Empty and inflammatory rhetoric that derides health reform as “Obamacare” and demonizes leaders as socialists will not right the imbalance in our economy or help working people make ends meet. Our politics must rise to the challenges we face and provide sensible legislative measures that ensure a foundation for secure and stable communities.

When our new Congress convenes in January, will Republican lawmakers continue to obstruct the legislative process—as they have over the last two years—and continue to walk away from their responsibility to help govern? Or will they join with President Obama in an effort to put America back to work?

Working families have been losing ground for three decades. Household income has stagnated.  Productivity is up, but wages are down. Hundreds of thousands of middle class jobs have been shipped overseas. And many of our elected leaders, complicit with Wall Street greed, stood by and let bankers make and break the rules, and when their house of cards collapsed working families paid the price.

All elected leaders should take on their responsibilities to govern and turn immediately to the pressing issues confronting working America with bold ideas, creativity, and solutions. To move forward, our country needs a national agenda that begins with an honest conversation about restoring fairness to our economy, and generating good-paying jobs that keep families secure and America strong.

We need an agenda that, in the short term, provides security for the unemployed with an immediate extension of unemployment benefits.

We need a dispassionate approach to legislation and policies that recognizes that service jobs—retail salesperson is one of the fastest growing jobs in America—are the future of our economy and must become middle class jobs. We need to solve our broken immigration system, which would, if reformed, pump trillions into our economy and raise living standards for workers; create a sustainable energy program, and embark on infrastructure renewal that would put millions of Americans back to work.

American democracy goes beyond an angry vote at the ballot box. Working families care about building a better America because a better America means a better future for our kids and grandkids. The UFCW pledges to work with all elected leaders who are committed to restoring balance in our economy and rebuilding our middle class.

With 15 union members riding a union-made float and 250 marchers alongside, the workers’ contingent was one of the largest groups in the parade. This is the first time in recent memory that workers have participated in the parade.

Somma, who lives in Pittsburgh and is a member of the United Steelworkers, rode the float representing the AFL-CIO constituency group Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA). She says labor’s participation shows the power of the American Dream for all people.

It’s very exciting to be welcoming a person of color into the White House and to be a part of history. Even if it was minus 20, I would be glad to be here. This is an incredible achievement for this country. For Barack Obama to come from his background and rise to the top is not the typical American story. His inauguration is part of the transition of this nation to fully embrace all its citizens.

Marching with a banner, “America’s Workers: United for Change,” participants also carried flags that represented the issues most important to working families: an “Economy That Works for All,” “Great Public Schools,” “Good Jobs Green Jobs” and “Health Care for All.” The overall theme of the labor float is “Honoring America’s Workers.”

- James Parks, AFL-CIO Now blog; click here for his complete report.

Senator McCain has borrowed from the Bush Administration’s playbook of supporting trade agreements that have devastated the economy and sent good, middle class jobs overseas.  He has consistently voted for unfair trade agreements, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), and supported China’s entry into the World Trade Organization despite its ongoing history of human rights and workers’ rights violations.  To add insult to injury, he also voted against measures intended to help stem the flow of jobs lost due to these agreements.

These unfair trade agreements have resulted in the loss of high-wage jobs across the manufacturing sector and damaged our country’s long-standing reputation for technical innovation.  NAFTA has contributed to the loss of approximately three million high-wage manufacturing jobs in the United States since 1994, and the loss of high-wage manufacturing jobs to China has forced many Americans to work for substandard wages and benefits—further endangering our country’s economic stability and security.
America’s workers cannot afford four more years of a leader who favors corporate interests over the well being of America’s middle class.  The 2008 election provides us with an opportunity to elect a leader who will be tougher in demanding a fair trade system that puts America’s workers first.  The UFCW will continue to fight for trade reform by mobilizing its 1.3 million members to ensure that Senator Barack Obama becomes the next president of the United States.

McCain-omics recycles the failed economic policies of President Bush and builds on the president’s seven-year record of fiscal incompetence and mismanagement.  Over the course of the Bush Administration, America’s debt has increased to over $9 trillion, gas prices have climbed to over $4 a gallon, and the share of mortgages entering foreclosure is at the highest level on record since 1979.  In addition, the number of uninsured Americans, including children, has increased to 47 million, and the cost of health care has risen three times faster than inflation and wages.

While Senator McCain tries to portray himself as a maverick who cares about America’s workers, McCain-omics marches in lockstep with corporate America and ignores the needs of  working men and women who are struggling to cope with the high cost of health care, housing, food, fuel and education.  In fact, McCain-omics adds to the economic burden of America’s workers by creating a new tax on working families by making employer-paid health care premiums part of taxable income.

