UFCW 3000 strongly encourages Vice President Kamala Harris select Governor Tim Walz as her running mate for Vice President in 2024. Governor Walz's leadership has been a beacon of progress for working people, and we believe he is the best choice to continue advancing the interests of workers across the nation.
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July 18, 2024
Dear Washington State Congressional Delegation,
As the largest private sector Union in Washington State, representing 55,000 members in grocery, healthcare, cannabis, processing, and retail, UFCW 3000 is dedicated to our members in their workplaces, in their communities, and at home.
The accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration are nothing short of historic; from investing in public infrastructure, taking on corporate monopolies, appointing pro-worker appointees to the NLRB and FTC, and being the first President to join striking workers on a picket line. While President Biden has a record of accomplishments we can all be proud of, we cannot afford to go backwards when it comes to the rights of workers to organize, and the important protections we’ve won during President Biden’s term in office.
What’s at stake in this election is the future of our middle class. In Donald Trump’s war on Unions and on our democracy, working people across the country stand the most to lose.
If President Biden continues to demonstrate that he is unable to effectively campaign, and subsequently loses in November, the advances workers have made will be at immediate risk in a second Trump administration.
Unions cannot sit on the sidelines while working people are under attack. Working people need a leader who can effectively deliver a strong message between now and November, and then implement that vision over the next four years. We call on President Biden to pass the torch to the next generation. He has much to celebrate over his career of accomplishments fighting alongside working people, but it is time for him to retire with dignity, and campaign as hard as we all will for an alternative candidate. The stakes are simply too high to do otherwise.
We urge you, members of our Washington State Congressional Delegation, to call on President Joe Biden to step aside for a new generation of leadership.
Faye Guenther, President UFCW 3000
&
Joe Mizrahi, Secretary-Treasurer UFCW 3000
What happens when you realize you could run for local office? How can the union, and the labor movement as a whole, help union members do that? And wait, how does being a mom prepare you for being a meat cutter? Host Michaela sits down with Amber Wise, a UFCW 3000 member, apprentice meat cutter at Kirkland PCC, mom of 2, and current candidate for the board of Commissioners for Public Hospital District #2…
Read MoreDes Moines, WA - Today, UFCW 3000, the state’s largest labor union, announced the endorsement of Bob Ferguson for Governor. UFCW 3000 represents over 53,000 workers in grocery stores, health care, retail, food packing/processing, cannabis and several other industries.
“We have worked with Bob Ferguson for many years, and he has consistently been an advocate for working people, standing up for our rights, defending us, and making sure we are protected,” said Kyong Barry, an Albertsons worker and elected UFCW 3000 executive board member who came to the United States as a young child and became a naturalized US citizen in 1999.
"Attorney General Ferguson has taken the time to come and speak in person with hundreds of our member leaders over the years,” added Patricia Brown, a Licensed Practical Nurse at Tacoma General and an elected UFCW 3000 executive board member. “This personal connection has allowed essential workers from across our union to meet him and hear directly from him as to his values and his commitment to upholding the laws of the land and defending the interests of workers, consumers, patients and the community."
The list of Ferguson’s efforts on behalf of working people is too long to fully articulate here, but many of the most important examples include:
Protecting Grocery Store workers and shoppers: Attorney General Ferguson filed a lawsuit against Albertsons to block the $4 Billion pay-out to shareholders as part of the proposed mega-merger of Albertsons and Kroger. This lawsuit delayed the massive pay-out for several months and forced the companies’ executives to testify under oath and make public important details about the proposed merger.
Protecting Immigrant Rights: Attorney General Ferguson was a leader among AGs across the nation defending the rights of people in the US and around the world from an unconstitutional travel ban that discriminated against people of certain religious beliefs or their nation of origin. One of his lawsuits blocked the Trump administration’s decision to rescind DACA, the federal program that protects DREAMers.
Protecting Access to Quality Affordable Health Care: AG Ferguson sued Providence and CHI Franciscans over their lack of proper charity care that resulted in improved access to quality, affordable care for those who qualify for free or low-cost care and allowed them to get access to that care in their communities.
Supported the City of Seattle Minimum wage law when it was challenged in court by business interests. This 2015 case was an important one and helped future advances in the minimum wage law that was passed statewide in 2016.
Filed lawsuits that helped enforce wage theft cases where workers were not being paid appropriately under the law.
Helped our efforts to address Retail Theft concerns and defend the interest of workers who have significant safety and employment security as a result of organized crime’s retail theft in our stores.
