SPRINGFIELD, Va. — Local Safeway worker Michelle Lee got up on stage in front of more than 10,000 of Bernie Sanders' supporters in Springfield, Virginia, and spoke. But as inspiring of an opportunity as this may be for her, she and roughly 10,000 local Safeway workers are gearing up for what could be a fight for their jobs come March 5.
For Lee, who is a part of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400, a union that represents Safeway employees at its 116 DMV area stores, it was a chance to spread her message and champion a cause that is near a dear a lot of those who came out to see Sanders on Saturday.
Lee, who WUSA9 interviewed recently, believes that Sanders' message on union and fair wages is something America needs. And as she and her co-workers prepare for the worse, if a deal is not made by March 5, Lee hasn't stopped pressing to expand what she believes union representation can mean for workers.
After working for Safeway now for 32 years, Lee went up on stage, bringing to light in her opinion that Safeway doesn't want to pay for her and her Safeway co-workers' pension plans.
“I’m here on behalf of all the people who work at Safeway. Bernie is a proud supporter of unions, and that’s why I am here!" said Lee. "Safeway is in the process of negotiating our contract, our benefits and our raises. And right now, Safeway doesn’t want to fund our pension.”
Sanders has worked hard to put himself in line with America's union workers ahead of the 2020 Democratic Primary.
Back in August, he released a plan to strengthen unions in the United States.
This plan included requiring companies that merge to honor existing union contracts, stopping corporations from forcing workers to attend mandatory anti-union meetings, and establishing federal protections against the firing of workers for any reason other than "just cause," according to CBS News.
"Over the last 32 years that I have worked for Safeway, I have come in the snow and risked my life for this company," said an emotional but proud Lee on stage, while many cheered her on from the crowd.
In recent years, unionized workers have dropped slightly. A 0.2 percent drop between 2019 and 2018 was seen, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, who calculated that there are 14.6 million wage and salary workers that belong to unions in the United States.
Lee knows what March 5 may mean to her and those she works alongside. But her words in front of thousands had a sense of confidence behind them.
"This company has made trillions and trillions of dollars off the backs of us and they don’t want to pay or pension. If you don’t want to pay our pensions you will have to suffer the consequences of a strike"