How We Staged a Button Action
Contract negotiations coming up? Read how Mason Wyss and his coworkers in UFCW Local 75 (Cincinnati-Dayton, Ohio), organized a button action to supercharge their petition before contract bargaining. Read more in Essential Voice.
My friends texted me again asking if we're going out to the bars on Saturday night. I don't know; I may have work early on Sunday. My family called asking if I'd be over to visit next week. Depends. If I am asked before Friday at 3 PM, then I will not know what my work schedule is for the next week, assuming it is even posted on time. Since the UFCW Local 75 Kroger contract was ratified five years ago, this has been the reality: our schedule is posted just one and a half days before going into effect.
I know how the issue affects my life, but only through many conversations with coworkers was I able to know I wasn't alone in my frustration. I realized how many of my coworkers struggled to plan doctor's appointments because of the policy. I also learned from coworkers who had transferred in from other areas, and by reading other contracts, that other bargaining units do not have this policy. Many Kroger units receive one or two weeks notice on their schedules. If they can have it, why can't we? There was only one thing left to do: start organizing to change the policy.
My coworkers and I started collecting petition signatures for earlier schedules. With contract negotiations approaching this summer, we knew that this was our chance to win. So, we chose to time our button campaign to coincide with our store's Easter corporate walk-through. While we had signatures at other stores, we knew we only had enough support for a successful button campaign at my store to start.
I met with some of my coworkers who were most active in collecting signatures. We started talking to our coworkers in the week leading up to the corporate walk and asked them to wear the buttons to show their support for the campaign. We started with those who had already signed the petition, and then progressed to those who had not yet signed.
Wearing a button might sound like a small or even inconsequential action. But smaller actions help build confidence to engage in collective action, allow you to gauge support before moving on to more risky and difficult actions, and, in some cases, it may be enough to win.
The day of the Easter walk, a majority of my coworkers that morning were wearing the buttons, and the managers are certain to have seen them. The button campaign was successful at more than just getting the attention of our bosses, though; it also got the attention of our coworkers. The bright colors and catchy slogan on the button allowed us to start conversations with coworkers that we hadn't yet spoken to, and gather signatures among workers who had not yet heard of the petition.
We delivered our petition signatures to our local's bargaining proposal meetings in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky to make sure this issue gets addressed in contract bargaining. As negotiations continue, we're still gathering signatures, handing out buttons, and planning to continue to put pressure on the company in new ways. I am hopeful that we will win this demand and build a stronger union in the process.
Mason Wyss
UFCW Local 75, Kroger
Oxford, Ohio