Subject: Labor Unions

• Day Five: Wherein I Resolve to Become a Hollywood Script Scab and Man-Whore

  November 2, 2007

• It's quiet on the potential grocery store strike or lockout front

  The latest contract extension between King Soopers and workers represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local #7 expired at midnight on May 30. But as of this writing, at least, nothing much has happened. It's been clear for weeks that neither management nor labor really want a strike -- and the main sticking point in regard to another contract extension involves its length; the union would like ten more weeks to talk, while King Soopers prefers a June 15 date. Hence, the tw

  June 1, 2009

• Janitors in a Conundrum

  A bitter labor dispute envelops the Denver Tech Center.

  July 23, 1998

• Off Limits

  August 13, 1998

• Check-out Time

  The hotel union isn't about to let Denver forget the Adam's Mark.

  February 8, 2001

• Are unions gunning for Ryan Frazier because of his Amendment 47?

  Has the other shoe finally dropped for up-and-coming Republican Ryan Frazier? The Aurora city councilman made headlines - as well as enemies - for sponsoring the controversial "right to work" ballot measure Amendment 47 this past November, and even though it lost at the polls, unions, many of which are vehemently against right to work, surely haven't forgotten. Last week, the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, part of the powerful AFL-CIO union,

  December 31, 2008

• The Bill Ritter friends-into-foes transformation continues

  Bill Ritter keeps his pen busy in a photo from the Colorado AFL-CIO's Employee-Free Choice page. Earlier this week, Governor Bill Ritter got an earful from grocery workers while signing a bill they saw as a full-frontal attack on them at a time when they're involved in a contract drama with three major chains. Not that all labor organizations were upset with him. On its Employee Free Choice page, the Colorado AFL-CIO praised Ritter for a couple of Tuesday signings. But the worm turned yesterda

  June 5, 2009

• Bring It On

  December 12, 2002

• At DNC, a suite deal for Stan Kroenke

  August 7, 2008

• There's no place like home for Somali refugees in Greeley

  November 27, 2008

• Ryan Frazier puts his job on the line with Amendment 47

  October 16, 2008

• Thrillin' Trillin

  May 29, 2003

• Talking Dirty

  Denver's janitors were being swept aside. Now they're winning respect.

  September 11, 2003

• Critical Condition

  Denver Health nurses are ready to unionize to save their profession.

  June 12, 2003

• The Coors of History

  A brief look at the brewer's past.

  January 23, 2003

• The Cowboy Way

  Federal prison guards accused of beating inmates have their own support group -- the officers' union.

  November 23, 2000

• Company Town

  In Pueblo, the iron will of a union has proved tougher than steel.

  March 9, 2000

• Look for the Union URL

  February 17, 2000

• Organized Chaos

  The labor movement at Swedish Medical Center could be catching.

  February 10, 2000

• The Other Coors Spokesman

  September 2, 1999

• No Labor Lost

  Ellen Golombek plays rough with the Capitol bosses.

  April 8, 1999

• Union Busted

  A young woman gets $200,000 to settle a lawsuit against a union concerning a sexual assault.

  February 5, 1998

• Letters

  August 28, 1997

• Up the Organization

  Upstart Jack Hawkins tries to win control of the state AFL-CIO.

  August 14, 1997

• An Unholy Union

  A young labor organizer was sexually assaulted by a colleague. Was Local 7 to blame?

  May 15, 1997

• Short Temper

  A lobbyist faces censure even from lawmakers who agree with him.

  April 17, 1997

• Labor Pangs

  AFSCME mounts another attempt to unionize Denver city workers.

  March 7, 1996

• Taking Its Toll

  Labor STRIFE, racial tension and a "disadvantaged" owner who drives a Mercedes: between the lines of DIA's controversial parking contract.

  March 7, 1996

• LABOR PAINS

  AN EX-LAWYER FOR THE TEAMSTERS HAS A CAR WINDOW BLOWN OUT BY A PIPE BOMB.

  July 26, 1995

• THE BIG HURT

  TRUTH IS THE FIRST CASUALTY IN THE POLITICAL WAR OVER AMENDMENT 11.

