November 7, 2008

A New Day for Working Families

Washington — The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) endorsed President-elect Barack Obama’s candidacy in February because his run for the White House was based on renewing hope for the middle class—on restoring the American Dream for America’s workers.  UFCW members are energized to seize this opportunity to change America and restore the American Dream for workers and their families.

The UFCW is the largest union of young workers with more than 40 percent of our 1.3 million members under the age of 30.  The UFCW was the first major labor unions to support Barack Obama’s primary campaign because his message of changing hope into reality inspired our young members across the country.

Twenty-two-year-old UFCW Local 1776 member Samantha Miskevich of Limerick, Pennsylvania, pointed out how especially significant the election was for young voters, observing that “[t]his is our time. For me and my peers, this election was our 1960’s moment, our moment to vote for change. I’ve never worked so hard or talked to so many people. This election was about saving the middle class.”

UFCW members, and millions of Americans, have been inspired by President-elect Obama 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.   Today is a new day for working families.

UFCW members are proud to have played such a vital role in bringing change to Washington, D.C. and setting a course that will improve the lives of their children and grandchildren.  Tuesday’s election was only the beginning of the movement.  UFCW members are ready to keep up the hard work to make President-elect Obama’s change platform a reality.

President-elect Obama understands the needs of working people and is committed to restoring the balance between working America and corporate America.   The U.S. economy needs urgent attention and President-elect Obama understands that we need an economy built on real income for real workers – not on inflated housing markets and unreliable stock prices.  Restoring the middle class is the best way to rebuild our economy and the UFCW is ready to work closely with President-elect Obama to make that dream a reality.

Today is a new day for meatpackers and food processors who work long hours to ensure that the dreams of their sons and daughters for college and a better life become a reality.  It’s a new day for cashiers and clerks in retail and grocery stores who work every day to make sure they don’t have to choose between feeding their families or paying health care bills. Tuesday’s election was about filling dreams of hard working people across this country.