Members of the UFCW’s constituency groups, who are promoting diversity and inclusion in the labor movement for women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community, met in Philadelphia for a summit on May 13 to 15 to prepare for the 2020 election.
The “Winning 2020 for an Equitable Society: A Focus on African American, Latino, LGBT and Women Voters” summit was hosted by the International’s Civil Rights and Community Action Department and included members of the Women’s Network, Minority Coalition, OUTreach, and United Latinos.
With a focus on voter engagement, the summit featured a wide range of speakers highlighting ways our union can strengthen the voices of workers in the 2020 election. Pete Backof from Everybody Votes and Nse Ufot from the New Georgia Project shared their insights on voting trends and social justice issues. Shannon Talbert from Color of Change and Latoni Jones from Hustle spoke about mobilizing voters through digital and social media, as well as text messaging.
“Our UFCW constituency groups are an integral part of our union family with a robust and inclusive representation of the dynamic membership that exists across industries,” said International Vice President and Director of the Civil Rights and Community Action Department Robin Williams.
“The purpose of the summit was to bring our UFCW constituency groups together, build on their established programs, and work to further mobilize members into voter action and engagement,” Williams added. “The groups walked away with action plans and goals tailored to their specific programs in cohesion with the work of the UFCW voter engagement efforts across the country.”