The 2008 election presents us with an opportunity to elect a leader who will bring positive economic change and put the needs of America’s workers above corporate interests.  The UFCW is fighting for the type of change that is needed to restore the American Dream—including good jobs, affordable health care, retirement security, worker safety and the right to choose a union—by mobilizing its 1.3 million members to ensure that Senator Barack Obama becomes the next president of the United States.

submitted by UFCW member Phillip Mesa

Hello my name is Phillip Meza and I am a proud member of UFCW local 1428 in California. I have been a member of the UFCW for 17 years now and an employee of Albertsons. I didn’t really realize how important our union was until the strike and lock-out that we went through in 2003-2004. That’s when I really got active and took true interest in the causes that our union fights for.

With my involvement in the Hip-Hop community I felt it was only fitting to express my views through music. As Mr. Picket Man, I put to music the thoughts, views and struggles into a few songs. All I hoped was to inspire those of us on the picket line the keep our heads held high and keep fighting.

Now in 2008 we are in another fight. A fight to get a man elected to the office of
President of the United States of America. That man is Barack Obama and I truly believe he is the candidate that honestly knows, shows and cares about us.

I feel in my heart that he actually knows our stories and what our lives are like as working people. It has been a long time since I have felt so trusting of a politician, but there is something in him that I Believe and I am ready for the Change that I know he can bring to this great nation.

This new song that I have done is dedicated and donated to the UFCW to express my views of Barack Obama as I pledge my vote to him. I hope that all of you would do the same. If all us as the great Union that we are would cast our vote for Barack Obama on November 4th. I am sure we will all soon be referring to him as Mr. President.

Please realize that we are not just voting for a president but that we are voting for our future.

Thank You.

“OBAMA 08″

Click to listen

Currently, companies don’t have to pay taxes on the money they spend on employee health care plans. McCain wants to change that. Basically, he wants to take away the tax breaks given to employers and offer much smaller breaks to individuals.

This might sound good at first. After all, your employer has more money than you do, right? So why do they need a break?

But health care costs have already gone up so much that many companies are scaling back their health benefits as it is. Without the tax breaks they currently receive, many companies are going to start dropping plans altogether.

The McCain camp has spun the plan to sound like you’ve now got the right to choose your own coverage. That his plan will fix our nation’s health care crisis by putting it in the hands of American families.

What American families will really have in their hands is a stack of bills they may not be able to pay and plans, like HSAs, that don’t offer real coverage. The $2,500-$5,000 tax break McCain is offering just isn’t going to pay for the over $12,000 that the average family plan actually costs.

You’d think with the U.S. market a state of crisis and families losing their homes because they can’t pay their mortgages, McCain would have learned a thing or two about what happens when you deregulate and leave the well-being of the country up to the whims of the free market.

The health insurance industry is already one of the least regulated businesses in America today. What other service do you pay for when you don’t need it, and then get denied the service when you do? At least personal savings accounts at the banks are insured by the FDIC, but where do you go when your insurance company denies care due to a pre-existing condition?

Today, Senator Barack Obama announced his support for Health Care for America Now, a coalition the UFCW joined to fight for quality, affordable health care for everyone. He’s pledged to fight on the side of the American people–not big business.

Tomorrow, we need your help. We’ve got Obama’s support, but we need to know where the rest of Congress stands. Are they with the American people or are they going to leave us on our own until the health care crisis explodes into a catastrophe?

We mobilize tomorrow. If you read this, we need you to be a part of the solution and make the call to hold Congress accountable. So tell your friends and tell your family. Call your representatives and ask them: which side are you on?

Learn more at www.healthcareforamericanow.org

This is our chance to see Biden and Palin match wits in a formal setting. This is our chance to hear where Palin stands on the issues, if she has a stance, or if she can tap dance around having to admit what her stance is.

It will be curious to see what she has to say since she really hasn’t articulated a clear position on most of the important issues concerning working people. That might make her a safe choice for VP, but the possibility of having a vice president that hasn’t formally said what kind of advocate she’s going to be if she makes it into the White House is downright scary.

We do know she was elected governor of Alaska in 2006 and prior to that was mayor for six years of a town with a population 10,000. And nothing against small-town America, but that doesn’t inspire confidence that she is ready to lead an entire country– let alone the fact that by the end of her tenure as mayor, the town had racked up $20 million in debt.

So as you watch the debates, keep this in mind. If something happens to the president and either Biden or Palin has to step in, which candidate would be better equipped to lead us out of this economic mess we are in? Who would better represent the U.S. abroad? Who do you trust to show the visionary leadership we need to get us out of the Bush quagmire and restore the American dream to the people of this country?

That statement is as profound—and instructive—today as it was a half century ago when Dr. King wrote those words from a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama.

