American study shows that unionised women earn more in retail trade

In the era of Enron, can workers, particularly women workers, protect themselves from corporate schemes, scams and outright rip-offs? Is there an alternative that offers women an opportunity for a living wage, affordable health benefits and a real pension?

Women still work in the world of "less" and "fewer." Less pay and fewer benefits. Less job security and fewer opportunities for advancement. Less respect for their work and fewer rewards for their contributions. Does it have to be that way?

A recent report - The Benefits of Unionization for Workers in the Retail Food Industry - shows that union representation for women working in retail food provides a clear alternative to the world of "less" and "fewer." The research conducted by the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) was sponsored by the Working Women's Department of UNI Commerce affiliate UFCW. The UFCW is the largest union of working women and retail workers in North America.

IWPR's analysis, based on the federal government's Current Population Survey, demonstrates that women working full and part time in the retail food industry with UFCW representation enjoy significant advantages, with UFCW women members earning 31 percent more in wages than their non-union counterparts. In addition, they are two-and-a- half times as likely to have pension coverage and twice as likely to have health insurance coverage then women working in retail food without union representation.

Union membership makes health insurance possible

"I couldn't afford health insurance at my non-union job," said Lillian Flores, a single mother raising her daughter in Tempe, Arizona. "Now, I have great insurance for me and my daughter, and I earn enough to provide a good life for her." Flores has worked in the supermarket industry for about 6 years.

Retail veteran Pauline Chapman of Washington, DC, has a lifetime of experience working in the supermarket industry with union representation. Now retired, her UFCW pension and health insurance provide Pauline and her husband a secure retirement, and "my four children have ease of mind knowing that my union pension and health insurance keep my husband and me safe from an economic crisis," she said.

I can put my kids through college

A 34-year veteran of the supermarket industry, Mary Tapia Bartell, who works in the Chicago area, said, "My good union wages have made it possible for me to raise my family and put my two kids through college."

The UFCW announced that it will use the data from the IWPR study to inform non- union women working in the retail industry about the advantages of organizing for a voice on the job.

Reach out to Wal-Mart's women workers

"Wal-Mart is the largest employer in the U.S., with nearly a million workers, and a majority of them are women. We intend to reach out to women at Wal-Mart with these facts because UFCW representation makes women's work pay," said Susan Phillips, UFCW International Vice President and Director, Working Women's Department.

The UFCW is North America's largest and strongest private sector union. The UFCW is made up of 1.4 million members-people working together to improve their lives and their future. UFCW members are employed in many different industries, with the majority working in retail food, meatpacking, poultry, and other food processing industries.

The Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) is a non-profit public policy research organization dedicated to informing and stimulating the debate on public policy issues of critical importance to women and their families. IWPR focuses on issues that affect women's daily lives, including employment, earnings, and economic change; democracy and society; poverty, welfare, and income security; work and family policies; and health and safety.

The Research in Brief and Report are in PDF format. In order to download them you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. Go here to find out how to get it installed.