Tesco's Fresh & Easy on the Agenda Today at Cal State Fullerton Social Justice Summit in Southern California

With the exception of picketing at selected stores, primarily in the Fresno region in California's Central Valley and in Southern California, along with some fairly stealth behind the scenes organizing of workers, the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) union has been rather quite over the last year in its now three year campaign to organize store-level employees of Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.

But today, nestled among the various seminars and workshops on social action, grassroots organizing, community development, human rights and environmental issues at California State University Fullerton's 6th Annual Social Justice Summit in Southern California, one particular workshop stood out among all the others to Fresh & Easy Buzz: "Organizing for Respect, Dignity and Justice at Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market," presented by Berny Enriquez of the United Food and Commercial Workers union.

The workshop - also billed as "Building Worker Power at Fresh and Easy," is being held from 11:30 am -to- 12:30 pm today in the Titan Student Union Building at the free, all day summit, sponsored by Cal State Fullerton's Volunteer and Community Service Center, which is located on the campus in Orange County.

The university center bills the annual event, which is attended by thousands of academics, political and religious leaders, members of organized labor, and regular citizens, as "providing a forum for people to exchange ideas about improving the state of our communities, offers space to dialogue about the obstacles to creating effective change, provides effective tools for social action, and offers tangible grassroots solutions."

The inclusion of the UFCW-Fresh & Easy workshop at today's event is interesting for a couple of key reasons.

First, it's the only workshop on the agenda at the Social Justice Summit that focuses specifically on an individual company - Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.

Second, it's also the only workshop on today's agenda with a specific focus on organized labor and the organizing of non-union companies.

Both of these items are important in that (1) the UFCW chose Tesco's Fresh & Easy as the one out of the numerous (Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, for example) non-union food and grocery retailers it's attempting to organize to focus on at today's event; and (2) the organizers of the annual Cal State Fullerton Social Justice Summit invited the UFCW to present the Fresh & Easy organizing workshop at the event.

It's our analysis one of the reasons the UFCW has been less overt, particularly in Southern California where Tesco's Fresh & Easy is headquartered and where it has the majority of its stores, over the last year is because the retail grocery clerks' union has been putting more of a focus on building a grass roots, community-based coalition to help it achieve its goal of unionizing the grocery chain's store-level workers.

The participation in today's Cal State Fullerton Social Justice Summit is an example of these efforts. There have been other similar grass roots-type efforts of late for the UFCW.

Another reason, in our analysis, the UFCW has been less active in its Fresh & Easy employee organization efforts is because of the recession (high unemployment), coupled with the fact Tesco has been losing tons of money with its small-format, combination fresh foods and grocery chain. We estimate Tesco has lost at least $700 million on Fresh & Easy since 2006. The first stores opened in November of 2007.

Because of the high unemployment rates in California, Nevada and Arizona, where Tesco has its 152 Fresh & Easy stores, the UFCW took some flack for its very aggressive campaign in 2008 to early 2009. Since then the union has taken a much more low key approach in its efforts to organize the grocer's store-level workers, particularly on the public relations front.

However, the UFCW hasn't given up its efforts by any means, although many observers wonder why it went from such an aggressive campaign to such a low key one.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy was recently found by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to have violated a section of the U.S. National Labor Relations Act, something we reported on in this March 4, 2010 story: Administrative Law Judge Finds Tesco's Fresh & Easy Violated Labor Relations Act in Ex-Store Employee, UFCW Union Complaint. Fresh & Easy says it plans to appeal the ruling.

Interestingly, the UFCW hasn't publicly gone after Tesco regarding the NRLB ruling. For example, the union hasn't issued a press release about the issue, nor has it used the ruling in its campaign to unionize Fresh & Easy in any demonstrable way.

Tesco Fresh & Easy's public position is that its store-level employees have the right to organize a union if they so desire, based on U.S. labor laws. However, the NRLB violation involves a lawsuit by a former Fresh & Easy employee who charged the grocer interfered with her right to do just that, which the judge in the case agreed was the case.

Thus far, there hasn't been a Fresh & Easy store where employees have called for an open ballot election for membership in the UFCW, which is the key step to being recognized as a union shop.

We predict once there's a marked improvement in the economies, particularly lower unemployment, of these three states - California, Nevada and Arizona - we will see a marked increase in the level and intensity of activity on the part of the UFCW in its Fresh & Easy organizing campaign.

Also look for increased efforts on the part of the union to build a strong, community-based coalition in Southern California, likely comprised of many of the organizations and individuals in attendance at today's Cal State Fullerton Social Justice Summit, as a way to improve its odds in organizing Fresh & Easy employees.

[Linkage: Click here for an extensive selection of past stories in Fresh & Easy Buzz about the UFCW union-Fresh & Easy topic and issue.]

Follow Up: Will Tesco's Fresh & Easy Appeal Judge's-NRLB Ruling it Violated U.S. Labor Relations Act?

On March 4, 2010, we broke the news that Federal Administrative Law Judge Gregory Z. Meyerson ruled that Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market violated a section of the U.S. Labor Relations Act involving a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the grocery chain by a former Las Vegas Fresh & Easy store employee and the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) union.

See our March 4, 2010 story: Aministrative Law Judge Finds Tesco's Fresh & Easy Violated Labor Relations Act in Ex-Store Employee, UFCW Union Complaint.

The judge ruled that Fresh & Easy violated one section named in the complaint.

He found Fresh & Easy to be in violation of interfering with store employees legal right and ability to organize or join an organized labor organization, in this particular case the UFCW union.
In his ruling, Judge Meyerson ordered Fresh & Easy to stop using certain specific means to prevent employees from distributing UFCW union literature at the stores and to stop visiting store workers at home and questioning them about their communications and meetings with union representatives

Following the publication of our March 4 story, on March 8 the supermarket industry trade publication Supermarket News published this news item in which it said Tesco's Fresh & Easy (evidently a spokesperson) told the publication it plans to appeal the judge's ruling, which as we noted in our March 4 report is something the grocery chain has the right to do under law.

As of Friday, March 12, Tesco's Fresh & Easy hadn't filed an appeal, according to information we obtained from the National Labor Relations Board. The grocery chain still has ample time to appeal though if it decides to do so.

Administrative Law Judge Finds Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Violated Labor Relations Act in Ex-Store Employee, UFCW Union Complaint

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has been found by a Federal Administrative Law Judge to be in violation of a section of the U.S. National Labor Relations Act, regarding an unfair labor practices complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) against the El Segundo, California-based food and grocery chain last year by Deana Kenton, a former employee at Fresh & Easy store number 1247 on East Lake Mead Boulevard in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the United Food & Commercial Workers Union (UFCW).

Former store employee Kenton, who was fired by Fresh & Easy, and the UFCW union charged in their unfair labor practices complaint last year that Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market violated Sections 8(a)(1), (3), and (4) of the National Labor Relations Act.

These sections of the act pertain in general to allowing employees the free ability, within mandated guidelines, to involve themselves in the organization of labor unions at the workplace. Administrative Law Judge Gregory Z. Meyerson heard the case in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 17-18, 2009.

The complaint charged that Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market violated Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act by "promulgating and maintaining an unlawful no-distribution policy, by interrogating its employees about their union activities and sympathies, by creating an impression among its employees that their union activities were under surveillance, and by soliciting employee complaints and grievances and promising to improve terms and conditions of employment if the employees refrained from union organizational activities."

Additionally, Ms. Kenton's and the UFCW union's complaint alleged that Fresh & Easy "violated Section 8(a)(3) of the Act by discharging its employees Tamara Williams (Williams) and Deana Kenton (Kenton) because of their support for the Union, and also violated Section 8(a)(4) of the Act by discharging Kenton because she cooperated with the Board in the investigation of unfair labor practices charges filed against the Respondent."

Tesco's Fresh & Easy denied they committed any unfair labor relations practices and fought the case at the two day hearing in November.

Judge Meyerson's decision on Deana Kenton's and the UFCW's unfair labor practices complaint against Tesco's Fresh & Easy has only been released by the NRLB recently. The first release date for the full decision was February 5, 2010, and a second notice was just released on March 3, 2010.

In his decision Judge Meyerson found that Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market had violated Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act, which basically prohibits employers from interfering with the rights of employees to organize, form, join, or assist a labor organization or union and to bargain collectively. [The complete language of the Act is here.]

The judge, however, recommended in his ruling that the other unfair labor act charges against Fresh & Easy contained in the complaint be dismissed.

