Bill Bumpus an injury to one is an injury to all

This week, UFCW members around the country joined allies to mark the kick off of The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

Founded by Rev. Dr. William Barber II and Rev. Liz Theoharis, the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary, and hundreds of local and national grassroots groups, The Poor People’s Campaign is uniting tens of thousands of people across the country to challenge systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, ecological devastation, and the nation’s distorted morality.

Marc Perrone, international president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), released the following statement regarding news that Amazon Go stores, which replace cashiers with technology, would be opening in Chicago and San Francisco.

“This isn’t about technology or convenience, this is about Amazon’s and Jeff Bezos’ greed.

“Amazon’s unchecked expansion of this job-killing store concept should be of great concern to everyone who lives and works in America.

“It is time for elected leaders to stop being fooled by Amazon’s HQ2 search and see this company for what it really is – a monopoly that threatens millions of American jobs and hard-working families.”

From stocking shelves to providing late-night medical care, when the rest of the world goes to sleep, many UFCW members’ work days are just getting started.

Marc Perrone, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), released the following statement regarding the White House bringing major U.S. companies together for a summit about artificial intelligence (AI).

For the 26th year in a row, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) will be conducting its "Stamp Out Hunger" Food Drive. Every year on the second Saturday in May, postal carriers, in addition to their regular workload, collect food from people in more than 10,000 cities across the country. Each year, it is the largest one-day food drive in the world.

Over 6,500 members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union family who work in pork plants submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in opposition to a proposed rule that would increase the line speeds where they work, threatening both them and the consumers they serve.

Marc Perrone, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), responded to a federal judge ruling that the Trump administration’s elimination of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was unlawful and that new applications must be accepted if the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cannot provide a legally sufficient explanation for termination within 90 days.

Last week, working people scored another notable victory in the South, when 700 working people at Atlanta Gas Light voted to join the Electrical Workers (IBEW). Here is what organizers on the ground said about the victory.

Marc Perrone, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), released the following statement regarding the Farm Bill being passed out of the House Agriculture Committee. This bill currently limits access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps).

Anna Mae Weems, a member of the United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA), one of the unions that would later merge to become the UFCW, shared her memories of working with Dr.Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) on the 1968 Sanitation Workers’ Strike in the following article that appeared in The Courier. 

Wealthy corporate executives and their lobbyists have filed a legal challenge to keep Fair Share Amendment off the ballot. They don’t want to pay a little more to make investments in our transportation and public education systems. If they win the lawsuit, they will take away your right to vote on the Fair Share Amendment in 2018. Add your voice in defense of the Fair Share Amendment

“Collective action is alive and well here in the South,” said AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler to more than 300 labor leaders gathered in New Orleans this week. Southern union leaders from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia joined together to unite around a common strategy to build worker power in their states.

Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN) and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) are expanding their collaborative efforts to make workplace safety improvements at the company’s food processing plants and commemorating 30 years of working together for safer workplaces.

The three decades-long partnership is one union leaders call a model for the food industry. It began in 1988, with the launch of a landmark ergonomics program and has evolved to include improvements that have helped reduce workplace injuries and illnesses. While the primary focus has been Tyson Foods’ beef and pork operations, it is now being expanded to the company’s poultry business, which has been accelerating its workplace safety efforts in recent years.

Looking to further your education? There is still time to apply for the UFCW Charity Foundation Scholarship.

Every year the UFCW Charity Foundation scholarship program offers scholarships to UFCW members or their immediate family members who want to further their education and demonstrate a commitment to their communities and to UFCW values.  Since 1958, the fund has distributed more than $2 million in scholarships.

As a result of the federal tax cut, Disney promised that its employees would get $1,000 bonuses. Disney offered the bonuses to most of its employees with no conditions. But for 41,000 union members in Orlando, Florida, and Anaheim, California, Disney is requiring them to agree to the company's contract proposals in order to get the bonus.

Rep.-elect Conor Lamb made national waves with an improbable win last week in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District. He faced down $10 million in outside money funneled to his opponent by corporate and right-wing interests. He fought through a barrage of incessant, hyperpartisan attacks blanketing the airwaves. He was abandoned by his own party’s national infrastructure in a district that hadn’t elected a Democrat in nearly 15 years. And he still came out on top.

How it Works

AT&T is the only nationwide unionized wireless carrier. When you choose AT&T, you support the nearly 150,000 union members employed there.

Shop Online.

Go to the AT&T Union Member site and enroll in the Union Member Discount Program.

Nearly 5,000 JetBlue inflight crew members have begun the voting process this week in an effort to join the Transport Workers (TWU). Last year, an overwhelming majority of the inflight crew members signed cards in favor of coming together to negotiate a fair and just contract. Ballots will be cast between now and April 17.

The United Food & Commercial Workers International Union works daily to improve pay, benefits, and working conditions for its 1.3 million members. The UFCW is America’s largest private sector labor union and represents the grocery, retail, and packing house workers who help the economy run.

The strength of any union depends on the degree to which its members support the union and show that support by getting involved in union activities. Convincing members to support the union, and participate in its work, is one of the central challenges that every local union leader and activist faces.