Pete’s ordeal started more than eight years ago, when he transferred from his Kroger store in Richmond to one in in Appomattox, Virginia. He needed to help care for his brother who had cancer and be closer to his family.
Eventually, Pete became aware something was wrong. “My pension seemed awfully low,” he said. It turned out he was being paid as a clerk, not a meat cutter. It wasn’t until his UFCW Local 400 rep filed a grievance that Kroger finally agreed to reimburse Pete for the pay he had rightfully earned as a meat cutter.
“It wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t had my union there to help me,” Pete said. “Local 400 repaired Pete’s past and fixed his future,” added Local 400 rep Phil Frisina.
For all the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar.
In today’s labor history, on this date in 1970, members of the National Football League Players Association began their first strike. Issues in the two-day walkout included pay, pensions, the right to arbitration and the right to have agents. And on this date in 1981, a fifty-day baseball strike ended.
Today’s labor quote is by hockey player Dave Brown, talking about players carrying signs during a brief 1992 hockey strike. Dave Brown, who said:
"Well that should be easy, we already have the sticks."
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