Dear Food Division Member:

 Your union contract, which determines your pay, benefits, and working conditions, expires on March 5, 2007.  Your contract covers all Southern California UFCW members employed by Albertsons, Ralphs, and Vons/Pavilions – and also indirectly affects UFCW members working at Gelsons and Stater Bros.  All together, the contract affects 70,000 retail supermarket employees working in Southern California.

 The Southern California UFCW local union presidents, have developed a strategy to “WIN BACK” what was lost in the 2003-04 negotiations and strike/lockout.  This puts us in a much better position to secure a contract that has affordable healthcare and fair wages for every single supermarket worker and we have developed a “GAME PLAN” to ensure success in next year’s negotiations. 

This “GAME PLAN” has several components:

• Our International Union, through the leadership of new UFCW International President Joe Hansen, has pledged that the UFCW will coordinate contract negotiations amongst all UFCW local unions in the United States and Canada that have contracts expiring in 2006 and 2007.  Given that we are battling international corporations, this is the ONLY way that we will be on a level playing field with our employers.
• The new “Change to Win Federation” – which includes the country’s strongest, most powerful unions including UFCW, Teamsters, Service Employees Intl. Union (SEIU), Laborers and Carpenters, UNITE-HERE (hotel workers), and the United Farm Workers (UFW) – have all committed their strong support for our negotiations.
• We will conduct an in-depth survey of over two thousand of our members in Southern California so that your input will help shape our campaign for a “WIN BACK” agreement in 2007.  If contacted, please participate and give the person calling your candid answers to their questions. Your individual replies will remain confidential.
• The input received from the survey will also be used to develop a message to both members and consumers that our campaign is a fair and just one.  It will also send a strong signal to the “Corporate bosses” that we intend to fight to “WIN BACK” what was taken away in 2004.
• You are the most important part of this “WIN BACK” game plan.  Your personal commitment and support, coupled with our solidarity as a union of supermarket employees, is essential to our collective success.

In solidarity,

 UFCW UNION LOCALS 135, 324, 770, 1036, 1167, 1428 & 1442

UFCW Union Local 135                                                 UFCW Union Local 1036
Mickey Kasparian, President                                           George L. Hartwell, President

UFCW Union Local 324                                                 UFCW Union Local 1428
Greg M. Conger, President                                              Connie Leyva, President

 UFCW Union Local 770                                                 UFCW Union Local 1442
Ricardo F. Icaza, President                                              Michael A. Straeter, President

                                                 UFCW Union 1167