steven burd at Brave New Films

Grocery Workers Win!

2008-01-12T20:10:17Z

What a great joy to hear the news yesterday that the grocery workers have gotten a decent deal.

After focusing on the fact they haven’t had a raise in 5 years, the fact that the CEOs are making millions, and the fact that they are desperate for healthcare, this was wonderful news indeed.

A big thanks to all of you who saw the Supermarket Swindle videos we did, signed the pledge, and were ready to stop shopping at the stores if there was a lock out.

It was a pleasure to work with the grocery union and to use our story telling skills to support their efforts.

Do you shop at Ralphs, Vons, or Albertsons?

2008-07-09T18:54:22Z

When we finished Wal Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, we knew the fight was far from over but didn't know what the next step would be. Then we discovered a recent UC Berkeley Labor Center study showing that in the last three years, up to 20,000 fewer children of grocery workers have access to the company's health care. While the cost of living is soaring in SoCal, our grocery workers are getting pay cut after pay cut. These folks have not seen one penny in raises in over five years!

It's time to hold the employers at Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons accountable for their greed. These companies made record profits of over $8.3 BILLION last year.

Enough Is Enough

2008-07-09T18:54:14Z

Tomorrow is the moment of truth.

Are the proprietors of large supermarket chains willing to be reasonable and allow workers to maintain a decent standard of living, or will dreams of even bigger yachts and backroom parties at the Bellagio get in the way of making a reasonable offer to supermarket workers in Southern California?

Let's hope past is not prologue, or a number of corporate oligarchs may be in for a bumpy ride not only in Southern California, but nationwide. As explained in a recent article in the Los Angeles City Beat:

Three weeks ago, when Southern California grocery workers announced a June 21 deadline to end their six-month back-and-forth with the big three supermarket chains, Vons, Ralphs, and Albertsons, it took exactly one week for their union brethren in Texas to terminate their contract extensions and start talking work stoppage. On June 11, workers in Toledo, Ohio did likewise, switching from a general, ongoing contract extension to a "meeting-by-meeting" extension, at the same time that similar talks have heated up in Oregon and Washington State. Rumblings have even been heard coming out of talks with the mostly independent grocery chains in St. Louis, Missouri. Now, as Los Angeles' cut-off date arrives with no agreement in sight, some labor voices are warning not just about picket lines, but about nationwide picket lines.
"This is part of a much larger fight across the U.S., of companies attempting to eliminate middle class jobs for maximum shareholder profits," says Mike Shimpock, a spokesperson for the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the union representing grocery workers, "It's happening all over the country, [these strikes] could certainly end up going national. They could engulf the entire West Coast. The markets are playing a very, very dangerous game of chicken in order to save a few pennies."

So there you have it. We'll know the answer tomorrow, as the last meeting before a potential strike is taking place with workers and the corporates sitting down together.

But if this is not resolved quickly and fairly, so that workers do not have to see their healcare disappear and wages continue to stagnate, then it may be time for a few corporate chieftains to strap themselves in. For it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Watch the video

Albertsons - Crazy about Profit (Spanish subtitles)

2008-07-09T18:54:27Z

From the director of Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price comes a shocking new exposé of how America's supermarket titans, with corporate market caps in the billions and yearly salaries in the megamillions, have swindled their employees out of fair wages and benefits, resulting in thousands of children going without healthcare and their parents unable to afford even basic, human needs.

Supermarket Swindle

Watch the video

Albertsons - Crazy about Profit

2008-03-22T21:54:29Z

Supermarket Swindle

Watch the Supermarket Swindle teaser trailer, a new film by Robert Greenwald

2008-07-09T18:15:48Z

Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films, the team who made Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, are currently working on a shocking new exposé titled "Supermarket Swindle" which focuses on how America’s supermarket titans, with corporate market caps in the billions and yearly salaries in the megamillions, have swindled their employees out of fair wages and benefits, resulting in thousands of children going without healthcare and their parents unable to afford even basic, human needs. Learn more at SupermarketSwindle.com.

Watch the video