Monthly Archives: April 2016

On April 14, Stuart Appelbaum, executive vice president of the UFCW and president of the RWDSU, released the following statement after being arrested with close to 100 others on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in an act of civil disobedience. The powerful sit-in was the fourth consecutive day of arrests at the Capitol of people who are peacefully asking Congress to end the big-moneyed corruption of our political system.

“Whether we are Republicans, Democrats or Independents, we can all agree that wealthy special interests have too much power in deciding who can run for office and what policies they’ll consider once they are elected.

“These dark money forces are doing everything they can to discourage the voices of ordinary people from being heard. State by state, they are convincing legislators to install strict voter ID requirements, reduce polling hours and even eliminate polling locations. The purpose of these restrictions is clear – they want to make it harder for people to vote so that their anti-worker agenda can continue unchecked.

“In our fight to bring hard-working families the better life that they deserve, the entire UFCW union family has seen firsthand how corporate special interests use massive campaign contributions and super PACs to rig the game in their favor. This pay-to-play campaign finance system is a big reason why living wage increases are blocked, family leave laws fail and paid sick time proposals go nowhere.

“There is something deeply broken about a political system that’s working great for well-connected insiders and the wealthy, but not for the rest of us. People from all backgrounds are tired of seeing wages stagnate, trade deals that harm workers fast tracked through Congress and voting rights restricted while the wallets on Wall Street bulge.

“Members of Congress must take notice of the thousands who chose to be arrested this week and act immediately to repair our democracy by passing meaningful campaign finance reform that will guarantee every voice is heard and every vote is counted. The status quo is failing hard-working American families and it cannot continue.”

Local union leaders, staff, and UFCW members from around the country and Canada convened in Omaha, Nebraska, last week for the 2016 Spring Food Processing, Packing and Manufacturing Meeting.

At the meeting, participants discussed industry trends and worked together to strategize the best tactics for bargaining contracts, organizing, and resolving problems in their plants. They also attended workshops on increasing solidarity among workers of different religious, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds.

Recognizing the growing diversity of the UFCW’s current and future membership, the chain meeting was held in three different languages: English, Spanish, and Somali. As part of the UFCW’s effort to increase language access to workers who don’t speak English, this was the first time that a meeting of this size featured simultaneous interpretation in three languages.

The effort to build a space for UFCW members to maximize their voices is an essential strategy that sees diversity as an asset. “Increasing our union’s language access and employing strategies that build language equity is very important,” said Rina E. Chaverria, a UFCW Local 770 member. “This provides all workers, not just immigrant workers, the opportunity to communicate and work together to improve our workplace and the lives of our coworkers.”