Just before Thanksgiving, Our Walmart and the United Food and Commerical Workers went into high gear in their effort to draw attention to their advocacy of a $15-per-hour minimum wage at the nation's largest retailer. Just after the holiday, I pointed to a column by the Manhattan Institute's Diana Furchtgott-Roth, who quickly discovered that many Kroger employees represented by the UFCW earn far less.
It didn't take much additional research to demonstrate that any fair and balanced reporting on the union's Our Walmart activities should note that "thousands of UFCW members, and perhaps even a majority, earn less, and often far less, than the $15 per hour Our Walmart is advocating."
In fact, it seems reasonable to contend that the Our Walmart effort is really all about imposing a higher wage structure on Walmart than the UFCW has willingly accepted for it own workers as a way of keeping their stores competitive, especially if President Obama ever gets his way and gets Congress to pass a $10.10 per hour minimum wage.
What follows are several examples of large-scale sub-$15 wages found at UFCW-represented employers.
In early September, Kroger announced that it would be hiring 20,000 additional workers. The Dayton Daily News reported the following:
All local openings are for various positions at Kroger supermarkets. Entry-level positions for cashiers and baggers start at minimum wage and can go up higher based on retail job experience, she (Katy Barclay, Kroger’s senior vice president of human resources) said. Minimum wage in Ohio pays $7.95 per hour.
Virtually all (and probably completely all) such positions require joining the UFCW.
A November story out of West Virginia indicated that the UFCW there agreed to a new multi-year contract at what it publicly considers substandard wages:
Kroger Employees Avoid Strike, Ink New Three-Year Deal
Members of United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 voted overwhelmingly to accept a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with Kroger in West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky that preserves their health and retirement security and increases their wages.
... But not everyone is thrilled.
"I think we should've struck. We all should've gotten something. It's going to be a long three years," said Karen Rhodes, Cross Lanes Kroger employee.
Rhodes says store employees work too hard for what they're paid and she doesn't think the union did enough to bring forward a better deal.
"We could be there four or five years and just make like $7.75 or something like that. They don't want to pay anything. You think you're in this big union and everything and that's just not how it is," said Rhodes.
A description of a job as "Kroger cashier" at job-applications.com, which bills itself as the "#1 Independent Online Job Application Website," says that "Kroger cashiers may make up to $12.00 per hour with experience gained."
So how about other chains the UFCW represents? I picked three of the largest from the union's "Grocery Workers United" list of 17 chains:
- Safeway — Again from job-applications.com, "The starting pay for a Safeway cashier typically begins at minimum wage. Pay rates generally increase with time, and the average Safeway cashier earns about $10.50 per hour."
- Albertson's — "Courtesy clerks with Albertsons grocery stores enjoy several enticing pay scales. On average, employees in the position earn $8.00 to $12.00 an hour."
- Giant Eagle — Cashier: "The starting pay for a Giant Eagle cashier ranges from minimum wage to about $9.00 an hour. Pay may vary depending on experience level and time spent in the position. Average wages for a Giant Eagle cashier rests at about $9.50 per hour. Some Giant Eagle cashiers may earn above $12.00 an hour"; Stocker: "Starting pay for a Giant Eagle stocker typically stands between $8.00 and $9.00 an hour. Pay rates for stock associates generally increase with experience added. Seasoned stock clerks may earn up to $15.00 per hour at Giant Eagle. Average wages for a Giant Eagle stocker rest at about $10.00 an hour."
I suspect that this could go on forever, but the point has been made.
The breathtaking nerve of UFCW's heavy involvement with Our Walmart and its demand that it pay its employees far more than thousands upon thousands of its own members is only exceeded by the press's complete failure to note the aforementioned damning facts.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
