A post-election message from your union.

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This election year, UFCW Local Unions 21, 367, 555 and 1439 fought hard for our members and for all working families in Washington and Oregon. And we won some great victories across the Pacific Northwest.

  • Washington voters overwhelmingly approved Initiative 1433, which gives every worker in the state the right to earn paid sick and safe leave and raises the minimum wage. I-1433 provides raises to hundreds of thousands of workers, including tens of thousands of UFCW members, and it sets the stage for further advances in coming contract negotiations.
     
  • Voters elected great UFCW-backed candidates like Pramila Jayapal, who will be Washington's newest representative in Congress. Pramila has walked picket lines with UFCW members, supported our contract campaigns and helped to build broad community support for our issues.

This year's victories build on longer-term work we have been doing to advance UFCW members' interests in the political arena.

  • In recent years, Oregon passed UFCW-backed measures for higher minimum wages and sick and safe leave similar to what the voters in Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane recently passed. Our issues have popular support across the Northwest. There is no doubt the communities we serve are with us.
     
  • In Oregon, UFCW 555 continues to build the Working Families Party to advance our issues without having to depend on the Democrats and Republicans. In Washington a movement is also growing toward an independent party for working families.

All UFCW members should take pride in our accomplishments. When we lead with our issues, our values and our hard work WE WIN -- at the bargaining table and at the ballot box.
Unfortunately, our values and issues did not prevail everywhere this year.

As a result of the election, the White House and Congress will soon be controlled by politicians who have consistently supported big corporations against working people. We are talking about:

  • Politicians who have pledged to restrict workers' rights to have a voice on the job.
  • Politicians who want to hand Social Security to Wall Street.
  • Politicians who want to give even more power to health insurance companies, and take away rights from health care consumers and workers.

We are deeply concerned that our employers will take the election outcome as a signal that it's okay to refuse our just demands for living wages, fair schedules, affordable health care and secure pensions.

And we are concerned that politicians are attempting to divide working people with rhetoric and policies that unjustly target immigrants, people of color, women and other groups.
Our UFCW family includes people of all faiths, ethnicities, genders, languages, sexual orientations and ages.

When we take action together -- we are stronger.

When we defend each other against discrimination -- we are stronger.

When we stand together at work, at the bargaining table and in the political arena -- we win better contracts and pro-worker policies.

We cannot afford to let any politician divide us and sacrifice our rights to the power of giant corporations. When Donald Trump appeals to hate and division, he is expressing the very opposite of union values.

All of us at UFCW will stand together. We will protect one another. We will have each other’s backs. That is the very reason we exist -- to protect the rights of our fellow workers. And that has not changed.

We anticipate big challenges ahead. But we will continue to fight for our issues and our values, including living wages, sick and safe leave, better hours and equitable work schedules, affordable health care, secure pensions and the freedom to organize in our workplaces and communities. And we know that we can win if we stay united, because the public supports us on every one of these issues.

In order to face these challenges and emerge victorious we need to step up, stay united and get organized. We need more UFCW members to become active and informed. We need more members to become UFCW stewards.

It is our activists and stewards who lead the fight to enforce and bargain even better contracts.

It is our activists and stewards who lead the fight for legislation that reflects our values and boosts our contracts.

And it is our activists and stewards who help us build stronger bonds with the communities we serve.

We look forward to hearing from you and we stand ready to take on the challenges ahead, all of us together, as a union family.

 

Todd Crosby
UFCW 21 President

Faye Guenther
UFCW 21 Secretary-Treasurer

Dan Clay
UFCW 555 President

Jeff Anderson
UFCW 555 Secretary-Treasurer

Denise Jagielo
UFCW 367 President

Lindsay Garner
UFCW 367 Secretary-Treasurer

Ron Banka
UFCW 1439 President

Eric Renner
UFCW 1439 Secretary-Treasurer

 

Link to Full Letter

Fall 2016 General Membership Meetings

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Aberdeen
Monday, November 14
6:00 pm   
Grays Harbor Hospital- West Campus
915 Anderson Drive
Conference Room E - 1st Floor

Auburn
Wednesday, November 16
2:30 pm
Auburn Regional
Plaza 1: 202 N Division St
Cascade Training Room - 1st Floor

Bellevue
Thursday, November 17
9:00 am & 7:00 pm
Sheraton Hotel
100 112th Ave NE
Newport Room

Bellingham
Wednesday, November 16
7:00 pm
Quality Inn Baron Suites
100 E Kellogg Road
Olympus Room

Bremerton
Thursday, November 17
11:00 am
Harrison Medical Center
2520 Cherry Ave
Cafeteria

Brewster
Wednesday, November 16
5:00 pm
Three Rivers Hospital
415 Hospital Way
Hillcrest Admin. Bldg. Room 105