Below (in italics) is Judge Meyerson's "order of action" for Tesco's Fresh & Easy to take having been found to have committed the labor relations act violation:

ORDER

The Respondent, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Inc., its officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall

1. Cease and desist from:(a) Promulgating and maintaining in its employee handbook and on its company intranet site an unlawfully broad no-distribution rule prohibiting the distribution of literature on its premises for any purpose;

(b) Interrogating its employees about their union activities and sympathies;

(c) Creating an impression among its employees that their union activities were under surveillance; and

(d) In any like and related manner interfering with, restraining, or coercing its employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed to them by Section 7 of the Act.2. Take the following affirmative action necessary to effectuate the policies of the Act:(a) Within 14 days after service by the Region, post at each of its Las Vegas, Nevada, area stores copies of the attached notice marked “Appendix.”27 Copies of the notice, on forms provided by the Regional Director for Region 28, after being signed by the Respondent’s authorized representative, shall be posted by the Respondent and maintained for 60 consecutive days in conspicuous places including all places where notices to employees are customarily posted. Reasonable steps shall be taken by the Respondent to ensure that the notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by any other material. In the event that, during the pendency of these proceedings, the Respondent has gone out of business or closed any of the stores involved in these proceedings, the Respondent shall duplicate and mail, at its own expense, a copy of the notice to all current employees and former employees employed by the Respondent at any time since April 1, 2009; and

(b) Within 21 days after service by the Region, file with the Regional Director a sworn certification of a responsible official on a form provided by the Region attesting to the steps that the Respondent has taken to comply.

If this Order is enforced by a judgment of a United States court of appeals, the words in the notice reading “Posted by Order of the National Labor Relations Board” shall read “Posted Pursuant to a Judgment of the United States Court.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the complaint is dismissed insofar as it alleges violations of the Act not specifically found.

Dated at Washington, D.C. on February 9, 2010.

Gregory Z. Meyerson

Administrative Law Judge

[You can view the actual written notice Fresh & Easy is required to post in all of its Metropolitan Las Vegas, Nevada region stores at page 3o in the document linked here.]

Decisions by Administrative Law Judges are not binding legal precedent. And such decisions can be appealed to formal legal courts if one or both parties involved choose to do so, unless they've agreed in advance to not do so.

Judge Meyerson's complete decision, along with the full narrative history (which is an interesting read) of the unfair labor practices complaint filed last year by former Fresh & Easy Las Vegas store employee Deana Kenton and the United Food & Commercial Workers union, is available at this link.

We suggest you review the document in order to get a comprehensive understanding of the case from the perspectives of both sides.

Fresh & Easy Buzz has reported on, written about, and offer extensive analysis on the UFCW union's campaign to organize Tesco Fresh & Easy store workers and Fresh & Easy's response. You can read a selection of those posts here.

UFCW Union Launches Informal Boycott of Fresno CA Fresh & Easy Stores Today; One Day After the Stores Open

UFCW members picket at the Fresh & Easy store in Manhattan Beach, California on grand opening day, July 2, 2008. Read story here.

The United Foods & Commercial Workers union Local 8-Golden State, based in Roseville, California near Sacramento, launched informational picket lines at three of Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores in the cities of Fresno and Clovis in California's Central Valley today, just one day after the fresh foods and grocery chain opened the three stores in the two cities Wednesday morning.

The three Fresh & Easy stores are located at 2820 Tulare St. and 8059 N. Cedar Avenue in Fresno, and at 790 Shaw Avenue in Clovis. Clovis is a suburb of Fresno and is located right next door to the city.

Tesco also opened a Fresh & Easy market in nearby Lemoore in early December 2009. There are currently four Fresh & Easy stores in the Fresno region. An additional store is set to open next month in Fresno at 2047 West Shaw Avenue. More stores will be opening, likely in late February and early March.

Jacques Loveall, President of UFCW Local 8-Golden State, says the grocery clerks' union is asking shoppers in Fresno and Clovis not to shop at Fresh & Easy and to shop instead at UFCW- unionized grocery stores such as Save Mart, Food Maxx (Both owned by Modesto, California-based Save Mart Supermarkets) Kroger-owned Foods Co, Safeway Stores-owned Vons, local independent Ronnie’s Midway market and the local outlets of the Rite Aid drug chain.

"Tesco, which is Fresh & Easy’s parent company in the United Kingdom, is siphoning money out of our community," Loveall says, regarding the union's informal picketing of the three Fresno-area Fresh & Easy stores. "We are responding to that provocation."

The union local president added: "California has enough challenges without a foreign company (Tesco) coming in with substandard jobs that threaten good local companies that bring value and good jobs to our community. It’s bad enough good American jobs are exported overseas at an alarming rate. Now this global giant from the UK is coming to our country thinking it can take advantage of American workers on our own turf. We will not allow that to happen."

Loveall says Tesco's Fresh & Easy poses a threat to unionized food and grocery market share and to the living standards of UFCW union members' wages and benefits.

"Our members are prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure that workers at Fresh & Easy have the same access to the good pay, health care, pension and job security that are enjoyed by Union members," the UFCW union local president says.

The UFCW union has been campaigning against Tesco's non-union status with Fresh & Easy for over two years, as we've reported on and written about extensively for that period of time in Fresh & Easy Buzz. [Our first report was in 2007 here: UFCW Union to Organize Fresh & Easy Clerks in 2008.]

In late September 2009 UFCW Local 8-Golden State launched an informal picketing campaign at three then recently-opened Fresh & Easy stores in the Bakersfield, California region. Two of those stores are in Bakersfield; one at 11100 Olive Drive and the other at 5190 Stockdale Hwy. The third Fresh & Easy store is at 611 Cecil Avenue in nearby Delano. Bakersfield is south of Fresno in the southern Central Valley.

In 2008 the UFCW conducted a very aggressive multi-strategy tactical campaign against Tesco's Fresh & Easy. That campaign included: picketing at Fresh & Easy stores in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada; a multi-media public relations campaign in both the U.S. and UK; the authoring of a shareholder resolution at Tesco's annual meeting in the United Kingdom against Fresh & Easy's non-union status, which failed to pass; along with various other tactics to attempt to get Tesco to open Fresh & Easy to the union.

The UFCW union even was able to get then candidate and now President Barack Obama to sent a letter to Tesco requesting it open Fresh & Easy to union representation, as we reported in this June 2008 story.

Tesco's official position has been that it's the choice of the Fresh & Easy store-level employees, which are the workers the UFCW is attempting to unionize, to vote in favor of UFCW representation if they choose to but that the company has no position pro or con unionization for Fresh & Easy retail employees.

In September 2008, as we reported in this story [September 17, 2008: Store Workers at Huntington Beach Fresh & Easy Demand Union Recognition From Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market] employees of the Fresh & Easy market in Huntington Beach in Southern California asked Fresh & Easy's senior management for recognition as a UFCW union shop.

But as we reported in this story in early October [October 2, 2008: Tesco Fresh & Easy Denies Huntington Beach Store Employees Request to Be Recognized As A Union Store; Next Step Likley to Be Open Ballot Election] Fresh & Easy's corporate management denied the store workers' request, which isn't an unusual conclusion in such matters.

No open ballot election has taken place for the Huntington Beach Fresh & Easy store employees to date. Our union sources told us last year that the main reason from their end for this is because they were waiting for the U.S. Congress to take up the Employee Free Choice Act legislation, which many thought Congress would do in 2009. However, health care reform prevented Congress from putting the legislation, also called "Card Check," on the agenda. It is expected to be debated this year.

A Fresh & Easy Buzz correspondent talked to a couple employees at the Huntington Beach Fresh & Easy in fall 2009 regarding the union issue. The consensus of the employees was that joining the union had sort of fizzled out as a priority for the workers because of the recession and high unemployment rate, particularly in Southern California. However, we also know the idea of being able to start the unionization process with Fresh & Easy with that one store is far from dead among UFCW organizers.

The UFCW's aggressive unionization campaign against Tesco and its Fresh & Easy chain went rather silent in late 2008, and remained that way for all of 2009.

The UFCW union's public relations media campaign came basically to a halt. The UFCW even stopped updating the Web Site and Blog - fresh & easy facts - it's used against Tesco's Fresh & Easy in the campaign. For example, it hasn't updated the articles part of the site since June 2008.

We don't see signs that the UFCW's campaign to unionize Tesco's Fresh & Easy is about to return to its aggressive 2008 stance anytime soon.

However it's important to note that Local 8-Golden State is one of the strongest and most successful of all the UFCW locals nationwide in terms of organizing and contract negotiations with existing unionized supermarket chains.

For example, in Northern California and the Central Valley, the local's territory, all of the leading supermarket chains - Safeway (Safeway and Vons), Kroger-owned Foods Co and what's left of Cala Foods, Raley's (Raley's, Nob Hill, Bel Air and Food Source) Save Mart (Save Mart, Lucky and FoodMaxx), Albertsons - and most of the small chains, multi-store independents and even many larger single-store independents are unionized.

What the local has been unable to do, even though its region is arguably the strongest unionized grocery market in the nation, is to be able to force non-supermarket food retailing operators like Walmart, Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe's, Winco Foods and a couple others to unionize, although it has tried and continues to try to do so.

There's significant pressure on the UFCW to unionize these chains, particularly in California, because the union chains like Safeway, Kroger and the others, are coming under continued pressure from these non-union operators in terms of increased competition and encroachment on market share. This is a fact the CEO's of Safeway, Kroger, Stater Bros., Save Mart, Albertson's, Raley's and the other chains with operations in California have made clear via their representatives to the union in contract negotiations.