Labor Day traditionally kicks off the final sprint to Election Day. From now until November 4, Americans will engage in a national debate about who to entrust with the awesome responsibility of leading our nation. It is up to every single American to determine the tone and character of that debate. We have a choice. We can conduct this debate on the merits of each candidate, knowing that we are, all of us, tied in a single garment, endeavoring in the serious work of setting the future course for our children and grandchildren. Or we can use this national debate as a platform to breed division, conflict, and racial fears as some extremists are already doing in newspapers and over the airwaves.

We cannot solve the challenges before us unless we truly recognize that we must solve them together. Americans may come from different backgrounds and outlooks—but we share the same hope of achieving the American dream. All of us want to take part, and do our part, in a society that provides a better life for every American.

I believe Senator Barack Obama is the best candidate—the American dream candidate—not only for working people, but for all Americans. He believes in the promise of the American dream because he has lived it. He believes that, in America, if you work hard you ought to share in the success of your labor. In America, you ought to be able to earn wages and benefits that can raise a family.

From ending the war in Iraq to shoring up the economy, from ensuring health care for every American to solving our energy crisis, Barack Obama has thoughtful, well-formulated proposals designed to put America back on track—and make the American dream a real possibility again for working families. That’s why it is so gravely distressing to see the nefarious efforts of those who would turn back the clock in America by fueling racial fears and inciting racial conflicts around Senator Obama’s candidacy.

Americans need serious debate about how best to meet the challenges of our ailing economy. We need real, workable proposals on how to fix our health care system and make college more affordable for our kids. It’s critically important for the U.S. to regain its place as a leader on the world stage. Yet there are those who persist in distracting us with divisive and morally repugnant racial fear mongering.

In this election, working people have an incredible opportunity to turn our country around. We can reject the politics of division and conflict. We can say: “Not this time, not this election.”  Union members know better than most, as Martin Luther King says, “Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.” We know that an injury to one is an injury to all. And grave injury is caused by those who would demean this election with racial rhetoric.

Let’s focus the debate on the prospects for a better tomorrow in which all workers will have their rights protected and their hard work respected; a tomorrow with affordable health care for all Americans, economic prosperity and national security. If we conduct a responsible national debate, we can elect a new president who will bring about positive economic change—a president who will not put corporate interests above those of working people. We have a clear choice on the November presidential ballot. Barack Obama offers change and hope—he brings a commitment to the cause of working people. With his leadership, we can change America, and restore the American dream.

What matters to you? Health care costs? The cost of food and gas? Wages? Brittney Spears?

The latest McCain ad calls Barack Obama a celebrity along the lines of Brittney Spears and Paris Hilton. Republicans say he is more of a celebrity than a leader. But, Brittney Spears and Paris Hilton…oh, com’on! Watch Senator Obama’s response.

Right before this ad aired, McCain was defined as a “political celebrity” when he first announced his entrance into the presidential race. Of course, now it seems that he’s no longer claiming celebrity status. Google’s has McCain’s claim to fame cached.

McCain defined Obama as arrogant, out of touch and unprepared. Of course, “John McCain is aware of the internet,” and he doesn’t know the price of gas.

Tell us what you think: Who’s out of touch? McCain or Obama?

These are just a few of the things young workers are doing throughout the nation to make a differnce. With health care costs out of control, the economy a mess, rapidly rising gas prices, escalating college costs, the mortgage crisis, a broken immigration system…our nation needs all the help it can get.

This is a year for change if there ever was one. And hundreds of thousands of UFCW members will be working hard to send Barack Obama to the White House to make that change real.

But change doesn’t start with the President or the people in Washington, as Senator Obama points out in his speeches.

Change starts with us. We can make a difference. We can help UFCW members, workers, and fellow Americans around the nation in times of trouble. We can oppose greedy CEOs and corporations, and fight for better wages, affordable, quality health care for all, improved working conditions, and the dignity of a secure retirement.

We can speak together and become more powerful. We can stick together and make our voices heard–and we can shout out for a real shot at the American Dream for each and every person in this country.

We can all be leaders. Young workers can and will lead the way to the change we need today.

How are you working for change? Tell us what you’re doing to make this country a better place.

Senator Obama’s candidacy reflects our nation’s progress, but more importantly it represents the promise of a better tomorrow. A tomorrow in which all workers have their rights protected and their hard work respected; a tomorrow that brings affordable health care, real retirement security, economic prosperity, national security and worker safety.

For the past five months, the UFCW has mobilized its 1.3 million members across the country to support Senator Obama’s candidacy, and his message of hope and change has struck a chord with UFCW members of all ages. The UFCW will continue to mobilize, organize and energize our members to support Senator Obama and fight to regain the rights and protections that America’s workers have lost under the Bush Administration.