Centralia
Wednesday, November 16
10:00 am
Providence Centralia
914 S Scheuber Road
Cafeteria

Colville/Chewelah
Wednesday, November 16
5:00 pm
Nordlig Hotel
101 W Grant Ave, Chewelah
Meeting Room

Coupeville
Wednesday, November 16
3:15 pm  
Whidbey General Hospital
101 N Main St
Conference Room B

Enumclaw
Monday, November 14
1:00 pm
Guesthouse Inn
1000 Griffin Ave
Meeting Room

Everett
Thursday, November 17
9:00 am
Teamsters Local 38
2601 Everett Ave
Downstairs Conference Room

Thursday, November 17
7:00 pm
Snohomish Cty PUD
2320 California St
Room - TC1-A

Federal Way
Tuesday, November 15
9:00 am
Hometown Office Suites & Svcs
33530 1st Way South #102
Class Room

Forks
Monday, November 14
2:30 pm (New Time)
Forks Community Hospital
530 Bogachiel Way
Community Health Conf. Room

Kennewick
Monday, November 14
6:00 pm
IBEW 112
2637 W Albany Ave
Meeting Room

Kent
Monday, November 14
9:00 am & 5:00 pm
Kent Commons
525 4th Ave N
Interurban Room

Lynnwood
Monday, November 14
7:00 pm
Lynnwood Convention Center
3711 196th St SW
Room 2A

Monroe
Thursday, November 17
3:30 pm
EvergreenHealth Monroe
14701 179th Ave SE
The Café Corner

Moses Lake
Thursday, November 17
5:00 pm
Samaritan Healthcare
801 E Wheeler Road
Classroom 401

Mount Vernon
Tuesday, November 15  
7:00 pm
UFCW 21 Office
1510 N 18th St
Conference Room

Oak Harbor
Wednesday, November 16
7:00 pm
Best Western Harbor Plaza
33175 SR 20
Board Room

 

 

Olympia
Monday, November 14
12:00 pm
GHC - Olympia Medical Ctr
700 Lily Rd NE
Room D

Tuesday, November 15
3:30 pm
Capital Medical Center
3900 Capital Mall Dr SW
Cafeteria

Wednesday, November 16
1:00 pm
St. Peter Hospital
413 Lily Road NE
Cafeteria

Omak
Tuesday, November 15
2:30 pm
Mid-Valley Hospital
Family Medical Building
800 Jasmine St
Room E (Family Medical Center)

Tuesday, November 15
5:15 pm
Mid-Valley Clinic
529 Jasmine St
Break Room 

Pt. Angeles
Wednesday, November 16
4:30 pm
Olympic Medical Center
939 Caroline Street
Fairshter Room

Pt. Townsend
Tuesday, November 15
12:00 pm & 5:15 pm
Pt. Townsend Senior Ctr.
620 Tyler St
Board Room

Republic 
Tuesday, November 15
3:15 pm (New Time)
Ferry County Memorial Hospital
36 Klondike Road
HUB Conference Room 

Sea-Tac
Monday, November 14
7:00 pm
Angle Lake Community Center
4040 S 188th Street, #100
Meeting Room

Seattle
Tuesday, November 15  
9:30 am & 7:00 pm
Phinney Neighborhood Center
6532 Phinney Ave N
AM - Room 36 Lower Brick Bldg.
PM - Room 35 Lower Brick Bldg.

Thursday, November 17
9:00 am & 7:00 pm
UFCW 21 - Seattle
5030 1st Ave S
Joe Crump Hall

Sequim
Wednesday, November 16
7:00 pm
Quality Inn
134 River Road
Breakfast Room

Shelton
Tuesday, November 15
11:30 am (New Date & Time)
Mason General
901 Mountain View Dr
Pershing Room

Silverdale
Wednesday, November 16
9:00 am & 5:30 pm
UFCW 21 Office
3888 NW Randall Way #105
Conference Room

South Bend
Monday, November 14
3:00 pm
Willapa Harbor Hospital
800 Alder Street
Evergreen Room

Spokane
Thursday, November 17
8:00 am, 1:00 pm & 4:00 pm
UFCW 21 Office
1710 N Calispel
Conference Room

Tacoma
Tuesday, November 15
2:00 pm & 5:00 pm
First United Methodist Church
621 Tacoma Ave S
Room 119

Tonasket
Wednesday, November 16
12:30 pm & 2:00 pm
North Valley Hospital
203 S. Western Ave
Orientation Room

Walla Walla
Monday, November 14
1:00 pm
Providence St. Mary’s Medical Center
401 W. Poplar St
Marian Room 

Wenatchee
Thursday, November 17
12:00 pm
Confluence Health
1300 Fuller St
Conference Room B