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NEWS & LETTERS, October 2002
Fred's stonewalls union workers
Memphis, Tenn.--We workers at Fred’s distribution center
here wanted a union because of things like favoritism and pay. We voted in May
to join UNITE!, but Fred’s refuses to bargain. Since we voted in the union,
there has been harassment. There is no air conditioning at Fred's. To work in
the warehouse is like being in hell. When it's 80 degrees outside, it's like 120
degrees inside. We have fans, but yesterday I noticed they had the heater on,
retaliating for the union vote. They're constantly monitoring your work,
standing around your desk. We never had that before. We didn't get a cost of living increase this year. It's not
all about money. It's about respect and being treated right, and fair work. All
of a sudden, we've had work piled on us. We understand it's peak season, but
it's getting ridiculous. I've been there several years and Fred's is the worst
place I've worked. CHILDREN COME LAST They expect your children to come last in your life. They
tell you when they hire you that the job goes from 6:00 to 2:45, or whatever.
But when you get there, you work until you've finished. Therefore, if your child
has to be picked up at daycare at a certain time and you can't make it, you have
to pay late charges. They don't care. If you leave "early," they give
you an occurrence—that's like points, a penalty. One woman got home and her son was sitting there crying
with his eye patched up. The school nurse had tried several times to reach her,
needing her approval to take him to the hospital. She couldn't get through
because Fred's told her we couldn't receive phone calls. But a bill collector
can call and get straight through. They closed one of the women's bathrooms and one of the
men's too, welding the doors shut without giving us notice. Now we have to go a
pretty good distance to use the bathroom. They took out the women's sanitary
supplies when we got the union in. The bathrooms are dirty, with a smell that
makes you not want to use them. It's being really low-down. FRED'S BREAKS LAWS They don't have scheduled breaks. We had people coming in
at 5:00 a.m. who didn't get a break until 9:45. It's illegal. Fred's breaks a
lot of laws. The order people, the loaders, the stockers—those are the
majority of the people that never know what time they're getting off. Those are
majority Black and Latina workers. You have people working 40 hours and overtime
that aren't getting benefits—they're considered part-time. It's prejudiced against the Blacks. They promote some Black
people to management but it's by favoritism. If they promoted by seniority or
experience it would be a better warehouse because a lot of the people they
promote don't know their job. They have fired people for working on the union organizing
drive. They fired a young lady because she asked them why they changed her job.
They told her the question was insubordination and sent her out the door. They gave the office people a $2 raise, but said we did not
deserve a raise because we tried to get the union in. We're not allowed to come
into the main employee gate anymore, but have to come off the alley at an
industrial gate. I would like to see people being treated fair and given
respect. I would like Fred's to listen to people. We believe in standing up for
what we think is right. I'll stand up and fight until the end, regardless of
what the outcome may be, because I think it's right. We need representation. --Black women warehouse workers |
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