UFCW Endorses Hillary Clinton for President

Former President Clinton visited Pathmark in the 90's

Some breaking news from our International President Marc Perrone. As the early primary and caucus states are gearing up to vote in just three weeks, the UFCW is announcing its endorsement of Hillary Clinton for President of the United States.

Please read the message from International President Perrone below:

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

Since last year, we have actively engaged and reached out to our diverse 1.3 million members about the issues they care about and the positions they want the next President of the United States to fight for.  Based on this feedback, the UFCW is announcing today its endorsement of Hillary Clinton for President of the United States.

We have been completely committed to pursuing a thorough presidential endorsement process. This effort included a series of nationwide meetings with current members and UFCW Local Union officers, internal polls of our union members, as well as focus groups with working and middle class non-union families from across the country who currently work or have worked in retail. By doing this, we were able to determine the issues that matter most to UFCW members and the workers we fight for every day.

Based on these results, as well as additional discussions with UFCW Local Union Presidents and the UFCW International Executive Board, the collective decision was that Hillary Clinton is indeed the best qualified and positioned candidate to win in 2016 and fight for the issues--such as job security, fair scheduling, paid leave, raising wages, immigration, and health care reform--that matter most to our diverse union family.

Hillary Clinton has also held consistent polling leads with women, African Americans and Hispanics.  The broad diversity of the people who support her, coupled with her robust stances on the most important issues, point to our members’ having a strong belief that Hillary Clinton is not just the strongest presidential candidate, but the right one.

Our incredible members, both retail and non-retail workers, who help feed and serve this nation, deserve a president like Hillary Clinton who will fight to make sure that paid leave, stable schedules, and higher wages become more than an election promise--they’ll become a reality.

In Solidarity,

Marc

Target Chairman & CEO Gregg Steinhafel is OUT, Here's Why:

5 months after what could be the biggest credit and debit breach in United States history, 36 months after being federally charged and found guilty of violating federal labor laws that protect Target employees, 9 months after an internal memo leaked on "Multi-Cultural Training Tips" to manage Hispanic workers, 1 month after his company's second anti-union video surfaced, and just a few months after receiving another award for World's Most Ethical Retail Employer from Episphere, Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel has finally resigned.

Top 5 accomplishments under CEO Gregg Steinhafel:

1. Target Corp. Found Guilty of Violating Federal Labor Laws and Rights of Employees (their entire "Employee Manual" was also found to be unlawful, ordered to be changed)
2. Offensive Memo of "Multi-Cultural" Training Tips on Managing Hispanic Employees Leaked
3. Released two "Cheesy" and Illegal Anti-Union Videos, Forcing Employees to Watch Them (See for yourself, video 1 and video 2: the new 2012 version)
4. Gregg took a modest 83% raise in 2010, bringing his salary to $23.9 million
5. Massive Data Breach: When the final numbers are tallied, the data breach could be the largest in United States history.  via AP: To date, the data breach compromised 40 million credit and debit card accounts between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15. Then on Jan. 10, the company said hackers also stole personal information — including names, phone numbers as well as email and mailing addresses — from as many as 70 million customers.
    

Though his tenure inspired courageous workers throughout the country to stand up and demand change from the country's third largest employer, the resignation is long overdue.    We urge the future Target chairman and CEO to not only focus on consumer responsibility, but employee responsibility. Target workers are the force behind the bullseye, and they deserve respect, as well as voice at work.  The time for change is now, Target has a wonderful opportunity to show they're committed to respecting workers, now is the time to take the step in that direction.

Throwback handbill during the union campaign in 2011 at Valley Stream Target