Fresno could be the new battle ground for the UFCW's continued efforts to unionize the store-level employees of Tesco's Fresh & Easy. But thus far the union's efforts in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada haven't born fruit. We will be falling the developments closely. Stay tuned.


[Readers: Click here and here for an extensive selection of past Fresh & Easy Buzz coverage of the UFCW and Tesco Fresh & Easy unionization issue and related topics. Notice the various links to other stories at the posts at the two links above as well.]

Analysis: Major Retailers Costco, Whole Foods Market and Starbucks Propose Employee Free Choice Act 'Third Way' Compromise; What About Fresh & Easy?

Members of the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) union and their families, like those pictured above, are out campaigning for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, which will likely be voted on soon in Congress.

On March 22, the CEO's of two food and grocery retailing companies -- Jim Sinegal of Costco and John Mackey of Whole Foods Market, along with Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks -- announced that the three retailers had formed what they are calling the ad hoc "Committee for a Level Playing Field for Union Elections."

Specifically, the three leading U.S. retailing chains say the group has come together to open dialogue about a "third way" approach to reform labor law. The group says its "purpose is to offer a new solution wholly distinct from the recently-introduced and controversial 'card check' bill, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)."

All three retailers -- Costco, Whole Foods Market and Starbucks -- are currently non-unionized chains.

Heading up the "committee" is the highly-connected Washington, D.C. lawyer Lanny Davis, a Liberal Democrat. Davis, who is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of the Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe law firm, most recently led Whole Foods Market, Inc.'s team of outside legal counsel (three firms) in the natural grocery chain's battle against the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) nearly two year antitrust legal challenge against Whole Foods' 2007 acquisition of rival natural foods retailing chain Wild Oats Markets.

On March 6, 2009 the FTC and Whole Foods reached a settlement agreement which required Whole Foods Market, Inc. to only sell 13 stores (12 former Wild Oats stores and one existing Whole Foods banner store, sell 19 former Wild Oats stores that were already closed, and sell the acquired Wild Oats' brand and related intellectual property.

Lanny Davis, the spokesperson for the "third way" group, came onto the Whole Foods legal team in about January, 2009. Prior to that the FTC had made every indication that it planned to do all in its power to overturn the 2007 merger-acquisition. Just two months later, on March 6, a settlement agreement was reached. The politically-connected Davis, who is more of a lobbyist-lawyer than he is a litigator, was instrumental in Whole Foods' being able to settle the antitrust challenge.

Davis served as former President Bill Clinton's Special Legal Counsel in the 1990's, where he honed his skills by defending the President and now Secretary of State and former First lady Hillary Clinton against a myriad of charges -- Trooper Gate, Whitewater, the Monica Lewinsky scandal and impeachment -- just to name three.

Lanny Davis is a close personal friend of Hillary Clinton. They met while attending Yale Law School together in the 1960's and have been fast friends and political allies since. Davis was a key fund raiser for and supporter of Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign for the Democratic nomination for U.S. President in 2008.

And when Barack Obama won the nomination, Davis became the leading public and private advocate within the Democratic party for her being named Vice President by President Obama.
When the then Democratic nominee and now President named Joe Biden as his Vice President, Davis became the leading advocate to the Obama team for Ms. Clinton's being named Secretary of State. She was named to that position by President Obama.

In making the announcement of the Costco-Whole Foods Market-Starbucks "third way" on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) legislation coalition on March 22, Lanny Davis said: "The founding companies that formed the committee have consistently appeared on Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For. Their CEO's -- James Sinegal of Costco, Howard Schultz of Starbucks, and John Mackey of Whole Foods Market -- today introduce a 'Statement of Principles,' that would substantially level the playing field for union organizers, improve their access to employees and provide a fair chance to make their case for a union election."

The use of the term "third way" by the Lanny Davis-led retailer coalition is very interesting. Former President Clinton, who's administration Lanny Davis was a member of for a number of years as legal counsel (along with being close to both of the Clintons), often used the term "third way" to describe its centrist approach to politics and governing, meaning not right or left, or highly partisan, but using a "third way." [Click here for information about what's called the "third way" approach to politics and legislation.]

Interestingly, former Illinios Congressman Rham Emmanuel, who is currently President Obama's chief of staff and was a former staff member in the Clinton Administration, was one of the promoters of that "third way" strategy and position during the first Clinton Presidential campaign and during Clinton's first term. The "third way" didn't last much in President Clinton's second term, amid all the partisan ranker that took place.

Below are the six principals the Costco, Whole Foods Market and Starbucks CEO's have designated as what they want to be part of the debate (and a part of the eventual legislation if they get their way) in Congress over the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which the U.S. House of Representatives is beginning to discuss and debate, and will likely vote on in the next couple months:

1) Secret Ballot. Guarantee the right of management and unions to require a secret ballot under all circumstances.

(2) Certification and Decertification Treated Equally. Permit management to initiate a decertification campaign through a secret ballot election just as employees and unions are presently able to initiate certification and decertification campaigns.

(3) Date Certain for Elections. Guarantee a fixed time period for the secret-ballot election--i.e., do not permit delays of an established day for a secret ballot to certify or decertify a union.

(4) Equal Access to Employees for Campaign Purposes. Level playing field for unions and management to access employees during non-working hours during the campaign period, e.g., permitting each to make presentations to employees at a neutral location concerning the issue of whether to form a union.

(5) Expedited Enforcement and Stricter Penalties. Expedited enforcement for serious and pervasive violations of law by labor and management and stricter penalties for serious and pervasive violations (e.g., unlawful discharges), including the penalty of mandatory injunctions when appropriate.

(6) Preserve Private Collective Bargaining. No mandatory arbitration that dictates contract terms, but stricter penalties and expedited enforcement for violations of good faith bargaining rules, including an expedited timetable to begin bargaining after union certification.

These six principals would guarantee a fixed time period for the secret-ballot election--by eliminating delays for establishing a day for a secret ballot to certify or decertify a union, Lanny Davis, representing the three retailers, says. The principles also include increased penalties for serious and pervasive violations of the law by labor or management and expedited procedures to impose them, Davis says.

Davis says the group strongly opposes the EFCA in its current form, which includes the abolition of a guaranteed option for management or employees to require a secret ballot, what they call a "bedrock principle of American democracy."

The group also opposes the EFCA's provision for government-imposed mandatory arbitration dictating terms of employment, which would overturn the time-valued tradition dating back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Wagner Act of 1935 that preserves private, good faith collective bargaining, free of government intrusion or dictates, according to Davis and the group's position statement.

"We believe in and trust our employees, which is neither anti-union nor pro-status quo," says James Sinegal, the CEO of Costco. "We favor fairness and believe that the passage of a law based on these six principles will ensure a fair opportunity for workers to make an informed choice, with a secret ballot, whether they want a union or whether they wish to retain non-union status."

The coalition is asking other retailers that agree with its approach to join their group So far no other retailers we are aware of have joined Costco, Whole Foods Market and Starbucks in the coalition. It's only been three weeks since the retailers announced the formation of the group though.

The main aspect of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) that's got non-unionized food and grocery retailers, along with most of corporate America and small businesses, up in arms is what's called the "Card Check Provision." Card check basically allows workers at non-union businesses (or stores in the case of retailers) to check a box on a card provided by a union indicating if the employee is for or against unionization. If a majority of the employees check "yes," that they are for a union shop, the company or business must go along with the worker-majority and unionize that particular store, plant or other business place.

Currently, employees, unions and employers go through a secret ballot process similar to how American citizens vote for their elected political leaders -- from city Mayor on up to President of the United States. The secret ballot process allows employers to lobby workers extensively if they desire to do so, attempting to persuade them that joining a union would be against their best interests and the interests of the company they work for.

Unions argue this process is unfair because it stacks the deck against unionization. Employers argue that's not true. It's a stalemate. And it's one of the primary reasons that organized labor wants the Employee Free Choice Act and its "Card Check" provision passed into law.

It's this "Card Check" provision of the EFCA that the Costco-Whole Foods-Starbucks coalition wants to change most.

Lanny Davis says that, contrary to assertions made by supporters of the EFCA, the card-check bill would, in fact, permit the exclusion of the secret ballot option. "It defies logic to say that once 51% of eligible voters sign the cards, the union that is entitled to automatic certification under EFCA would then ask for a secret ballot. That deprives the 49%, and perhaps some who signed the cards under pressure, the right to demand a secret ballot."

Organized labor says the "Card Check" provision in the current Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) legislation before the U.S. House of Representatives allows for employees to choose a secret ballot election if they desire, or to choose the card check off process. As such, the unions say the bill offers full employee choice.

Davis says he has discussed the Costco-Whole Foods Market-Starbucks "Statement of Principles" with the staffs of almost two dozen Democratic and Republican Senators. Most, he said, indicated the Senators for whom they worked were "positive about our third way approach, including many Democratic Senators who were co-sponsors of EFCA and had voted for the same measure last year."

