Member Activism
Heart & Soul of UFCW
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| International President Joe Hansen speaks with UFCW stewards at a recent training workshop at UFCW headquarters. |
UFCW International President Joe Hansen
Every day, in every UFCW workplace across the country, UFCW stewards and members take action to help coworkers deal successfully with workplace issues and concerns. These actions are the heart and soul of what the UFCW is all about—workers helping workers gain respect, dignity, and a decent living.
Activism is the foundation of UFCW power. Union activism fulfills our purpose to improve the lives of our families, and all working people. One example is Lenora Reed, a Local 227 member and walking steward at her Cagle-Keystone poultry processing plant in Albany, Ky. Her activism helped coworkers gain UFCW representation several years ago, and she’s been active in the plant ever since.
Recently, the company tried to fire a worker for returning to work a bit late from a loved one’s funeral. Lenora had a brief conversation with management about the situation. Basically, she asked if the company really wanted the community to know that it fired someone because they’d been at a funeral. Well, it wasn’t very long before her coworker was back on the production line. Give credit to the company for rethinking the situation. But it took Lenora’s action to point out the strong connections workers have with their communities—and, of course, that includes consumers.
I recently had the opportunity to meet a group of stewards attending a UFCW safety workshop at UFCW headquarters in Washington, DC. I was inspired—like I always am when I meet with UFCW stewards—by their enthusiasm for making their workplaces better. In this case, the stewards spent nearly three days learning techniques and completing assignments to become more active in making their jobs safer and teaching co-workers how to address workplace problems that may arise.
I’m inspired by UFCW stewards and activists because only through union activism can we confront and overcome the challenges we face. Only action can back down a hostile supervisor or get a work schedule adjusted to make sure a single mom or dad has child care covered. Only action can force an employer to end negotiating demands to make health care unaffordable. Only action can wake up Wal-Mart and end the company’s destructive practices. Action can strengthen Social Security, win national health care reform, and eliminate the big business bias of so many politicians.
There are any number of ways to become more involved in your union. What’s important is to act. If we act today, tomorrow will be ours.
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