For the last few years, politicians and advocates on the left have focused on minimum wage as the pivotal issue facing low-income workers. Now, with that movement well underway, the
Washington Post has written that the next big fight may be over unpredictable schedules for retail workers.
If this is true, UFCW Western States Council is ahead of the curve. They've been pushing for fair schedules in the California State Assembly and even produced a
television ad highlighting the issue – and outlining a possible solution.
Why are fair schedules important?
Increasingly chaotic schedules have been hard on retail workers who have to re-arrange their lives at the last minute to adjust to ever changing work schedules. As the
New York Times wrote in their landmark piece on this issue last year, for parents this represents "a new collision that pits sophisticated workplace technology against some fundamental requirements of parenting, with particularly harsh consequences for poor single mothers."
A recent
New York Times-CBS News poll shows that 72% of American support reform exactly along the lines of what UFCW is calling for in their ad. In comparison, 71% of those polled supported increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 nationally.
Is UFCW leading the vanguard for the next big labor debate? Smart politicians should keep an eye on this issue as it continues to develop.
