Macy's Workers to Strike This Saturday

Are you jonesing for a rockin' picket line? Help stop the war on workers here at home and join Macy's workers on Strike this Saturday!

Here's the perfect oppurtunity for DASW folks and friends to stand with Macy's workers fighting for their future.

Macy's workers voted 90% to strike THIS SATURDAY June 17th, because
management is SCREWING them at the table...for example:

Check it out: These folks are selling hundreds of thousands of dollars of
merchandise for Macy's every day and THEY HAVE NO PAID SICK DAYS!


This is a 24 hour strike -- starting at 11 pm on Friday evening, ending 11
pm Saturday.

MACY'S WORKERS NEED YOUR HELP: They have called for all community allies to
walk the picket line all day. Bring picket signs, puppets, drums,
noisemakers, bullhorns and your rockin' out selves!

WHEN: Saturday July 17th Please come any time to the picket line -- but
especially from 11-1 pm on Saturday during the press conference in Union
Square.

WHERE: Macy's at Union Square, and Macy's at Stonestown. check macys.com for
directions.

WHAT: Picket line-walking, chanting and causing a ruckus! There will also be
an ARREST action after the press conference. If you are interested in
GETTING ARRESTED FOR MACY'S WORKERS (union style, remember) -some DASW folks may be doing it as well.

See you on the picket line! Si Se Puede!

In Solidarity,

Liz

for more information about the strike contact Jason Blalock @
j_m_blalock [at] yahoo.com


SEE ATTACHED MESSAGE:
Hi folks. The Macy's workers that I've been organizing
for the past 7 months just voted (90% approval) to go
on a one-day strike this Saturday (7/17)! We will be
having a rally at the union square Macy's from 11am to
1pm. And of course, we will also be picketing all day
at both the union square and stonestown stores, so
come out whenever you can to help the Macy's workers
out! Many of you are also members of various social
justice groups in the Area: Tell them to come out too!
Below is an article from KTVU with the some of the
specifics on the dispute. Hope that you can make it
out to show your solidarity with these workers. -Jason
B.

San Francisco Macy's Workers Threaten To Strike

POSTED: 8:25 am PDT July 13, 2004

SAN FRANCISCO -- Macy's workers at the Union Square
and Stonestown department stores were threatening to
go on strike if the company does not meet their
demands relating to sick pay and health care coverage.

According to Mike Borstel, a spokesman for the United
Food and Commercial Workers Union, almost 90 percent
of the more than 1,500 San Francisco employees who are
UFCW union members, including sales associates,
greeters, clerical staff and stock clerks, have voted
in favor of the strike.

"Our members are fed up with Macy's family-unfriendly
policies," Borstel said.

The unionized employees, who have been working without
a contract since June 23, are asking for more paid
sick days and for the elimination of a system that
allegedly "disciplines workers for getting sick."

Borstel said Macy's uses a system in which points are
assigned to an employee every time he or she calls in
sick or is late to work. Once a certain point
threshold is reached, the employee is disciplined and
can eventually be fired.

"The company is encouraging you to come to work sick
and to infect everyone around you and possibly even
the public," Borstel said.

According to Macy's spokesman Jim Sluzewski, Macy's
wants to continue with its "decade-long policy" that
he said places more emphasis on helping people with
long-term illnesses than on those with more ephemeral
sickness.

Under the current policy, first-year employees don't
receive sick pay until they are absent for more than
four consecutive days. Second-year employees start
getting paid on their third sick day, and not until
they have been with Macy's for 10 years do they get
paid on their first sick day.

Employees are also asking management to agree to cap
the amount of money employees must contribute to their
health insurance. Borstel said employees "already
carry 40 percent of the burden of the premium" and
can't afford to pay any more.

Sluzewski said Macy's is continuing to "negotiate in
good faith" with its employees but indicated that a
cap on employee health care contributions is not
"realistic in this intense competitive environment for
retailing."

"The company has worked very hard to minimize the cost
of health care for its employees. But, when there are
increases with carriers, there have to be increases
with Macy's and its employees," Sluzewski said.

Union representatives plan to sit down with Macy's
executives again on Wednesday and indicated today that
they hope to avert a strike.