Obama said Wednesday he spoke with New York Senator Hillary Clinton, and he is confident the party can be brought together. Many Clinton supporters are revisiting the “Dream Ticket” rumors from a few months ago, pushing for Obama to name Clinton as his running mate. Privately Clinton has said she’d be interested in the VP slot. There are many othere potential running mates listed here, let us know who you think would be the best veep.

Senator McCain welcomed the Illinios Senator to the race by criticizing Obama’s inexperience and attempting to woo Clinton supporters onto the straight-talk bandwagon.

The past seven years of the Bush Administration have been a hard road to travel for America’s workers as they struggle to cope with the high cost of housing, health care, food, fuel and education. The fragile state of the economy, coupled with a sense of national foreboding, has led many Americans to believe that they will never achieve the American Dream of owning a home, providing their families with health care coverage, or retiring comfortably.

“This is our moment,” Obama said Tuesday night in Minneapolis.

Can we capitalize on it? Yes We Can!

Senator Obama’s campaign shows us the power that we have to change the direction of our country, and reminds us of our responsibility to reclaim our government on behalf of the hopes, dreams and aspirations of workers and their families across this great nation.

As he stands on the threshold of becoming the Democratic nominee for President of the United States, Senator Obama’s candidacy reflects our nation’s progress, but more importantly it represents the promise of a better tomorrow. A tomorrow in which all workers have their rights protected and their hard work respected.  A tomorrow that brings affordable health care, real retirement security, economic prosperity, national security and worker safety.

For the past five months, the UFCW has mobilized its 1.3 million members across the country to support Senator Obama’s candidacy, and his message of hope and change has struck a chord with UFCW members of all ages.  The UFCW will continue to mobilize, organize and energize our members to support Senator Obama and fight to regain the rights and protections that America’s workers have lost under the Bush Administration.

The past seven years of the Bush Administration have been a hard road to travel for America’s workers as they struggle to cope with the high cost of housing, health care, food, fuel and education.  The fragile state of the economy, coupled with a sense of national foreboding, has led many Americans to believe that they will never achieve the American Dream of owning a home, providing their families with health care coverage, or retiring comfortably.

While Senator John McCain now tries to distance himself from President Bush, his economic, health care and trade policies celebrate the Bush legacy of giving big tax breaks to corporations, increasing health care costs and reducing benefits, and supporting trade agreements that have devastated the economy and sent good, middle class jobs overseas.

America’s workers cannot afford another four years of a leader who values corporate interests over the well being of America’s workers and their families.  The UFCW will continue its fight to restore the American Dream by ensuring that Senator Obama becomes the next president of the United States.

The ad is running in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown, and starts Tuesday running through the March 4, 2008, primary.  The ad is posted on youtube.com at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aQs3_2V_Sw and a high resolution version is available upon request.

The text of the :30 ad appears here:

For once:  Can we put American jobs for workers first?  We have a recovery that reaches main street? And we stop spending money in Iraq and start spending it here?  Can we have affordable healthcare for everyone?  For everyone?  For everyone?  Can we really elect a president we can believe in?

Yes we can!    March 4th, your vote, your voice.  Your chance to change America. Barack Obama.  President.

Paid for by United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Active Ballot Club, ufcw.org which is responsible for the content of this ad.  Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

The UFCW has a powerful presence and a strong organization in key primary states such as Wisconsin, Hawaii, Texas and Ohio.  We are the largest union of young workers with more than forty percent of our members under the age of thirty.  Senator Obama’s message of changing hope into reality has inspired our members, particularly our young members, across the country.

We have the utmost respect for Senator Clinton and her tireless efforts on behalf of working people.  And while both Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have a vision to change America, we believe that Senator Obama is the best candidate to build a movement to unite our country that will deliver the type of change that is needed – for good jobs, affordable health care, retirement security and worker safety.

Our country requires a change—change that restores America to a place of opportunity and security, where hard work is respected and those who do it are protected.

Our country requires change that brings the security working people require to improve their lives and the lives of their children and grandchildren.

Senator Obama understands the needs of working people. As a community organizer, he understands that America must restore the balance between working America and corporate America. He will fight to level the playing field on behalf of workers across our country.  He will fight to regain the rights and protections workers have lost after too many years of the Bush Administration.

UFCW will be mobilizing, organizing and energizing our members, their friends and families to make Senator Obama not just the Democratic nominee, but the next President of the United States.

We are talking about the dreams of meatpackers and food processors working long hours to ensure that the dreams of their sons and daughters for college and a better life become a reality.  We are talking about giving life to the dreams of cashiers and clerks in retail and grocery stores. That is what this election is about. It is about the dreams of hard working people across this country. Men and women who deserve to have their elected officials work as hard as they do.

It is Senator Obama who is best positioned, and who has the best policies, to make these dreams a reality.  Senator Obama is the candidate of the American dream.