The $11 Million-Dollar Man

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Who is this man and why is he so happy? That’s Safeway CEO Steve Burd, and when he’s not pretending to stock the supermarket produce section he’s pulling down a cool $11 million in pay, or about 529 times what the average Safeway or Giant worker makes. And just in case that’s not enough to put food on his table, Burd last year collected another $240,000 just for sitting on the board of the Kohl’s department store chain. Meanwhile, reports UFCW Local 400, “many of us who work for Giant and Safeway in Metropolitan Washington average less than $10 an hour... well below the federal poverty level of $22,350 for a family of four.” Contracts covering 17,000 grocery workers at Safeway and Giant stores in Maryland, Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia expire March 31 and Local 400’s Activist Contract Teams (ACTs) are urging solidarity from local shoppers. “Please visit your local Safeway and tell your store manager, ‘I support Safeway workers in their fight for a fair contract.’” Click here for details on Local 400’s campaign, then email them about your experience speaking to management at occupygiantandsafeway@gmail.com. Check the Local 400 ACT blog to stay up to date on negotiations and follow Local 400 ACT on twitter @Local400ACT.