  October 19, 1994

• PRINTS CHARMING

  June 22, 1994

• THE CASTLE ON THE HILL

  IT WAS MAN VERSUS MACHINE. AND THE ARISTOCRATS OF LABOR LOST.THE LAST OF THEIR TYPE RESIDENTS OF THE UNION PRINTERS HOME LEAVE A LASTING IMPRESSION.

  May 11, 1994

• MINDING THE STORE

  THEY DON'T MAKE BOMBS ANYMORE AT ROCKY FLATS. BUT THE PLANT IS AS DANGEROUS AS EVER.

  May 4, 1994

• Grocery-workers union ratchets up web presence prior to possible strike

  Yesterday, King Soopers employees represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local No. 7 rejected the chain's latest proposal, laying the groundwork for a potential May 9 strike. Taking such an action in this employment environment is risky, as witnessed by the long lines of folks who've applied for temporary jobs thus far -- which is why the UFCW is already making a concerted Internet effort to win consumers' hearts and minds. AlwaysHereForColorado.com avoids hardcore hectori

  May 6, 2009

• Management, union really don't want a grocery strike

  The decision by employees at King Soopers and Safeway to keep working amid continuing negotiations with management through at least May 30 despite the fact that their respective contracts have expired indicates an understanding that striking amid an economic downturn is a worst-case scenario for all concerned. That doesn't mean a work stoppage is an impossibility. But the last thing grocers want these days is to be viewed by customers as hard-hearted and uncaring -- something the folks at Unit

  May 11, 2009

• If there's a grocery strike, what will you do?

  A Flickr photoWorkers picket a California Albertsons in 2003 Have you worked out your supermarket strike plan? If you haven't, now might be a good time. Although the corporate execs and lawyers at Safeway, King Soopers and Albertsons are still negotiating with the familiar, name-tagged faces who ring you up at your local grocery -- and their union overlords -- that could change on May 30, when a twenty-day extension of the current union contract expires. At that point: 1) Everyone involved

  May 22, 2009

• Grocery workers, management in potential-strike staredown

  An image from the AlwaysHereForColorado.com website. Just as they did in early May, King Soopers employees rejected the company's latest contract offer. In a press release, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local No. 7, characterized the margin of defeat as overwhelming and urged "the corporation to return to the bargaining table and offer them a fair deal that doesn't include wage, pension, and health-care cuts." That line was followed by a (probably) canned quote from King Soopers

  June 16, 2009

• King Soopers avoiding nuclear option in grocery-worker contract negotiations

  Once it became clear that the overwhelming majority of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local No. 7 members across the Front Range had rejected King Soopers' latest contract offer, the company had the option to put further negotiations in the freezer section. Instead, King Soopers spokeswoman Diane Mulligan made it clear that the firm will return to the bargaining table rather than locking out employees -- a move that would escalate the situation into outright ugliness qu

  June 18, 2009

• King Soopers looking to defend the blitz

  As noted yesterday, King Soopers is avoiding the nuclear option when it comes to negotiations with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Local No. 7, rapidly agreeing to go back to the bargaining table as opposed to locking out employees who overwhelming rejected the retailers latest contract offer. But the firm isn't above a little confrontation to show it means business. Hence, yesterday's federal court hearing, during which King Soopers' attorneys asked a judge to stop UFCW r

  June 19, 2009

• Union attacks pension cuts in latest grocery-chain contract offer

  The past few days have been relatively quiet ones in regard to the continuing standoff between union-represented grocery workers and chains such as King Soopers and Safeway over a new contract. However, the latest entry on the Twiter feed linked to AlwaysHereForColorado.com, a site launched by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 7, aims to maintain troop solidarity via a chart that outlines estimated pension reductions if the latest proposal passed, with dips of be

  July 7, 2009

• Grocery-workers union recalls Soopers' first King

  The contract dispute involving workers at King Soopers, Safeway and Albertsons has been quiet of late, with United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 7 seeking to maintain member loyalty during this period via releases about, for example, pension reductions that would go into effect if the store's latest contract offer was accepted. Now, with negotiations between UFCW and Safeway set to restart today, the union-bankrolled AlwaysHereForColorado.com site is claiming philosophi

  July 14, 2009

• Zero progress evident in grocery-worker negotiations

  An icon from the AlwaysHereForColorado.com site.​In early May, it looked like a strike against King Soopers, Safeway and Albertsons by union employees was a real possibility. Since then, however, the situation has dragged out and out and out, with continued extensions creating little pressure on either side to get something done. Earlier this month, the chains and labor reps agreed to push the contract deadline to September 12. And while talks are underway on the Western Slope, where worke

  August 21, 2009

• How imminent is a grocery-workers strike after latest contract rejection?

