On Saturday November 4, 2023, workers representing several Madison-area labor unions affiliated with the South Central Federation of Labor (SCFL) will hold a “Solidarity March and Rally” at the Capitol to call attention to their efforts to achieve fair contracts with their employers and to highlight the solidarity of workers across Madison and the country.
Workers represented by Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 39, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1473, UW Nurses United – Service Employees International Union Healthcare Wisconsin (SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin), Starbucks Workers United (SBWU), and Worker Justice Wisconsin will join other workers, community members, and elected leaders at the solidarity event.
TruStage workers represented by OPEIU Local 39 say their contract expired in March 2022, their employer has delayed bargaining, and they have yet to achieve a fair contract offer from their employer. “We haven’t had cost-of-living raises in two and a half years,” TruStage employee and union member Elizabeth Kidder points out.
Over 80 Madison Gas and Electric employees, also represented by OPEIU Local 39, are in bargaining with their employer, and say their last raise was in May 2022 and that the company’s current wage offer is well below inflation.
Starbucks Workers United (SBWU), which has organized Starbucks locations around the country, has yet to get to the table with Starbucks due to the company’s refusal to bargain. Starbucks’ anti-union tactics and use of self-described “union-avoidance” law firms are well-known as the company has repeatedly been found in violation of federal labor law.
Workers at Madison Sourdough Co. won their union election with UFCW Local 1473 in April and have been negotiating their first contract with the company since June. The union and the company are making progress towards a tentative agreement, despite a slow start to negotiations.
Nurses at UW Health are organizing their union with SEIU Wisconsin, and pursuing collective bargaining rights through direct action and in the courts. They are fighting for nurse retention and patient safety at UW Health.
The workers will be joined by elected leaders, who will speak to how the struggles faced by workers illuminate the need for working people to vote and elect pro-labor leaders into office nationwide.
Chris Hamada, of OPEIU Local 39’s TruStage union, summarizes the message of solidarity that the rally seeks to convey to workers engaged in contract efforts in Madison and beyond: “We’re coming together collectively for this rally to make it clear that these aren’t isolated incidents with our individual companies…None of us are alone, and when we all stand together to fight for workers’ rights, that’s how we win.”
