shelling out for flowers, expensive dinners, and boxes of chocolate tomorrow night.