"I'm proud to call myself a pro-labor liberal Democrat who believes that reforms are needed to provide a level playing field for both labor and management, but not at the expense of a guaranteed option for a secret ballot by both workers and management and certainly not at the expense of preserving the historic process of private, voluntary collective bargaining, Davis says. "I consider the committee's third way' proposal based on these six principles to be favorable to labor and fair to management. "If I did not, I would not have taken on this assignment."

"Given the severe economic crisis facing America it is time to avoid the polarization that has occurred on both sides of this issue, and instead, come together to find a productive approach," Davis adds.

Organized labor's AFL-CIO responds

The AFL-CIO's Bill Samuel recently responded to the Costco-Whole Foods Market-Starbucks coalition and Lanny Davis' arguments in a statement. Below is what the union leader said:

"The Employee Free Choice Act is about protecting the fundamental freedom of workers to bargain with their employers for a better life and to join a union without corporate interference and harassment. The proposal being circulated by these companies falls short of meeting these standards.

We (AFL-CIO) are open to discussing the legislation with parties who are legitimately concerned with protecting workers. However, a proposal coming from corporations, some of whom have their own history of violating workers' rights, is simply not an alternative that lives up to giving workers back the freedom to form unions.

Of particular concern (to organized labor) is the removal of majority sign up – which exists under current law - and the removal of the arbitration provisions. Removing the arbitration provisions will allow companies to continue to stall and delay and refuse to negotiate a contract in good faith.

It appears the battle is joined.

U.S. House and the Employee Free Choice Act

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 2007 with a strong majority (241 members in favor, 185 against). Most Congressional observers expect the 2009 EFCA bill to pass in the House by an equally wide margin again this year when it is voted on.

The Democrats obtained an even stronger numerical House majority after the 2008 elections than they had in 2007. A majority win is all that's required to pass legislation in the House, unlike in the Senate where it takes 60 votes to pass a bill if the opposition party launches a filibuster of a given piece of legislation.

House Democratic speaker Nancy Pelosi is a major supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), and says getting the legislation passed is one of her key legislative priorities this year.

The U.S. Senate and the Employee Free Choice Act

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) passed in the U.S. Senate in 2007 by a four vote majority -- 51 members for, 49 against. Forty seven Senate Democrats, the two Independents in the Senate, and one Republican -- Senator Arlene Spector of Pennsylvania who now says he opposses the EFCA -- voted for the bill in 2007. All of the Senate Republicans except Spector voted against the legislation in 2007.

But as mentioned above, majority does not rule in the Senate in most cases of legislation. Members of the minority party can filibuster a bill, which the Republicans did with the EFCA legislation in 2007. In order to beat a filibuster, 60 votes in favor of the bill are required. The Senate Democrats missed the mark by nine votes in 2007.

In addition, then Republican President George W. Bush was against the legislation, and planned to veto it if passed in the Senate. It takes those 60 votes in order to make a bill veto-proof. As a result, the Republicans were able to kill the EFCA bill in the U.S. Senate in 2007.

The Democrats gained a number of seats in the Senate in the 2008 election. But at a current 56 members they remain short of the full 60-member super-majority needed to prevent a filibuster. President Obama supports the EFCA though, so there is no concern over a Presidential veto as there was in 2007.

The Franken factor

The Democrats do have Senate member number 57 in waiting -- Former comedian Al Franken, who is ahead of Republican Norm Coleman by about 250 votes in what has become the longest-running vote recount in history in Minnesota. Coleman continues to challenge Franken's lead in the 2008 Minnesota Senatorial race. And the Democrats have refused to seat Republican Coleman, which makes sense since he hasn't won either, the former incumbent Senator from Minnesota, in the U.S. Senate, taking away his office. He remains in Minnesota challenging Franken's apparent victory.

Should the courts declare Al Franken the Democratic Senator from Minnesota, that would give the Democrats 57 votes in favor of the EFCA, assuming all of the other 56 Democrats vote in favor of the bill, which no longer is a lock as it was in 2007.

Additionally, If the two Independents -- Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut) -- vote in favor, as they both did in 2007, that would give the Democrats 59 votes, just one short of the required 60 votes needed to make any Republican filibuster moot.

That one vote, under the scenario, just recently went away with Republican Arlene Spector's changing his vote from "yea" to "nay" on the Employee Free Choice Act. But he could potentially change his mind back again, with enough enticement by the Democrat majority. Perhaps a federal government jobs' bill for recession-suffering Pennsylvania that is just too hard to refuse, for example?

The two Senate Independents are members of the Democratic Caucus and vote with the Democratic majority most of the time on domestic issues. Both support the EFCA at present. Lieberman is a former, long time Democrat who left the party after many of its leaders supported his Democratic challenger, Ned Lamont, in the last election.

Lieberman defeated Lamont in the Connecticut general election, changing his party affiliation from Democratic to Independent, which he still keeps. Lieberman supported Republican John McCain and not President Obama in the 2008 election. Despite that, President Obama reached out to the Independent and saved his Senate Committee Chairmanship for him, a debt owned the Democratic President, who supports the EFCA, by Joe Lieberman.

That means under this scenario -- Franken gets seated, all the Senate Democrats (57 with Franken) and the two Independents vote yes for a total of 59 votes -- that the Democrats will need to convince one moderate Republican to vote with the majority in order to pass the EFCA over any Republican fillibuster.

Pressure on moderate Senate Democrats

A coalition of business groups representing corporate America, agribusiness and small business (including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce) is now putting heavy pressure on a handful of conservative and moderate Democratic Senators like Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Senator Bill Nelson of Florida (no relation) to vote against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) legislation in its current form. The business coalition is particularly against the "Card Check" provision in any form being a part of the bill. Since most argue that "Card Check" is the key provision of the EFCA for organized labor, reaching some sort of compromise agreement will be very difficult.

Moderate Democratic Senators like Ben and Bill Nelson, along with a couple others from more conservative voting states, could find it politically difficult to vote for the EFCA though, because in the case of Senator Ben Nelson from Nebraska, which is a major farm state, agribusiness leaders in the state are dead against the legislation.

In the case of Senator Bill Nelson from Florida, his state is one of the hardest hit by the current recession. Business leaders are telling him that a vote for the EFCA by the moderate Senator would be a vote for killing jobs, attempting to put him in a no win situation if he supports the bill.

Of even more serious concern to the Senate Democrat leadrship is Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, who recently said she is going to have a difficult time voting for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) as it's presently written. The supporters of the EFCA need her vote.

Another Democratic Senator who could go either way on the EFCA is Montana's John Tester, a moderate-to-conservative Democrat who won election in 2008 in a very traditionally Republican state. The first-term Senator wasn't in the Senate in 2007, when the last vote on the EFCA was taken.

The UFCW union and the Employee Free Choice Act

The United Food & Commercial Workers union (UFCW), which represents about 1.5 million unionized supermarket clerks in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, is a major supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). The retail clerks union is currently devoting most of its financial and human resources to lobbying Congress, along with conducting a grass roots organizing campaign, to get the EFCA legislation passed this year.

You can read the UFCW union's position on the Employee Free Choice Act here.

The UFCW has conducted an aggressive campaign since early 2008 to unionize workers at Tesco Fresh & Easy's 116 grocery and fresh foods stores in California (Southern and Bakersfield), southern Nevada and Metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. [Fresh & Easy Buzz was one of the first publications to report on the union's plans to organize Fresh & Easy store employees in an aggressive and comprehensive manner. Read our December 30, 2007 story here: UFCW Union to Organize Fresh & Easy Clerks in 2008.]

As we reported in this September 17, 2008 piece: [Store Workers at Huntington Beach Fresh & Easy Demand Union Recognition From Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market], store-level workers at the Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market grocery store in Huntington Beach (Southern) California formally requested of company management to be recognized as a union shop in September of last year.

In this October 2, 2008 story [Tesco Fresh & Easy Denies Huntington Beach Store Employees Request to Be Recognized As A Union Store; Next Step Likley to Be Open Ballot Election] we reported management's response to the store employees, which was to deny the request and suggest the store workers follow U.S. labor law rules and organize a secret ballot election if they desired UFCW union representation, which isn't an uncommon management response to such a letter. [See the bibliography at th end of this story for more reports and analysis.]

It's been six months since the Huntongton Beach store workers wrote their letter and Tesco Fresh & Easy's management denied the request. To date no secret ballot election has been held, nor is one planned as far as we are aware, at the Huntington Beach Fresh & Easy store. We recently talked to employees of the store who confirmed this situation.

Additionally, none of the employees at any other Fresh & Easy markets have requested union representation via letters to company management to date, based on our sources and research.[Related story - September 26, 2008: News & Analysis: Employees At Two More Fresh & Easy Grocery Stores Could Soon Request UFCW Union Recognition From Tesco's Fresh & Easy.]

The UFCW has, since late 2008, been far less aggressive in its campaign to unionize the Tesco Fresh & Easy store-level employees than it was for most of last year, as we wrote about in this piece [Labor & Food Retailing: Kroger Co. Chains Sign New Contract With the UFCW Union in Vegas; What Happened to the UFCW Tesco Fresh & Easy Campaign?] on February 13, 2009.

