More Perfect Union Profile picture
Apr 24, 2021 7 tweets 4 min read Read on X
1. Today, @Kroger is closing two stores in Seattle to retaliate against a local $4/hr hero pay law. More than 100 workers will be fired or dislocated.

Kroger made $2.8B in profit in 2020. CEO Rodney McMullen got a pay raise to $21M.

Some heart-breaking details are emerging.
2. At one of the stores, neighbors and customers raised $205.88 for each of the 51 impacted workers as a gesture of thanks.

Employees, "some with tears in their eyes," received a round of applause and kind words at a community farewell event.

seattletimes.com/business/local…
3. One of the shuttered locations has been an active grocery store for 44 years. Neighbors are lamenting the loss of convenience & a community hub.

No other grocery chain except Kroger, America’s largest, has closed locations to protest hazard pay laws.

capitolhillseattle.com/2021/04/90-in-…
4. Seattle isn’t the only place where Kroger is punishing its own workers to fight hazard pay.

Kroger closed additional stores in Long Beach, CA, last week over a city hero pay ordinance.

More closures are planned in Los Angeles next month.

5. Amid record profits, Kroger claims it is closing stores because they’re underperforming.

But local employees consistently say it’s not true.

Via @seattletimes:
We spoke to Kroger workers in Seattle earlier this year.

They wanted to be safe on the job and to be paid a fair wage for their work.

One employee told us that the extra $4/hour would be “a buffer between me and homelessness.”

7. Kroger is planning to shutter 3 additional stores in Los Angeles on May 15.

These are profitable stores where 250 people work. They will all be fired or have their jobs dislocated.

Workers are organizing with their union, @UFCW770, to fight back.

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More from @MorePerfectUS

Dec 13
The FTC is suing the biggest alcohol distributor in the country, and it matters a whole lot more than you think.

It could even change the price of your groceries.

Here’s why you should know about the Robinson-Patman Act. Thread.
The Robinson-Patman Act requires suppliers to offer the same prices and terms to all buyers. Passed in 1936 to protect small businesses, the law meant that big chains and corporations couldn’t get discounts that weren’t available to mom and pop shops.
ilsr.org/articles/the-c…
But in the 1980s, the FTC simply stopped enforcing it.

Since 1982, the market share of independent retailers has fallen from 53 percent to 22 percent, according to the @ilsr.

ilsr.org/articles/stacy…
Read 6 tweets
Nov 4
The Lambeau Field vendors who provide endless beer for Green Bay Packers fans have approved a new union contract with huge raises — doubling pay for some workers. 🧵
More than 90 drink vendors work at Lambeau Field, employed by the corporation Delaware North. They unionized last year with the independent union @MASHworkers, which also represents workers at the home arena of the Milwaukee Bucks.

greenbaypressgazette.com/story/sports/n…
Green Bay vendors work off of commission as low as 5%. By the end of the contract in 2027, all unionized beer vendors will be making a 10% commission.
Read 5 tweets
Oct 22
Thread: Lina Khan is the chair of the FTC. For the past three years she’s set a new standard when it comes to fighting for working people.

She’s taken on Adobe, Amazon, Facebook, corporate landlords, and more.

Here's what fighting corporate power looks like 🧵
The FTC finalized a rule just days ago banning fake reviews and testimonials for products and services from being published.

This is the sort of work the commission has been up to under chair Lina Khan. /2
substack.perfectunion.us/p/the-ftc-says…
The FTC has also recently reached a settlement with Invitation Homes, the biggest owner of single family homes in the U.S.

The company is returning nearly $50 million to tenants after concealing the true price of rent and skimming security deposits. /3
substack.perfectunion.us/p/this-corpora…
Read 10 tweets
Oct 8
As Hurricane Milton nears landfall in Florida and over a million people have been ordered to evacuate, corporate price gouging has begun.

There are numerous reports of airlines and hotels suddenly jacking up prices as people need to flee.

Thread.
Accusations are being leveled against United Airlines for dramatically increasing prices:
And similar accusations are being made regarding American Airlines:
Read 9 tweets
Oct 1
BREAKING: 45,000 port workers from Maine to Texas are on strike for the first time since 1977.

The members of the International Longshoremen’s Association walked off the job after their contract expired.

They're pushing for higher wages and to prevent job-killing automation.
The ILA represents workers at 16 ports that handle half of the US's imports.

Wages have stagnated and sit as low as $20/hour for backbreaking, indispensable work. The union wants a yearly $5/hour raise for six years.

Port owners' refusal could cost the US $5 billion a week.
The ban on automation is also critical to secure their jobs for the long haul.

One union-produced study found that robots eliminated 5% of port worker jobs on the West Coast.

That would mean more than 2,250 East Coast workers losing their jobs.
Read 4 tweets
Sep 25
THREAD: Amazon, Tesla, and Meta are among the biggest threats to democracy, a new report by the International Trade Union Confederation shows.

These companies and the billionaires behind them are trying to subvert laws, attack unions, and challenge the foundation of democracy 🧵
The ITUC determined that Amazon, Tesla, and Meta are among the worst offenders by looking at the ways each company opposes unionization efforts among their employees, as well as violations of union and human rights law and their contributions to the climate crisis.
In Amazon’s case, it is the 5th largest employer in the world and yet it has a track record of not cooperating with trade unions and flouting all kinds of international regulations. Amazon is currently refusing to engage in union talks in Germany.
verdi.de/themen/geld-ta…
Read 10 tweets

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