Today, President Obama Spoke At A Safeway Distribution Center In Maryland. “President Obama will announce Tuesday that the federal government will further tighten fuel efficiency for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, according to a White House official, as part of the president’s ongoing effort to use his executive authority to address climate change. Obama’s directive to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation, which he will announce at the Safeway distribution center in Upper Marlboro, Md., marks the second time he has mandated a cut in fuel consumption and carbon emissions from larger trucks.” (Juliet Eilperin, “Obama To Tighten Fuel Efficiency Standards For Big Trucks,” The Washington Post, 2/18/14)
FLASHBACK: In December, Unionized Safeway Employees Negotiated A Contract To Keep Them Off The ObamaCare Exchanges
Safeway And Giant Food Employees Of The Baltimore-Washington Region Ratified A Three-Year Contract That Keeps Employees From Being Shifted Onto The ObamaCare Exchange. “Workers for Giant Food and Safeway stores in the Baltimore-Washington region voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to ratify a three-year labor contract that preserves health benefits and raises wages over three years. Leaders with the United Food and Commercial Workers characterized the contract as one of the best in the grocery business at a time when companies are scaling back benefits and offering one-time bonuses instead of wage increases. Giant and Safeway, the Baltimore area’s biggest supermarket chains, said the agreement will enable them to stay competitive in the changing retail landscape. The contract covering 28,000 UFCW workers in Local 27 and Local 400 takes effect immediately, replacing one that expired Oct. 31 and had been extended twice. ‘This is one of the best retail food contracts in the country,’ said Mark P. Federici, president of UFCW Local 400, which represents grocery workers in Washington and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs. The contract allows current employees and some future employees to keep their current health benefits rather than being shifted onto health care exchanges — an outcome that union leaders said resulted from member activism during bargaining that was complicated by additional costs imposed by the Affordable Care Act.” (Lorraine Mirabella, “Giant And Safeway Workers Ratify Three-Year Contract,” The Baltimore Sun, 12/17/13)
The UFCW Had “Voted Overwhelmingly” To Authorize A Strike Against Safeway And Giant. “Members of United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 voted overwhelmingly this afternoon to authorize a strike against Safeway, joining their fellow members working at Giant who also voted this morning to authorize a strike against their employer. At both stores, UFCW Local 400 members are fired up about management’s refusal to offer a fair contract.” (“UFCW Local 400 Members Voted To Authorize Strike Against Giant And Safeway,” UFCW400.org, 11/14/13)
Safeway’s Workers Were Concerned By The “Additional Costs Imposed By” ObamaCare. “The contract allows current employees and some future employees to keep their current health benefits rather than being shifted onto health care exchanges — an outcome that union leaders said resulted from member activism during bargaining that was complicated by additional costs imposed by the Affordable Care Act.” (Lorraine Mirabella, “Giant And Safeway Workers Ratify Three-Year Contract,” The Baltimore Sun, 12/17/13)