The union still has a major strategy to unionize Fresh & Easy though, along with numerous other non-union food and grocery retailing chains. Our sources and research tell us the UFCW's less aggressive approach to Tesco's Fresh & Easy over the last few months has more to do with its focus on getting the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) passed -- which then will make it much easier to unionize Fresh & Easy employees and all others at non-union chains -- than it does any less desire to unionize Tesco in the U.S.

The coalition's 'third way' and the UFCW

The UFCW has recently indicated, as have all of the U.S. labor unions, that it doesn't support the "third way" principles for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) that are being suggested and advocated by the Costco-Whole Foods Market-Starbucks coalition.

However, with Al Franken yet to be seated as a U.S. Senator, Republican Senator Spector's changing of his position on the EFCA, and the increased pressure being put on moderate Democrats in the Senate by the business coalition against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), some sort of compromise legislation is much more likely this year than it was in the period after the November 2008 election, in which organized labor helped elect a President (Obama) who is a major supporter of the EFCA, and saw a 57-member Democratic majority in the Senate, along with two Independents and one Republican, Senator Spector, all supporting the EFCA legislation, adding up to that magic 60-member filibuster-proof Democrat super-majority.

That 60-member super-majority is now gone, although lots of horse-trading and deal making will be going on by Senate Democrats to obtain it again on the Employee Free Choice Act EFCA).

Will other non-union retailers join the coalition?

In addition to Costco (which is ranked as the third-largest seller of food and groceries in the U.S. after Wal-Mart and Kroger Co. by a number of research fims) and Whole Foods Market, Inc. ($8 billion in annual sales), numerous top food and grocery retailers in the U.S. are non-union. These major retailers include: Wal-Mart (number one market share leader nationally in the U.S.); Target; Trader Joe's; and others.

And of course Tesco's Fresh & Easy -- which isn't a leading food and grocery retailer in the U.S. but is so globally, United Kingdom-based Tesco being the third-largest retailer in the world after number one Wal-Mart and number two Carrefour, which is based in France -- is a non-union grocery chain. Tesco, which is the number one food and grocery retailer in the United Kingdom, is unionized in Britain.

None of these retailers support the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) that we are aware of. Wal-Mart has publicly come out strongly against the legislation. We have yet to see a public position taken by Target, Trader Joe's or Tesco's Fresh & Easy. But, and you will have to trust us on this one, they are all against it.

The UFCW union has attempted to organize store-level employees at Wal-Mart, Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's in the U.S. for many years, less so at Target. The union hasn't been able to get workers at one store in each of the three chain's unionized to date however.

Most of the leading supermarket chains in the U.S. -- Kroger Co., Supervalue, Inc. and Safeway Stores, Inc. (the top three) -- have all or many of their divisions and stores unionized, with employees represented by the UFCW. Numerous regional supermarket chains and independents, particularly in California and other stronger union states, are also union shops.

For example, in Southern California where Tesco has over half of its current 116 Fresh & Easy markets (the other slightly less than half are split between Arizona and Nevada), and where the grocery chain is headquartered, all of the leading supermarket chains -- Safeway-owned Vons, Kroger's Ralphs, Supervalu-owned Albertsons, Stater Bros. (the top four in market share) -- are unionized.

It will be interesting to see if Wal-Mart, Target, Trader Joe's, Tesco's Fresh & Easy -- all retailers that also position themselves as being progressive -- or any other non-union food and grocery (and other format) retailers join the Costco-Whole Foods Market-Starbucks "third way" coalition.

A major part of the positioning of the three retailers in forming the group and offering an alternative to the present EFCA legislation is that they are progressive retailers, as coalition spokesperson Lanny Davis has made a point of noting. Might other retailers that consider themselves in a similar "progressive" mode join the three? None have so far -- but it's still early.
Meanwhile, organized labor is showing no signs of interest yet in the Costco-Whole Foods Market-Starbucks proposal. And it's our analysis the unions won't unless it begins to look like the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) legislation isn't going to pass in the Senate -- it's a virtual lock in the House -- if and when it is voted on this year. The probability is high that it will be voted on in the U.S. Senate this year since House Speaker Pelosi says it will be in that body, perhaps very soon.

The Employee Free Choice Act issue and legislation is only beginning to heat up. It's going to get much hotter in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned for continued and ongoing extensive reporting and analysis on the issue in Fresh & Easy Buzz.

[Below is a selected, linked bibliography of past stories and posts in Fresh & Easy Buzz about the UFCW union's campaign to unionize store-level employees of Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market (and related issues, including the Employee Free Choice Act), which currently has stores in California (Southern and Bakersfield), southern Nevada and Metropolitan Phoeniz, Arizona, in the Western United States.]

>February 13, 2009: Labor & Food Retailing: Kroger Co. Chains Sign New Contract With the UFCW Union in Vegas; What Happened to the UFCW Tesco Fresh & Easy Campaign?

>November 10, 2008: Food Retailing & Organized Labor: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Gets Some Company as the UFCW Union Launches Campaign to Unionize Wakefern's PriceRight Banner

>November 4, 2008: U.S. Organized Labor, Including the UFCW Union, is Feeling Good Tonight About A President Obama and Stronger Democratic Majority in Congress

>October 28, 2008: The UFCW Union, Tesco's Fresh & Easy, U.S. Labor Relations, and Next Week's Presidential and Congressional Election

>October 2, 2008: Tesco Fresh & Easy Denies Huntington Beach Store Employees Request to Be Recognized As A Union Store; Next Step Likley to Be Open Ballot Election

>September 26, 2008: News & Analysis: Employees At Two More Fresh & Easy Grocery Stores Could Soon Request UFCW Union Recognition From Tesco's Fresh & Easy

>September 17, 2008: Store Workers at Huntington Beach Fresh & Easy Demand Union Recognition From Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

>August 27, 2008: UFCW Union Reports Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's Prepared Foods Supplier to Labor Board For What it Says is Unfair Firing of Six Employees

>August 5, 2008: UNI Global Union Launches Tesco-Specific Alliance; Calls For Tesco Executives to Meet With UFCW Union Officials Over Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

>August 4, 2008: Pico Rivera, California City Council Members Boycott Fresh & Easy Store Grand Opening; Mayor Attends But Delivers Pro-UFCW Union Message to Execs

>July 30, 2008: UFCW Union Flyers On His Door Knob Cause Heat in 'The Pragmatic Chef's' Mental Kitchen; Others Wondering About the Negative Campaign As Well

>July 3, 2008: July 3, 2008: Mid-Week Fresh & Easy Roundup: Fresh & Easy Gets Caught in A Land Use Dispute; Those Near-Famous Mixed Grill Packs; More On Manhattan Beach

>July 4, 2008: Breaking News: UFCW Union Strikes Again With Anti-Tesco Fresh & Easy Brochure Drop in Neighborhood Surrounding New Manhattan Beach Store

>July 2, 2008: UFCW Union Pickets Out in Force This Morning At Manhattan Beach Fresh & Easy Store Grand Opening

>June 30, 2008: Breaking News: UFCW Union Launches Preemptive Anti-Tesco Fresh & Easy Brochure Distribution Drop on the Eve of Manhattan Beach Store Grand Opening

>June 26, 2008: Tesco 2008 AGM: Barack Obama Sends Second Letter to Tesco CEO Requesting the Company Meet With U.S. UFCW Union Leaders About Fresh & Easy

>June 22, 2008: Vocal Cast of Critics and Advocacy Groups to Attend Tesco's Annual General Meeting On Friday, June 27

>June 4, 2008: News and Analysis: UFCW Union Takes its Tesco Union Organizing Campaign Across the Pond to the United Kingdom Beginning Today

>March 26, 2008: United Food and Commercial Workers Union Begins its Spring 2008 Organizing and Communications Campaign Directed at Tesco's Fresh & Easy

>February 11, 2008: Supermarket Union President Asks Britain's Prince Andrew to Arrange A 'Sit-Down' With Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Senior Executives

>January 2, 2008: Sacramento Bee on UFCW Union and Fresh & Easy

>December 30, 2007: UFCW Union to Organize Fresh & Easy Clerks in 2008

[Follow Fresh & Easy Buzz around on Twitter.com at twitter.com/freshneasybuzz.]

Labor & Food Retailing: Kroger Co. Chains Sign New Contract With the UFCW Union in Vegas; What Happened to the UFCW Tesco Fresh & Easy Campaign?

Las Vegas Market Region -- and Beyond

Kroger Co., the largest U.S. supermarket chain and the number three seller of food and groceries nationally in the country in terms of market share, (after number one Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Coscto), says it has reached agreement with the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) union on a union contract for store-level employees in the Las Vegas, Nevada Metropolitan regional market.

Kroger Co. operates two supermarket chains in the Las Vegas Metro market -- Smith's Food and Drug and Food 4 Less.

The compromise contract agreement was signed with Las Vegas-based UFCW local 711, according to the union and Kroger Co. The local represents 2,800 Smith's and 900 Food 4 Less store-level workers at a combined 47 Smith's and Food 4 Less stores in the Las Vegas Metropolitan region.

