Posts Categorized: Legislation and Politics

Thanks to UFCW members, Congress is returning from the Memorial Day recess feeling more pressure than ever to oppose fast track legislation that will rush through the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Throughout the recess week, UFCW members were fighting to stop this unfair agreement by going to phone banks, canvasses, and the district offices of their Representatives.

UFCW Local 1262 in New Jersey held a press conference with Representative Bill Pascrell that was attended by more than 200 people.

“It’s going to get hot out here today,” Pascrell told the crowd. “But we are going to make it hot for the House of Representatives when the fast track bill comes up.”

With Congress back in session, now is the time for every UFCW member to get involved in this fight. The final vote is expected by the end of June and it is going to be close.

We need UFCW members to call their Congressperson and tell them to vote NO on Fast Track. Every member of Congress needs to understand that supporting this bill will cost votes in the next election.

Here is a sample script that members can use:

 Dial 1-855-712-8441 to be connected with your Congressperson.

 Hello, my name is _________. I live in _________.

 I am calling to urge you to vote NO on Fast Track.

 This bill will send good jobs overseas and give more power to giant corporations. You will lose my vote if you support it.

Shareable online graphics can be found on the Facebook page of the International.

The more members we can get to call their Congressperson, the greater chance we have at winning this fight.

At their office in Tacoma, Wash., UFCW Local 367 has been busy hosting and organizing phone banks to rally people across the state against fast tracking the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Every Thursday, staff members from UFCW Local 367 phone bank for a few hours and then throughout the week, members from the UFCW and other labor unions drop-in to donate what time they can on the phones.

“The TPP is a broad issue that will impact every aspect of our economy and our workforce,” said Nathe Lawver, UFCW Local 367’s Communications Director. “Our Local represents retail workers in the most trade dependent state in the union. A bad trade deal that’s as big as this one has the potential to cause a lot of pain in our area so we started phone banking to help educate people and hopefully stop this unfair agreement from passing.”

Actions like this have been a crucial component of the fight against the TPP because Washington State has multiple members of Congress who are undecided on the issue of trade. UFCW Local 367 is hoping that their phone bank efforts will encourage more people to speak with their member of Congress about not passing unfair trade deals like the TPP.

“We can see from experience that when trade deals have labor and environmental standards that fall short, it’s American workers who suffer,” said Lawver. “What little we have seen about this secret agreement points towards the TPP being another pro-corporate trade deal with low standards. Anyone who likes to eat safe food, have a roof over their head, and work for fair pay needs to be actively fighting against the TPP.”