November 7, 2013

UFCW President Hansen Statement on Senate Passage of ENDA

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Joe Hansen, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), today released the following statement after the Senate passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) which would prohibit workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

“I applaud the Senate on its bipartisan support for ENDA. No one should be fired just for being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. It goes against everything we stand for as Americans. At the UFCW, we have been proud to win strong non-discrimination language in our contracts.  But in more than half of all states, a worker can be fired solely because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This is wrong. Workers should be judged on their ability to do the job, not where they are from, what they look like, what language they speak, or who they love. Today the Senate has taken an important step toward protecting America’s workers from discrimination. I urge the House to do the same.”

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The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, visit www.ufcw.org, or join our online community at www.facebook.com/UFCWinternational and www.twitter.com/ufcw.