"This agreement maintains quality jobs and affordable health care for our associates and their families in this challenging economy and keeps our stores competitive," Jim Hallsey, president of Smith's Food and Drug, and Dave Hirz, president of Food 4 Less, said in a joint statement issued by Kroger Co.

The UFCW union local and Kroger had been negotiating over a new contract for a considerable amount of time. Among the issues in the negotiations were health care and job security.

Vegas, supermarkets and the UFCW

The Las Vegas Metropolitan region is one of three markets where Tesco operates its 112 Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market combination grocery and fresh foods stores. The other two markets are Southern California and the Phoenix, Arizona Metropolitan region. There are about 35 Fresh & Easy markets in the Las Vegas Metro region.

Unlike Kroger's Smith's Food & Drug and Food 4 Less and most of the other supermarket chains in the Las Vegas, Nevada region -- as well as those in California and Arizona -- Tesco's Fresh & Easy is non-union.

Other major chains in the three markets that are unionized include Safeway Stores, Inc. (Safeway and Vons banners in Southern California, Nevada and Arizona), Ralphs (Southern California) and Fry's (Arizona) (both Kroger Co.-owned), Albertsons (Southern California, Nevada, Arizona) and a number of others, including smaller, privately-held grocery chains like 18-store Gelson's in Southern California and some others.

Most of the chain and larger, multi-store independents (and even some single-store operators) in the three markets are UFCW-union affiliated. But like Tesco's Fresh & Easy, Wal-Mart, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market, all major food retailers with numerous stores in the three markets, aren't unionized either.

UFCW in relative hibernation over Tesco Fresh & Easy

As regular readers of Fresh & Easy Buzz know from our extensive coverage of the issue throughout 2008, the UFCW made Tesco's Fresh & Easy its prime target in terms of non-union food and grocery retailer unionization campaigns last year.

The UFCW had its closest chance to achieve potential unionization at Fresh & Easy when employees of the Fresh & Easy market in Huntington Beach, California sent a letter to Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's senior management at corporate headquarters in Southern California, requesting to be recognized as a UFCW-affiliated union store.

The company responded to the store employees, telling them they were welcome to follow established procedures and hold a "secret ballot" vote on UFCW-affiliation and becoming a union store in accordance with U.S. Department of Labor guidelines. [Read our report on the store-issue in this September, 2008 piece: [Store Workers at Huntington Beach Fresh & Easy Demand Union Recognition From Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.] Such a response by a non-union grocery retailing company is common; it's the norm rather than the exception.

The UFCW said at the time it planned to go forward and work with the Huntington Beach store employees and to eventually hold a vote on unionization.

However, its been about six months, September, 2008 to the present, and no Huntington Beach Fresh & Easy store employee union vote has taken place yet.

Political developments and UFCW's Tesco Fresh & Easy campaign

Of course, since September, 2008 much has happened politically in the U.S. Most specifically for the UFCW, Barack Obama was elected President, with much support by organized labor, including the union which represents about 1.5 million unionized supermarket workers in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.

President Obama, along with the unions and the Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, are in favor of the Employee Free Choice Act legislation and its "Card Check" provision, which instead of a "secret ballot" (the current process) vote (which isn't as easy a process as it sounds), would only require employees in all industries, including food and grocery retailing, to check "yes" on card if they want to join a union.

If the majority of say the 25 employees at a Fresh & Easy market checked yes under "Card Check," they would be certified as a union shop. The secret ballot process is much more elaborate and longer. It also allows companies to meet with and attempt to convince employees not to join the union during the process, subject to U.S. Labor Law provisions of course.

Most of corporate America, along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business trade groups, and the majority of Republicans in the House and Senate, are against the Employee Free Choice Act and its "Card Check" provision. They argue the "secret ballot" is the only fair way to hold a unionization vote, comparing the process to the "secret ballot" voters cast in electing their representatives.

The unions and other supporters, including the majority of Democrats in Congress and the President, challenge that, saying employees should have a right to an easy way, like "Card Check," to say "yes" or "no" to joining a union. They also argue voting for those who represent citizens in public office is far different than an employee electing to join a union or not.

According to a couple of our sources, the UFCW has been so much less active in its efforts to unionize Tesco's Fresh & Easy so far this year because it is waiting for Congress to put the Employee Free Choice Act with its "Card Check" provision up for debate and eventual vote in the House and Senate.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, from California, has said she wants to introduce the Employee Free Choice Act legislation this year. Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid, from Searchlight, Nevada, hasn't said yet if he will introduce the legislation in the Senate this year.

The Employee Free Choice Act was voted on in 2008 by both the House and the Senate. It passed by a majority in the House, where just a simple majority is needed to pass legislation, but failed to gain 60 votes in the Senate, which requires that many votes, called a Supermajority, in order to pass legislation that is opposed and filibustered by the opposition party, which the minority Senate Republicans did successfully last year. As a result, the legislation failed to get the required 60 votes in the Senate and went away. President George W. Bush has promised he would not sign the legislation if it did pass the Senate.

However, the Democrats now have a considerably larger majority in the Senate after the 2008 election than they did in 2008. There are currently 57 Democrats in the Senate, and possibly soon 58, if former comedian and radio talk show host Al Franken is confirmed as the Senator from Minnesota in that disputed election, which looks like will happen soon. Additionally, the two independents in the Senate voted for the Employee Free Choice Act the last time around. That could give them the needed 60 votes, assuming all Democrats voted in favor of the legislation. One or two moderate Republicans also could vote in favor of the legislation if it is raised this year.

President Obama has already said he would sign the Employee Free Choice Act if passed by Congress. However, it isn't at the top of his agenda right now -- the economy is.

And the President and his top aids are also concerned about the legislation being brought up anytime soon in 2009 (they prefer 2010) out of fear it will cause a backlash with unemployment at such record highs, and growing. The fear is that a debate on the Employee Free Choice Act this year would give Republicans a perfect issue to hammer the new Democratic President with, arguing as they did last year (but much louder this time) -- when the economy was much better than it is now and when unemployment was much lower than it is at present -- that passing the legislation would amount to a "job-killing" bill at a time when job loss is already skyrocketing.

The President's men also feel it would be a political gift to the conservative radio talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh and others who have already said that if the Employee Free Choice Act comes up in Congress this year they will use it as a "job killing" hammer against the President and Democrats. One can almost visualize Rush Limbaugh encouraging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring the legislation up in the House in the same way a fully-committed carnivore urges a vegetarian to just taste one bite of the beef Prime Rib so she can know what it actually tastes like to better make her case for vegetarianism.

Regardless of whether or not the UFCW is waiting for the Employee Free Choice Act and its "Card Check" provision to pass or not, it is fair to say that in terms of last year's super-aggressive and highly coordinated efforts to unionize Tesco Fresh & Easy store-level employees, thus far this year the UFCW has been in relative hibernation.

For example, while still picketing at some Fresh & Easy stores, the UFCW hasn't thus far this year demonstrated anywhere near as strongly as in 2008, when it had union reps at every new store opening, holding up signs, handing out literature and encouraging shoppers to not shop at the non-union stores.

Additionally, for most of 2008 the UFCW conducted a vocal and aggressive lobbying and public relations campaign both in the U.S. and in the United Kingdom where Tesco is headquartered, designed to draw attention to the fact Tesco's Fresh & Easy is non-union and to gain support from store employees, politicians and the media for its unionization efforts. Thus far this year that mighty UFCW 2008 PR machine has been near-silent.

Lastly, throughout 2008 UFCW representatives paid regularly scheduled visits to numerous Fresh & Easy stores. The regular visits are designed to get to know employees, build relationships with them and encourage them to join the unionization movement. We've talked with numerous Fresh & Easy store employees who say they haven't had a visit from UFCW representatives yet this year. This might not be unusual except that we talked to many of these same employees throughout 2008, and they told us then the UFCW representatives visited the stores on a regular basis, often once a month.

Unionization in an economic recession-depression

We can tell you that despite what appears to be the current hibernation of the UFCW regarding its Tesco Fresh & Easy unionization campaign, that the union's campaign to achieve that goal isn't over. But it is interesting how the union seems to have let the momentum they had going for most of last year fall off so much since the fall of 2008 to the present.

Of course, the economy is in shambles and job loss growing by the tens of thousands each day. Perhaps the union is being sensitive to this fact from a political standpoint. After all, this isn't the best time for employees of any company to be pitching to join a union to a non-union employer; not while they feel they could be next to lose their jobs because of the bad economy.

It's tough out there -- and getting tougher. Laid off formerly high-paid workers who haven't been able to find work in their respective industries for many months are hoping they can land jobs such as the $10 an hour part-time positions with medical insurance that Tesco's Fresh & Easy is offering. And there are few of those types of retail jobs out there right now as there generally has been in past recessions, not with America's retailers laying off 45,000 workers in January alone, with tens of thousands more to come this month.

