WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which represents 1.3 million workers in grocery stores, meatpacking plants, and other essential industries across North America, released the following statement on Congress passing the Respect for Marriage Act:
“Today, Congress took the historic step to enshrine protections for the same-sex and interracial marriages of families all across the country. Our union is large and diverse, made up of more than one million members and their families. Fighting for every single one of them in the workplace and elsewhere is our union’s most important mandate.
“Our nation has a crucial responsibility to ensure all Americans, including UFCW members and their families, who are in interracial or same-sex marriages continue to enjoy the same freedoms, rights, and protected benefits that those in all other marriages have. Today, we’ve lived up to that responsibility.
“UFCW is proud to stand with the bipartisan group of lawmakers who made this legislation possible, the many diverse organizations who have long advocated for it, and the overwhelming majority of Americans who support marriage equality in celebrating this historic achievement.”
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The UFCW is the largest private sector union in the United States. UFCW International represents 1.3 million professionals and their families in healthcare, grocery stores, meatpacking, food processing, retail shops and other industries. Our members serve our communities in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. Learn more about the UFCW at ufcw.org.