Dear Candidate:

UFCW 21 is the largest private-sector local union in the state of Washington with over 47,000 members working in grocery stores and retail, health care, and other industry jobs.  Our membership is diverse in many ways: living across Washington State, economically diverse, essentially all ethnic backgrounds, more than half woman, and people of all ages. Our members are committed to building a powerful union that fights for economic, political, and social justice in our workplaces and communities.

Thank you for taking the time to fill out our questionnaire. We require all candidates seeking our endorsement to complete our questionnaire. This questionnaire will be one of the many tools we use to inform our endorsement process. In many races we will conduct in person interviews between candidates and our members to provide the opportunity to get to know them better and share the values of our union.

UFCW 21 members use our collective strength to stand together for fair treatment, economic justice, and family wage jobs. We stand together not only in our workplace and at the bargaining table, but also through engagement in our community and the democratic process.  Our members value engagement in the political process as a critical piece of fighting back against recent attacks on workers’ rights.  The large corporations that employ our members hold immense power within our political system. When union members get involved in politics, this helps tip the scales in favor of a more equitable society.

Just as our members choose to put their considerable collective power into fighting for political justice we also expect our political allies to join us in the fight to build worker power through our fights at the bargaining table. Currently, 25,000 grocery workers in our state are fighting for a contract, and we have 24 different healthcare contracts that will be negotiated, as well as many more in other industries. Having community and elected officials who will stand with workers is often a key piece of the puzzle to holding corporations accountable and ensuring workers get a fair contract.

In order to secure the endorsement of our members, candidates are expected to not only share the values of our members, but to also demonstrate how, if elected they would use their position to enact laws at the local level that challenge corporate dominance and strengthen the collective power of workers. Your answers on this questionnaire will help guide us in that process.