You know that old saying, right: "It's a recession when your neighbor losses his job, it's a depression when you lose yours." More and more of our neighbors, as well as more and more of "us" are losing jobs. Call it a recession, call it a depression, depending on where you are in it. But another old saying is: "I know what it is when I see it." And "it" isn't looking good. As British Prime Minister Gordon Brown started calling "it" last week -- "The Depression."

It looks like the Kroger Co. employees in the Las Vegas Metropolitan region, which is one of the hardest hit in the U.S. by the recession and job losses, got their union contract renewal just in time.

Reader Resource

>[Click here for a selection of past stories from Fresh & Easy Buzz about the UFCW union-Tesco Fresh & Easy issue.]

>[Reader Note: You can follow Fresh & Easy Buzz on Twitter.com at: www.twitter.com/freshneasybuzz]

>Reader Comments: We invite reader comments on this story, and particularly want to hear your views on the issue of joining labor unions in times of serious economic recession, like at present. Is it a "good" thing to do in terms of it offering better pay and job security to workers? Is it a "job killing" proposition, as some suggest? What's your view? Just click on the "comments" link below to leave your comment.

Food Retailing & Organized Labor: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Gets Some Company as the UFCW Union Launches Campaign to Unionize Wakefern's PriceRight Banner

Southern California-based Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market no longer is the only non-union food and grocery chain in the U.S. to be the subject of a direct, focused and aggressive campaign by the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) union to unionize its chain's store-level employees.

On Friday the UFCW launched a major campaign to unionize store workers of the PriceRight discount supermarket chain, which is owned by Elizabeth, New Jersey based Wakefern Food Corp., the largest retailer-owned food and grocery cooperative in the United States.

Wakefern operates supermarkets in the eastern U.S. under two banners, PriceRight, which are price-impact, discount supermarkets, and ShopRight, which are more conventional supermarkets with a bit of an upscale flair.

The retail and wholesaler food co-ops ShopRight banner stores are unionized. However, the PriceRight banner stores aren't.

The UFCW union kicked off it campaign against Wakefern's PriceRight banner on Friday at a store in Providence, Rhode Island, where about 100 demonstrators picketed against the non-union status of the stores, Fresh & Easy Buzz has learned. The pro-union demonstrators held signs and distributed UFCW literature to store employees and shoppers.

Workers at the Providence store, and employees at a couple other PriceRight supermarkets, have expressed a desire to join the UFCW union like the workers at their sister banner ShopRight already are members of, according to UFCW spokesperson Amber Sparks. Therefore the union, which represents 1.3 million supermarket clerks in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, decided to launch the unionization campaign at the Providence, Rhode Island PriceRight supermarket beginning last Friday, she says.

The UFCW's Sparks adds that after the workers expressed this desire to become unionized, Wakefern began distributing anti-union literature to their store employees, which further intensified the UFCW's decision to launch the campaign.

One of the reasons the PriceRight employees have said they want to join the union is because many of them are employed part time and therefore aren't eligible for Wakefern's health insurance plan, the UFCW's Sparks says. Under UFCW contracts with U.S. supermarket companies, part time as well as full time store-level workers are eligible for health insurance, which is paid primarily by the employer but also partially paid by workers through their union dues.

The UFCW also argues that since the ShopRight employees are unionized there exists a disparity between the workers at those stores and the PriceRight non-union supermarkets owned by the same company --Wakefern.

Wakefern Food Corp. did not have a reply to an inquiry we made regarding the UFCW campaign as of our press time today. The retailer-owned food cooperative hadn't issued a statement about the campaign as of the end of business today either.

The UFCW union's Amber Sparks says the PriceRight unionization campaign will be expanded in the coming days and weeks to other stores, both PriceRight and ShopRight units, in addition to the Providence Rhode Island supermarket.

Wakefern is owned by 43 members who individually own and operate the PriceRight and ShopRight banner supermarkets. Currently there are about 213 stores operating under the two banners. The PriceRight discount supermarkets and ShopRight supermarkets are located in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Delaware.

The retailer-owned cooperative has 2007 sales of about $10 billion.

Wakefern serves as the distribution, marketing and merchandising arm of the company. The food cooperative says the 213 stores serve over 4 ½ million customers weekly in their respective markets.

Based out of its headquarters in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Wakerfern has 2.5 million square feet of warehousing and distribution space, according to the company's Web site. It's transportation fleet is one of the largest private fleets on the east coast of the U.S. It consists of 400 tractors and 2,000 trailers, and traveled more than 35 million miles in 2007, the Web site says.

The first PriceRight discount supermarket opened in just 1995.

The PriceRight discount supermarkets average only 35,000 square feet and size, offering a limited assortment (compared to other discount supermarket chains which are generally much larger in size) of fresh foods and groceries positioned at everyday low prices.

Fresh produce is a major feature of the PriceRight stores. Each store's produce department averages 6,000 -to- 7,000 square feet, which represents about 20% of the total store's square footage. That's a high percentage compared to the supermarket industry average.

The independently-owned discount supermarkets operate on a no frills-type philosophy similar to SuperValu's Sav-A-Lot and Aldi's small-format discount stores. Sav-A-lot and Aldi stores are about half the size of the PriceRight discount supermarkets though, as are Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores.

An example of PriceRight's no-frills merchandising and operations philosophy is that the stores encourage shoppers to bring their own shopping bags. If a customer doesn't do so they must pay a nominal fee for each paper or plastic grocery bag the store uses to sack the shopper's grocery purchases in is charges the customer at checkout.

The stores also offer a limited assortment of grocery products. These include both national brands and store brands under the PriceRight private label brand.

The PriceRight banner's marketing slogan is: "To Offer Impossibly, Inconceivably, Incredibly Low Grocery Prices."

The UFCW's launch of its campaign to unionize store-level employees of Wakefern's PriceRight banner comes less than a week after Democratic candidate, and now President-Elect, Barack Obama won the Presidency of the United States by a substantial majority of votes.

As we wrote about in this November 4 election day story, "U.S. Organized Labor, Including the UFCW Union, is Feeling Good Tonight About A President Obama and Stronger Democratic Majority in Congress, "America's organized labor movement, including the UFCW, has a new bounce in its collective union organizing step following the victory of Barack Obama, along with the majority Democrat victories in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.

President-Elect Obama has said he favors the "Employee Free Choice Act," legislation supported by the majority of House and Senate Democrats. The act includes what's called the "Card Check Provision," which allows non-union company employees to merely check a "yes" box on a card if they want union representation rather than go through the long secret ballot voting process which is current U.S. labor law.

Organized labor is the major proponent of the "Employee Free Choice Act." The legislation passed the House by a majority but lost in the U.S. Senate by just two or three votes in 2007. Even if passed, President Bush, who opposes the measure, said he would have vetoed the act, preventing it from becoming law. He returns to Crawford, Texas as a private citizen in 72 days though, after Barack Obama is inaugurated in late January, 2009.

However, with a more pro-organized labor President, Barack Obama, who says he supports the legislation, along with a clear majority in the House and near (and possibly solid) veto-proof majority in the Senate, the unions, including the UFCW, feel sure the legislation can be passed and signed by the new President in 2009.

The majority of U.S. corporations and small businesses oppose the "Employee Free Choice Act," as do such trade organizations as the Food Marketing Institute (the supermarket industry trade group), the National Association of Retailers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, among others.

As we wrote about in this piece on October 28, "The UFCW Union, Tesco's Fresh & Easy, U.S. Labor Relations, and Next Week's Presidential and Congressional Election," the UFCW plans to organize numerous non-union supermarket chains beginning now and in the coming years.

In addition, we've been reporting and writing all year about the hope by the UFCW, which is one of the reasons the union worked so hard to get Barack Obama elected President even though they didn't support him in the Democratic Party primary, that if a Democratic President and Democratic majority won big in November, which they have, it, along with the other U.S. labor unions, would be able to get the "Employee Free Choice Act" passed through Congress and signed by a President Obama.

Based on recent comments by U.S. House of Representatives' Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, it sounds like the House will bring new legislation on the free choice act up either early in the 2009 session or towards the middle of the year.

With a now clear Democrat majority in the House of Representatives and at least 57-58 current (plus the two Senate seats still held by Obama and VP Joe Biden which the Democratic governors of both Illinois and Delaware will appoint Democrats to soon) Senate seats, which is a majority, it appears if it is brought up for a vote in 2009, which is very likely, the "Employee Free Choice Act" will pass by a majority in both houses.

The only thing Senate Democrats fear is if they don't end up with a 60 seat majority, the Republicans can filibuster the legislation, preventing it from passing. With a sure 59 seats (57 at present plus the Obama and Biden seats), but not 60 yet (there still are three close Senate races undecided though), the Democrats would have to get at least one Republican or one or two of the independents in the Senate to vote with them, which is a distinct possibility. One of those independents is former Democrat Joe Lieberman. He voted for the "Employee Free Choice Act" bill last year.

Meanwhile, we expect to see the UFCW announce a major campaign to unionize yet another U.S. supermarket chain either before this year is out or early in 2009.

