2004-10-25 Mon

A Message from UFCW Local 271 President - Donna McDonald

During the past few months, I have visited with several members of the bargaining unit.
In these conversations one question is being asked more often than others.
That question is "What is my Union doing for me", or "What benefits do I have as a Union member".

Most members are not aware that as a Union member your membership works for them 24 hours a day.
On the job you get the protection of a Union contract (paid vacation, paid holidays, guaranteed work week, seniority provisions to allow you to bid form one job to another, overtime after eight hours in a day, double time if you work on Sunday, health insurance, annual wage increase, paid funeral leave, a grievance procedure, etc., etc.,).
Some other benefits of being a Union member are a Union Privilege Mastercard, loan program, legal service, Auto Insurance discount program, discounts on computers, GoodYear tires, discount on purchasing flowers, discounts on hotel rooms, discount on car rentals, etc.
If you are interested in any of these programs, please see your Union Representative for more details.

I am very excited to tell you that UFCW will be introducing a new program for Union members.
This program is called the Union Plus Pay Card.
There is no cost to open the account and no monthly fee.
This program is for Union members only.
Members will be able to have relatives access a specified amoutn of money through a Mastercard, Cirrus and Maestro Automated Teller Machines (ATM) at over 900,000 locations and at millions of MasterCard debit card retail locations worldwide.
The UFCW staff and representatives will be assisting members filling out the application.
U.S. citizens will need to provide a social security number.
Non-citizens will need to provide a copy of a U.S. or home country government issued photo ID, such as driver's license, birth certificate or matricula consular.
To send money to your home country, send your family member a free Cash Transfer Card with a Personal Identification Number (PIN).
Your family member can use the Cash Transfer Card and PIN to withdraw transferred funds at any Cirrus ATM machine.
Your family member can also use the card at stores that accept debit cards.
For several years I have heard members talk about how much it costs them to wire money home to their relatives and loved ones.
Sadly enough it even costs our members to cash their pay checks at the local grocery stores.
That is why UFCW has worked very hard on developing this new program.
Your UFCW leaders will be offering this new program to its membership in the very near future.

I will try to keep you informed on a monthly basis on new programs, events and training sessions.
If you have anything of interest that you would like to include in this monthly communication, please let Bill Smith or your Union steward know so that we can add it to the next letter.
Thank you.