Tacoma Macy’s Vice-President Carol Lorton Ducks 2006 Pierce County ‘Grinch of the Year’ Award
Lorton Absent on Busiest Shopping Days of the Year
Washington State Jobs with Justice coalition members attempted to
deliver its annual Pierce County ‘Grinch of the Year’ award
to Tacoma Macy’s Vice-President at the busiest time of year.
Reasons for Lorton’s award and an explanation of the Grinch
contest can be found below. On Saturday and Sunday, December 23rd and
24th, Lorton was not present at the Macy’s store where she holds
the title of Store Manager, according to staff she directly supervises.
So much for the standard that Macy’s management sets for customer
service and community relations.
 Award Delivery Gets Fun
A very diverse and large JwJ delegation from over 15 different
community, faith, and labor organizations gathered at Macy’s
entrance to find Tacoma Macy’s top Manager on the 23rd.
JwJ’s Grinch deliveries have historically been humorous and
peaceful. Macy’s Senior VP of Human Resources Ed Cooney greeted
us and invited us into the store. He guided our group through many
aisles and past many counters, giving us opportunities to speak and
leaflet to many shoppers.
Our delegation sported Grinch masks, green Lorton faces on popsicle
sticks, red “Workers Rights are Human Rights” balloons,
festive holiday attire, and plenty of Grinch Lorton leaflets. It was
great to share solidarity with the Macy’s workers who have
experienced management’s threats and harassment.
Mr. Cooney tried to convene a meeting in management’s back
offices but it appeared they didn’t have a room large enough for
all of us. Mr. Cooney first assumed we were all from the Macy’s
workers union (UFCW 367). After learning how a diverse a group we were,
Mr. Cooney shifted tact and charged that Macy’s workers make
$30/hour and that union leaders had lied to us. For the truth, we went
straight to the union contract now in effect that management had
signed. Here’s what it says:
 Many
Macy’s jobs start at minimum wage. After many years of work,
workers can hope to reach the top of the scale and earn the following
hourly wages:
Sitting Room $9.00
Processors $10.65
Commissions Associate $12.40
Sales Support $12.73
Cosmetics $14.35
(some of these jobs can also earn additive commissions but that money
is erratic and dependent on management plans and schedules out of
workers’ control)
Live By Your Word, Macy’s Senior VP of Human Resources Ed Cooney
If
Mr. Cooney believes workers workers make $30/hour, it’s time for
him to make that a negotiations proposal. It seems that our community
agrees that management needs to reign in Macy’s corporate greed.
See the Tacoma Weekly Op-Ed article in response to the original story.
- Trying to convert South Sound residents into Macy's debt-slaves.
Lorton wants Macy’s workers at least once every 30 hours to lure
Macy's shoppers to apply for a credit card. If Macy’s workers
fail to meet this quota, they could be fired. To make it easier
to go into Macy's debt, the company recently lowered the credit rating
so that low-income and already indebted people are eligible.
Macy's credit cards have notoriously high interest rates (about 25%)
and they exported the service jobs on these credit cards to countries
with high poverty to avoid paying living wages locally.
- Refusing most Tacoma Macy’s workers a raise in the last 3 years.
Now Lorton is proposing no future wage increase for over half of the
employees and then cutting wages by increasing medical premiums by 11
to 29%
- Denying over half of Tacoma Macy's workers an affordable healthcare plan
- Defending Macy's greed.
Macy’s parent company Federated has doubled its profits while it
cut costs on workers’ and shoppers’ backs. Federated sales
rose to over $23 billion, driving profits well over $1.4 billion this
year. Federated CEO Terry Lundgren's 2006 salary & bonuses
are $5,029,256 and other compensation amounts to Vested Stock Options
of $7,050,530; Nonvested Stock Options of $8,190,810; Exercised
Stock Options of $98,344. We wonder what Lorton is compensated
but Macy's has not released that info.
- Yelling at Macy’s workers (“friends” before her promotion) on the shopping floor for exercising their legal right to organize
This year’s South Sound contest was particularly competitive.
Lorton beat out two other South Sound Finalists: Peeping-Tom Grinch
Mark Pyne, Auburn Plant General Manager for Alan Ritchey Inc. and the
Oh Henry Grinch Henry Richards, McNeil Island Special Commitment Center
Superintendent. A total of 1282 votes were cast and the runner-ups
garnered 364 and 409 votes respectively.
‘Grinch of the Year’ candidates are nominated for doing the
most harm to working families in our community. Previous winners of the
award have met an untimely demise, such as former Tacoma City
Councilmember Kevin Phelps, former Darigold CEO John Mueller, former US
Senator Slade Gorton, former UW President Richard McCormick, and former
Congressperson Newt Gingrich. Other Grinch winners have since grown a
heart three times larger and have become socially responsible community
leaders. We hope that Lorton hears Macy's customers and workers no
matter how rich Federated-Macy's gets, just as in that other Seuss
story Horton Hears a Who.
JwJ activists pledge “we’ll be there,” we’re
not scared of any Grinch. By publicly awarding the Grinch of the Year,
our expectation is that Lorton’s heart will grow 3 sizes bigger,
as Dr. Seuss envisioned. This year’s Grinch cuts against the
grain of what it means to be a generous American. Carol Lorton could
show great leadership to support people in need of healthcare and
living wages at a time of record corporate profits for
Federated-Macy’s. Instead she has so far turned to Grinchy
motives.
Please also show your support by encouraging Macy’s to bargain a fair contract in Tacoma. Contact:
Ms. Carol Lorton, Macy’s; 4502 South Steele #700, Tacoma, WA 98409; 253-471-6801
Oh Henry Grinch Henry Richards, McNeill Island Special Commitment
Center Superintendent accepted his award at a management Holiday Party
in mid-December. He received ‘Runner-Up” for:
- Forcing mandatory overtime on a workforce of 200 workers that
regularly amounts to between 6 and 8 thousand hours/month in the last
year.
- Running a facility that monitors violent sex offenders with
little regard for worker safety and health. He has refused to share
information about the spreading of MRSA (anti-biotic resistant
flesh-eating disease) in the workplace despite the state
government’s (L&I) recent charges of serious violations. The
State also found Richards failed to provide ongoing health and safety
staff training and updated medical equipment, critical in a facility
devoted to violent sex offenders.
- Refusing to commit to address rat infestations in the ventilation system.
- Unlawfully forcing workers to wear their detention facility uniforms while off-duty and off-worksite.
 Workers
at the facility through their union (WA Fed’n of State Employees
- WFSE) have attempted to initiate a respectful dialogue with Richards
but have so far had to resort to delivering petitions, meeting with the
Governor, filing safety complaints, and speaking to the media.
Previous year's grinch awards: 2005 2004 2003 2002 |
