The Issues that Matter to Our Union Family

By: Marc Perrone
UFCW International President

As you all know, our union family endorsed Secretary Hillary Clinton for President of the United States because a clear majority of our members believed that she would be the best person to fight for the issues that matter the most to them.

But we also understand that some of our members preferred other candidates or other parties.  The truth is – racially, ethnically, and politically – we are a diverse union family.  That is our strength.  Such diversity makes us stronger, and we should embrace it.

While some UFCW members may not all share the same political beliefs or preference for candidates, we want to make sure that every UFCW member has the opportunity to express their views on the issues that they care about the most.  Most importantly, we want to make sure Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump understand that our members’ concerns matter in this election.

The Issues that Matter to Our Union Family
To ensure that both Clinton and Trump’s campaigns understand the needs and concerns of UFCW members, we will be sending a letter to both campaigns that details our members’ top issues and asks each presidential candidate what they will do to address them during the campaign and if they are elected President.

In many cases, Hillary Clinton has already addressed these issues.  In most cases, Donald Trump has not.  Either way, we will be formally reaching out to both campaigns, and want to make sure our members have an opportunity to speak out by going to UFCWAction.org.

By visiting UFCWAction.org, UFCW members will have the opportunity to review the issues that will be included in the formal letter that we will be sending to each campaign.

We are determined to fight for the issues, causes, and better lives that all workers have earned and deserve.  And we will fight to hold the candidates whom we have endorsed, and even those we have not, accountable for the impact they have upon our union family once elected into higher office.

Thank you again for everything you do for your local union, our members, our entire union family, and workers everywhere.

Sincerely,

Marc Perrone

Support For Unions: Up

The latest results from the 2015 installment of Gallup’s annual Work and Education survey show that Americans’ approval of labor unions has jumped five percentage points to 58% over the past year, and is now at its highest point since 2008, when 59% approved. Consistent with the recent increase in approval of unions, the percentage of Americans saying they would like labor unions to have more influence in the country has also been rising, and now stands at 37%, up from 25% in 2009. Meanwhile, the percentage wanting unions to have less influence has declined from 42% to 35%.

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Help Stop Fast Track! Call Your Representative

As you know, after being stalled for weeks, Fast Track was approved by the Senate late Friday night. The bill now goes to the House, where the vote is expected to be tight – and we are preparing for a fight that may last through June.  I am asking that you participate in this National Call-In.  (See attached flier below)

Currently, eighteen Democrats support fast track with six to ten still undecided or undeclared.  This means our opponents can’t afford to lose more than about 55 Republicans.  By some estimates, there are at least 50 Republicans opposed with another 40 still undecided.  But holding most House Democrats and enlisting the number of Republicans we need to defeat Fast Track is far from certain. We fully expect our opponents to unleash a torrent of ads and ramp up an unprecedented grassroots and digital mobilization effort to ram Fast Track through when the House reconvenes the first week of June.

The House needs to hear the voices of working families as clearly and as loudly and as often as possible. Please join us and our trade allies for a national call-in day Wednesday, June 3. We are calling every House member – Democrat and Republican – with this simple message: The “Fast Track” trade bill in Congress will send jobs overseas and give more power to giant corporations. It continues the same failed trade policies that leave working people behind.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact our Political Coordinator, Brendan Sexton: bsexton@ufcw1500.org and visit nofasttrack.com.

Thank you and in Solidarity,


Bruce Both
President