The union has been trying for years to unionize Wal Mart, Whole Foods Market, Inc. and Trader Joe's. However the UFCW doesn't have strong, active campaigns targeting those three chains presently, like it does focusing on Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and now Wakefern's PriceRight banner.

Additionally, there are a few other non-union chains in the UFCW's direct line of fire. Stay tuned to Fresh & Easy Buzz to find out which chain's those are.

U.S. Organized Labor, Including the UFCW Union, is Feeling Good Tonight About A President Obama and Stronger Democratic Majority in Congress

America's organized labor movement, including the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) union which represents about 13 million unionized supermarket workers in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, is celebrating tonight's Presidential victory by Democratic Party candidate Barack Obama, along with celebrating the fact Democrats are picking up numerous new seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.

Organized labor, which supported President-elect Obama 100% in this year's election once he received the Democratic Party nomination, played a key role in his Presidential campaign, mobilizing tens of thousands of union members to work telephone banks, conduct door-to-door grass roots organizing efforts and drive voters to the polls, along with donating millions of dollars to Obama's winning campaign for President.

America's labor unions also were key in working with the Democratic Party to help win numerous new seats in the House of Representatives and Senate. Democrats have thus far tonight picked up new seats in many states in what have been traditional Republican states, including defeating a number of once-popular Republican Congress members and Senators. And with votes still coming in from throughout the Western U.S., the Democrats will likely pick up additional seats because the election trend is in their favor this year.

The United Foods & Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, which as we've been reporting and writing about all year, is in the midst of a campaign to unionize the store-level employees of Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market grocery and fresh foods chain in California, Nevada and Arizona.

The union's Fresh & Easy unionization campaign has been the UFCW's top organizing priority this year. The union also hopes to unionize workers at Wal-Mart stores, Whole Foods Market, Inc., Costco, Trader Joe's and a few other non-union chains now that there will be a Democratic President of the United States and a Democratic majority in both the House and the Senate.

However, during the eight years of the pro-union Clinton Administration in the 1990's, including a number of years when the Democrats held a majority in both houses, the UFCW wasn't able to unionize any of those four chains despite strong efforts to so so.

The UFCW however has made much more rapid efforts in its attempts to organize Tesco Fresh & Easy workers in just a short time; less than a year.

As we reported on September 17 in this story, store employees at the Huntington Beach, California Fresh & Easy market petitioned company officials asking to be recognized as a UFCW union shop, a request Fresh & Easy CEO Tim Mason denied, telling the store workers to hold a vote on unionization as current U.S. labor laws allow.

But UFCW officials tell us tonight they're feeling a new bounce in their collective organizational heels because of Barack Obama's victory and the new House and Senate seats being added to the Democratic majority in Congress.

For example, Patrick O' Neill, the executive vice president of the UFCW union, says new labor rules under an Obama presidency and a Democratic supermajority in Congress could result in additional grocery chains being unionized within six months. O'Neill first made this comment on Friday during a conference call arranged by New York-based bank Citigroup, which we covered.

The new labor rules or more specifically legislation Patrick O’Neill is referring to is the "Employee Free Choice Act" bill, which we reported on and wrote about most recently here.

The "Employee Free Choice Act," which passed the U.S. House of Representatives last year and was defeated in the Senate by Republicans by just two or three votes from, is a measure union leaders define as "reducing the hindrances to union certification by replacing the current process of secret ballot elections with a process of signed cards or a petition," according to the UFCW's O'Neill.

This provision of the proposed law is called the "Quick Check Provision." Instead of voting in a secret ballot election like non-union food and grocery store employees do now, the workers would merely be able to check "yes" on a card or petition if they want union affiliation and recognition by employers. If a majority of employees check "yes" rather than "no" on the card, the company would have to recognize the stores(s) as union shops.

President George W. Bush opposes the "Employee Free Choice Act." Therefore, even if it would have passed the Senate last year, he would have vetoed the bill. Losing Republican candidate for President John McCain also publicly said he opposed the legislation in this year's campaign, and voted against it in the Senate last year.

President-elect Barack Obama is for the "Employee Free Choice Act' though. He says he will sign the bill if and when Congress brings it up for a vote and passes it next year.

Additionally, since the legislation already passed the House of Representatives last year, and since the Democrats are gaining numerous additional House seats tonight, the bill should passed the House easily if voted on in 2009.

And although the "Employee Free Choice Act" bill was defeated in the Senate last year, it was only two or three votes short of passage. Thus far tonight Democrats have picked up five Senate seats, which means Republicans have lost five so far. Those five new Democrats would be enough to pass the legislation if and when it is voted on next year; and it most certainly will be.

The problem is though, according to Senate rules, a 60 member supermajority is needed to pass such legislation.

Democrats need to pick up four additional seats tonight to get to that 60. Of course if they are close, say 58, there are two independents in the Senate that might vote with the Democrats, along with being able to wheel and deal with a couple of the more moderate -to- liberal Republicans like Maine Senator Susan Collins in return for getting their votes on the bill.

With a stronger majority in the Senate beginning in 2009 than they have now, it will be easier for the Democratic Senate leaders to convince (and wheel and deal) with moderate Republicans to join then in supporting legislation because the majority can use such dealing as a carrot and stick with these members.

The other problem with passing the measure in the Senate, unless the Democrats have the 60 member supermajority or are able to get the independents and a couple Republicans to vote with them, is that Republicans can filibuster the bill and any other legislation they want to prevent from being passed, which is what the GOP members did to the "Employee Free Choice Act" last year, resulting in its failure to pass. Sixty votes is the magic number to kill a filibuster.

The UFCW union's O'Neill is well aware of this.

"A supermajority in the Senate is our biggest obstacle right now," he says.

He and all of the other UFCW and organized labor leaders are counting Senate votes late into tonight, hoping to see the Democrats hit that magic number of 60.

Based on the latest election analysis at press time tonight, the Democrats still need to pick up five more Senate seats to hit the filibuster-proof 60. But they have gained five Senate seats so far tonight, so it is possible. Most analysis tonight though is suggesting they will fall two or three short of the 60.

Organized labor is already pushing House and Senate leaders to bring the "Employee Free Choice Act" legislation up for a vote as part of its early legislative agenda in 2009, after President-elect and the new members of Congress take office in late January.

The UFCW union's O’Neill says the bill will impose greater deterrents to "union-busting" but would ultimately benefit retailers by improving the spending capabilities of workers, reducing turnover and improving productivity.

He adds the UFCW "would likely look first at organizing non-union operators that share markets with union shops."

Since the top three supermarket chains in the U.S. -- Kroger Co., SuperValu, Inc. and Safeway Stores, Inc., as well as nearly all of the top 15 -- are unionized, organizing non-union food and grocery retailers that share markets with union shops essentially amounts to organizing all of the key non-union chains in the U.S.

This is even more true in the Western U.S. states of California, Nevada and Arizona where Tesco's Fresh & Easy has its 96 (and growing) grocery and fresh foods stores. All of the top grocery chains -- Safeway, Kroger's Ralphs, SuperValu's Albertsons, Bashas, Stater Bros, Save Mart and Raley's, along with even the majority of the substantial regional multi and single- store independents-- are unionized.

Therefore the non-union targets in these and nearby western states, along with Tesco's Fresh & Easy, most likely will be Wal-Mart, Whole Foods, Costco and Trader Joe's, and perhaps the fast-growing natural foods chains Sprouts Farmers Market, Sunflower Farmers Market and a few others.

But, as we've reported and mentioned earlier in this piece, target number one is Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market. It's also the one out of all of the above the UFCW has made the most progress in organizing to date.

Tonight UFCW union leaders, along with their fellow organized labor associates from across all industries, are feeling more optimistic than they have for many decades that they can grow union membership throughout America beginning with the passage of the "Employee Free Choice Act," and signing of it by a new President, Democrat Barack Obama, who will be swore in as the 44th President of the United States in late January, 2009.

Of course, the legislation is called the "Employee Free Choice Act," which means workers get the final say as to if they want to be unionized and join the UFCW or any other union.

Based on our conversations with numerous Fresh & Easy store-level employees, it's our analysis that such a clear majority of workers wanting to join the UFCW isn't necessarily there yet. In other words it's far from a given conclusion that the majority of Fresh & Easy workers --or those at Wal-Mart, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and the other chains -- will vote yes to unionization even if given the simplified opportunity to do so under the "Employee Free Choice Act."

In order to achieve that, the UFCW has much more work to do. The battle for the election may be over, and the passage of the "Employee Free Choice Act" may look far more probable for next year. But the war to increase union membership among employees at non-union food and grocery stores is far from won.

In order to do that the UFCW is going to have to do something it hasn't been able to do thus far over many years of attempting to organize employees of Wal-Mart, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, for example, which is to demonstrate to them why it is in their best interests to become members of the UFCW.

Passage and implementation of the "Employee Free Choice Act" will without a doubt make that processes a bit easier. But it won't in and of itself even come close to assuring that non-union chain employees will vote yes to become UFCW-affiliated union shops.