Steward of the Month – May 2010

It didn’t take long for Ashley Hawkes, a steward at Stater Bros.168 in Walnut, to see the difference between working union and non-union.

 “It is simply amazing how much better you are treated when you work union,” Hawkes said. “The respect that you get from the supervisors is noticeable.”

 Hawkes, previously worked for Circuit City in the City of Industry. She was hired by Stater Bros. as a courtesy clerk in December 2008.

 “The way the supervisors treated everyone at Circuit City was unbelievable,” she said. “I saw a female coworker get demoted because her supervisor was jealous of her looks and the attention paid to her.

 “Another coworker had gone into another department to talk to a colleague. He was fired because they said he was not where he was supposed to be.”

 Hawkes said managers constantly changed schedules and cut employees’ hours at will.

 “There were no guaranteed hours like we have,” she said. “So they always cut people’s hours to save money.

 “Worst of all, there was no recourse. You were at the mercy of management. There was no steward and no union representative to call if you were being treated unfairly. Nothing like the protections we have as union members.”

 Hawkes said the failing company was trying to fire as many employees as it could to save having to pay severance.

 After she quit Circuit City, Hawkes’ father, a former UFCW member who currently works as a police office for the Port of Los Angeles, suggested she go to Stater Bros. and see if it had any openings.

 “He knew that none of the things I experienced at Circuit City would be allowed to happen at a union job,” she said. “I’m so glad I followed his advice.

 “It’s great to have better pay, guaranteed hours, regular raises and best of all, a union representative to call if you have any problems,” Hawkes said.

 “That’s why we need to stand behind our union and do whatever we can to support it. It’s a major reason I decided to become a steward. I felt it was important to give something back because the union gives us so much.”

 Hawkes is a student at Mt. San Antonio College and hopes to become a social worker.

 When she isn’t at work or school, she enjoys hiking and reading.

 “When I’m not hiking, you can usually find me at Borders or Barnes & Noble,” she said. “I enjoy reading so much that I can’t afford to buy all of the books I’d like to read.”