Posts Categorized: Legislation and Politics

UFCW members from all across New York descended upon the State Capitol in Albany last week to talk with legislators about passing laws that will make life better for working families.

Members pushed for paid family leave, the New York DREAM Act, and a minimum wage increase.

“I’m here because legislators need to hear from regular people who are having regular problems like affording rent and raising our families,” said Georgette Wilson, a Local 1500 member who works at Stop N Shop in Hempstead. “It’s not right that people in New York who make minimum wage need multiple jobs and endless hours to survive.”

With members from 10 different local unions attending, the Statehouse was painted UFCW gold.

“Being here with so many of my brothers and sisters makes me feel strong,” said Christopher Holt, a Local 2013 member who works at Grand Manor Nursing Home in the Bronx. “When we unite together we can accomplish so much more than we can alone.”

David Isaacson, a UFCW Local 1500 member who works at Pathmark, spoke about the importance of being involved.

“Meeting with legislators is great,” he said. “It’s important that we’re here to support our union and the issues we care about. I would encourage everyone to attend lobby day so that they can see their legislators and share what’s on their mind.”

Arlette Legree, a UFCW Local 888 member who works at St. Dominic’s Home, wants her legislators to do more.

“I came to lobby day to voice my opinion and let legislators know that we expect them to do better,” she said. “It isn’t fair that too many people are making too little. I want to see increased wages and we can’t do that without the support of the people in this building. People need to put food on the table. Being here makes a difference. It’s a wonderful experience and I hope more and more people get involved politically.”

As the day came to a close, a vast majority of attendees were already looking forward to next year’s lobby day.

John Kubinski, a UFCW Local 1500 member who works at Shop Rite in Staten Island, spoke passionately about how he hoped next year’s lobby day would be even bigger and better.

“It is imperative that our elected officials hear from us,” he said. “They hear enough from big business and corporate lobbyists. They need to hear more about the problems that regular people are having. It’s not THE government – it’s OUR government. It won’t get better unless we band together and take an active role in how it functions. The decisions of our legislators affect all of us.”

On May 11-13, all four of the UFCW constituency groups held a summit to lay out goals and strategize new organizational plans for the next few years. More than 20 members attended the summit to represent the different groups which include the UFCW Women’s Network, United Latinos, UFCW Minority Coalition, and UFCW OUTreach.

During the summit, members worked together to identify ways the constituency groups can help the UFCW grow along with recommitting to support locals unions by assisting in organizing campaigns, mentoring workers, and helping to amplify the voices of minorities and women in the workplace. Members also came together to create a civil rights agenda to better serve UFCW members. Another priority from the summit was for the constituency groups to strive to have a more geographically diverse board leadership with a focus in the South.

The constituency groups left the summit with four specific goals that reflect the larger goals of the UFCW set by International President Marc Perrone. For the next few years, the constituency groups agreed to create transformational change within their organizations by:

-Recommitting to better tracking and organizing constituency membership information

-Creating new relationships with community allies

-Serving as a resource for local unions by supporting their members and helping to grow their membership

-Playing an active role leading up to, and during, the 2016 election and supporting “Get Out the Vote” efforts

The constituency groups left the summit as a united force ready to empower their group members and serve as a resource for all UFCW members.

Kathy Finn from UFCW Local 770 attended the summit on behalf of the UFCW Women’s Network.

“The constituency group summit gave us the time and space to look critically at how the constituency groups can more effectively further the overall goals of the UFCW. One of the most important things to come out of the summit was a commitment from all of the constituency groups to work together on developing a broad civil rights agenda for the UFCW. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to develop our agenda further and present it the rest of the UFCW,”said Finn.

Pete Maturino is from UFCW Local 5 and is the president of the United Latinos.

“For me, the highlight of the constituency group summit was that the four constituency groups were able to come together and come up with a unified agenda that highlights the valuable role that these constituency groups play in our union. During the summit, I was surprised to learn from the UFCW political department about the lack of voting among UFCW members in the 17-35 age range. 2016 will be a very important year in politics and we came together to map out a plan on what we can do this election cycle,” said Maturino.

Tonya McCoy has been a part of UFCW Local 75 for more than 20 years and attended the summit as a member of the UFCW Minority Coalition.

“I’m excited that all four constituency groups came together to create a robust civil rights agenda and committed to promoting diversity within the UFCW. Following the summit, I was excited to come back to my local and inspire members to take an active role in our union. The constituency groups are a vital part of the UFCW because they are another tool that will help the UFCW to grow,” McCoy said.

Laura Kelley is an organizer for UFCW Local 655 and is the Vice Chair for UFCW OUTreach.

“It was a “think tank” of brilliant minds for one common goal, making the UFCW the best, most diverse, and powerful union possible! The in-depth discussions, ideas, and open dialogue were very interesting, and everyone who attended added to the dynamic of the energy of the summit. It was a great opportunity to share our needs and set expectations for the future of our great union. Working together as one group instead of four individual groups will  help push the agenda of becoming an all-inclusive union. Politically, our members and our communities can be a powerful force, and we talked about how to build coalitions around our issues and educate voters for the 2016 elections,” Kelley said.