  Are signs like these in the future for Coloado grocery shoppers?​Yesterday, the last votes by unionized Safeway workers were counted, and once again, they turned thumbs-down on a contract that struck plenty of employees as extremely familiar. According to United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 spokeswoman Laura Chapin, "The most recent offer is virtually the same one they've been making for five months, and virtually the same one workers rejected in June, because it cuts pensions and f

  October 7, 2009

• Behind the latest breakdown in talks between grocery workers and Safeway

  A September rally for grocery workers at UFCW Local 7 headquarters.​ On October 20, negotiators for grocery workers and Safeway, one of three giant chains whose contracts with union employees in Colorado have expired, sat down for the first time in ages to try and hammer out an agreement. But very little hammering actually took place. "The workers said, 'Here's our proposal,' and Safeway took it and went off to talk to their people in Oakland," says Laura Chapin, spokeswoman for the Unite

  October 22, 2009

• Read the letter from a King Soopers exec threatening a lockout if union workers strike Safeway

  ​Yesterday, in the wake of a negotiating breakdown between Safeway and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, King Soopers employees were given a letter attributed to Dave Savage, vice president of retail operations for the firm. The document accuses the union of "recklessly pursuing a course that will lead to a strike or a lockout" -- and then, after enumerating several of what Savage sees as indications that pickets are about to go up, he writes, "If there is a strike against Safewa

  October 23, 2009

• Douglas County Republicans ramp up the rhetoric in school board fight

  John Ransom.​School board races are typically nonpartisan, but not this year in Douglas County. The Republican party there has endorsed a slate of four candidates -- an unusual move the Denver Post took note of in an October 20 article that focused more on conflicts and complaints from the likes of Colorado Ethics Watch than on the reasons for the Republicans' action. But two days later, John Ransom, the volunteer chairman of the Douglas County Republican Central Committee, more than compe

  October 26, 2009

• A grocery worker talks about potential strike, lockout

  ​On October 20, talks between grocery workers and Safeway about a new contract broke down only a few hours after they'd started up again -- and later that week, King Soopers employees were given a letter strongly implying that if Safeway staffers struck, they'd be locked out. It's a scenario familiar to 22-year Safeway veteran Andrea Karr, albeit one that was reversed thirteen years ago. "In 1996, King Soopers went on strike, and Safeway locked out workers," she says. That was a tough tim

  October 29, 2009

• While grocery workers fret, their union bosses are busy fighting

  Melanie AsmarKim Cordova and Cindy Lucero in front of the UFCW headquarters.​ Kim Cordova and Cindy Lucero, the president-elect and secretary-treasurer-elect of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, stood in front of the union's empty headquarters in Wheat Ridge this afternoon and, with an audience of a reporter and a single news camera, called the current president a thief. "The current leadership is trying to steal the union election," said Cordova, a former Safeway worker who

  November 11, 2009

• Read the letter about King Soopers' "last, best and final" offer to grocery workers

  ​Today, King Soopers and Safeway are expected to submit their "last, best and final" offer to grocery workers. Don't know much about the details yet, or whether the proposal will be notably different from the ones members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 have roundly rejected time and again, leading to repeated breakdowns in negotiations. But the union has already set up a series of votes, beginning on Wednesday: Click here for times and locations in Denver and beyond. I

  November 16, 2009

• King Soopers and Safeway barely get "last, best and final offer" to grocery workers under the wire

  Will grocery shoppers be seeing signs like these in the near future?​Update below: King Soopers and Safeway told United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 reps they'd submit their "last, best and final" offer by the end of yesterday -- and they almost missed their own deadline. Just shy of 6 p.m., UFCW rep Laura Chapin confirmed via e-mail that nothing had shown up yet. But within the next hour, the packages arrived, and Chapin confirms that workers began reviewing the material at 7 a.m.

  November 17, 2009