Fought for the rights of workers against unfair so-called Non-Compete clauses that harmed workers by constraining their freedom to seek out and find employment.
Attorney General filed lawsuit to protect the rights of those incarcerated at the Tacoma Detention Center who were being paid $1 a day in violation to state wage laws.
Again, these are just some of the highlights of the many actions taken by Ferguson that have demonstrated for over a decade his commitment to UFCW members, and all workers across the state, and indeed all people across the world against those who would trample on our rights.
"We need elected officials like Bob Ferguson and are confident that he would be able to continue to be an advocate for the rights of all Washington workers. He has no qualms about taking on the billionaires and the bullies and we are standing with him in his campaign to become our next Governor,” said Faye Guenther, President of UFCW 3000.
Press contact: Tom Geiger, UFCW 3000, 206-604-3421
Workers’ rights are under attack at the national level. But we can protect the big wins we’ve had here in Washington State, expand our rights on the job, and elect powerful allies in Olympia and in DC who will have our back when it really matters. Want to see secure scheduling statewide? Want to fight for a fairer tax system in our state? Don’t miss the chance to pick the right candidates in the primary so we have real choices this fall. It’s time to make our voices heard at the ballot box.
Candidate Endorsements
Lisa Wellman, State Representative, Legislative District 41
Derek Stanford, State Representative, Legislative District 1, Position 1
Andrew Billings, State Senator, Legislative District 3
Marcus Riccelli, State Representative, Legislative District 3, Position 1
Timm Ormsby, State Representative, Legislative District 3, Position 2
Jason Ritchie, State Representative, Legislative District 5, Position 1
Lynnette Vehrs, State Representative, Legislative District 6, Position 1
Sharlene Lichty, State Representative, Legislative District 6, Position 2
Robert Hasegawa, State Senator, Legislative District 11
Zachary Hudgins, State Representative, Legislative District 11, Position 1
Steven Berquist, State Representative, Legislative District 11, Position 2
Tim Probst, State Senator, Legislative District 17
Samuel Hunt, State Senator, Legislative District 22
Beth Doglio, State Representative, Legislative District 22, Position 2
Kevin De Wege, State Senator, Legislative District 22
Mike Chapman, State Representative, Legislative District 24, Position 1
Jamie Smith, State Representative, Legislative District 25, Position 1
Michelle Chatterton, State Representative, Legislative District 25, Position 2
Jeannie Darneille, State Senator, Legislative District 27
Laurie Jinkins, State Representative, Legislative District 27, Position 1
Jacob Fey, State Representative, Legislative District 27, Position 2
Marisa Peloquin, State Senator, Legislative District 28
Mari Leavitt, State Representative, Legislative District 28, Position 1
Christine Kilduff, State Representative, Legislative District 28, Position 2
Michael Pellicciotti, State Representative, Legislative District 30, Position 1
Ruth Kagi, State Representative, Legislative District 32, Position 2
Mia Gregerson, State Representative, Legislative District 33, Position 2
Eileen Cody, State Representative, Legislative District 34, Position 1
Joseph Fitzgibbon, State Representative, Legislative District 34, Position 2
Irene Bowling, State Representative, Legislative District 35, Position 1
Noel Frame, State Representative, Legislative District 36, Position 1
Michael Sells, State Representative, Legislative District 38, Position 2
Kirk Pearson, State Senator, Legislative District 39
Frank Chopp Jr, State Representative, Legislative District 43, Position 2
John Lovick, State Representative, Legislative District 44, Position 1
Roger Goodman, State Representative, Legislative District 45, Position 1
Gerald Pollet, State Representative, Legislative District 46, Position 1
Jessyn Farrell, State Representative, Legislative District 46, Position 2
Patricia Kuderer, State Representative, Legislative District 48, Position 1
Sharon Wylie, State Representative, Legislative District 49, Position 1
Monica Stonier, State Representative, Legislative District 49, Position 2
Hans Dunshee, Snohomish County Councilmember
*This list may not be the complete list of endorsed candidates. For full list please see the 2016 Washington State Labor Council Endorsement list website
We are the Union. The members of UFCW 3000 are over 50,000 members working in grocery, retail, health care, meat packing, cannabis, & other industries across Washington state, north-east Oregon, and northern Idaho. UFCW 3000 is a chartered member of UFCW International with over 1.4 million workers in North America.
To build a powerful Union that fights for economic, political and social justice in our workplaces and in our communities.
