UFCW confronts president of AWB

Four busloads of activists from United Food and Commercial Workers Local 21 stomped uninvited into the lobby of he Association of Washington Business lobby to seek support for ending business tax breaks to pay for the health care programs that face legislative funding cuts.

AWB President Don Brunell quietly met with the more than one hundred protesters who packed a bullhorn and made some noise.  They asked for a sit-down talk with AWB to get its support for closing tax loopholes to pay for health programs.

“They delivered their message,” Brunell said after the union protesters left.

“We’re likely to see a lot more of this as budget cuts come clearly into focus,” a union spokesperson said. 

Standing Up for a future we can all depend on

Grocery Store Workers – Standing Up for a future we can all depend on

By Tom Geiger, Communications Director UFCW 21

Our son Isaiah (7) and daughter Naomi (5) will inherit the world we make for them. My wife Aiko and I take that responsibility seriously. Like all parents, we want our kids’ lives to be better than our own.

And fighting for a better future – a future we can all depend on – is just what 25,000 grocery store workers across Puget Sound are doing in the current contract negotiations. These workers – from UFCW 21, UFCW 81, and Teamsters 38 – work in hundreds of stores across the region.

The future we seek is one where workers have: improved wages; quality and affordable health care; a secure pension; as well as scheduling, paid sick days and other policies that are critical to our quality of life.

Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans has been there with the workers every step of the way. PSARA President Robby Stern spoke to over 400 hundred store leaders in February on the eve of our negotiations. Many PSARA members supported our Standing Up for Working Moms events in May and other events since.

Recently, workers and community allies delivered the Grocery Store Bill of Rights to management in all 218 stores. Check out the Bill of Rights at:
http://www.ufcw21.org/grocery2010/bill-of-rights

Whether workers attain a fair contract depends primarily on the level of their unity and action combined with the level of public support. That combination has not been higher anywhere in the nation than it is here in Puget Sound.