UNITE HERE Western Region Vice President Christina Vazquez appeared on Laura Flanders' GRITtv show yesterday to talk about the union's personal relationship with incoming Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, who she calls an "honorary shop steward".
Watch online at GRITtv.
Rep. Hilda Solis named Secretary of Labor December 18, 2008 UNITE HERE is thrilled to have a proven advocate for working Americans named our new Secretary of Labor. With this appointment and a firm commitment to a stimulus package that helps working people including the Employee Free Choice Act, the President elect is affirming his commitment to bring working families the kind of change they voted for. Representative Solis understands that unions are the key rebuilding and expanding the American middle class and restoring our economy. Rep. Solis has championed workers right to organize for family sustaining jobs. With a strong Secretary of Labor we will finally be able to address the crisis in labor law enforcement that has plagued our country for the past 8 years and build and create an economy that rewards work.
In monumental victory, Smithfield workers unionize December 16, 2008
Last week meat packing workers at Smithfield's Tar Heel meatpacking plant won recognition of their union. The success ended a 15-year struggle and was a victory not only for Smithfield's 5,000 workers and the United Food and Commercial Workers union but also for all workers struggling to organize. Change to Win, a federation of labor unions, helped coordinate work between the UFCW and CTW's other member unions including UNITE HERE. Organizers point to worker dedication and union cooperation as the keys to the Smithfield victory. "It's a new day," said Michael Freeman, a UH Southern Region organizer who helped in the CTW effort, "Unions working together means we are able to organize workers where otherwise we would not be able to. Particularly in the South." Freeman, a UH organizer of 16 years, said that working on the Smithfield campaign taught him about union organizing across different industries. "Plenty of workers need to be organized," he said, "And, I've realized that all unions have the same thing in common—we all better the lives of everyday workers."
Propper International, the largest military apparel manufacturer in the U.S., does not pay sick days to its workers.
According to an article in yesterday’s New York Times, Tom Kellim, Propper’s chief executive, did not deny that the company fails to give workers the sick days required by Puerto Rico Law 180.
Obama will be sworn in to office in a UNITE HERE tuxedo December 9, 2008 Demonstrating the pro-worker values that he will bring to the Presidency, Barack Obama will be sworn in to office wearing a tuxedo made by UNITE HERE members at Chicago's Hart Schaffner Marx factory. President Elect Obama also chose a custom Hart Schaffner Marx suit to wear for his acceptance speech at the DNC. Hart Schaffner Marx has been a union shop for almost 100 years and is internationally known for its extremely high quality menswear.
As reported in The New York Times, UNITE HERE President Bruce Raynor says that from his conversations which include some with Mr. Obama, he expects the inaugural to be “upbeat and optimistic, not opulent or excessive.” You can read the full New York Times story here.
Shop with a Conscience This Holiday Season December 2, 2008 The start of the holiday shopping season also is the start of the most active time of year for charitable giving. But in the midst of an economic crisis, Americans are considering what, or even if, they can contribute to charity this year.
With that in mind, what about the notion that our shopping - the way we choose to spend our dollars - can create positive change? When you choose to buy a sweater for your son or socks for your sister, you can affect the world around you.
SweatFree Communities and the International Labor Rights Forum have released the"2009 Shop with a Conscience Consumer Guide"; providing a list of sweatshop-free options for consumers who want to purchase shirts, pants, coats, scarves, hats and other apparel made under ethical conditions.
The guide profiles more than 20 companies that produce clothing in accordance with international fair labor standards, such as ensuring workers' health and safety, living wages and good benefits, and treatment with respect and dignity. In addition, the guide promotes clothing produced in shops where workers are organized into democratic unions or worker-owned cooperatives and have an effective, collective voice in determining their wages and working conditions.
UNITE HERE stands up for auto workers on GritTV November 24, 2008 Watch GritTV for President Raynor's thoughts on the election, the auto industry crisis and the Employee Free Choice Act. Defending auto industry workers' right to earn a middle class living and pointing out the concessions that the United Auto Workers have already made, President Raynor goes on to explain how the U.S.'s lack of national healthcare has disadvantaged the auto industry. He calls today's political environment "a storm of need, and possibility." Watch online here
GRITtv with Laura Flanders airs Mon-Thurs, at 8pm & 1 am ET, on Free Speech TV (DISH Network ch. 9415), on public stations and online at www.grittv.org and www.firedoglake.com/lauraflanders
Norwalk, Ohio Local 1422 member Rob Rhineberger plans to channel what he learned as a Volunteer Political Organizer in Wisconsin into his efforts to make the Employee Free Choice Act the law of the land. “The Employee Free Choice Act will greatly help our ability to organize new members because it creates a level playing field and protects workers who get involved. We all feel a sense of pride in accomplishing a landslide victory for working families on November 4th. It is up to each and every one of us to use this unprecedented opportunity to win pro-worker legislation.”
Statement from UNITE HERE General President Bruce Raynor about Obama Victory November 4, 2008 New York - Barack Obama’s victory is a victory for working people across this country. Regardless of race, gender, religion, ethnicity, immigration status, sexual orientation – all working people have taken a giant step forward today.
Barack has renewed our faith in what is possible for those who are trying to stay in the middle class and for those who are seeking to become a part of the middle class.
With great vision, he talked with us about what he wants to accomplish for the American people. And with great candor, he called for every person to become engaged in the effort.
As the first labor union to endorse Barack, UNITE HERE took that call seriously. From the strength of our nearly one million members and retirees, we mobilized thousands to get out the vote in more than a dozen states. We knocked on more than 350,000 doors; and during this past weekend alone, we had more than 3,000 volunteers talking with voters in battleground states.
Barack’s insight and leadership drive a policy agenda that supports those working people who have formed a union, as well as those who have not yet formed a union. He is committed to ensuring that working families have wages that enable them to put food on the table, cutting taxes for 95 percent of workers and their families, securing healthcare for all Americans, promoting fair trade and not “free trade” that sends good jobs overseas, defending the right of workers to freely join unions by passing the Employee Free Choice Act, establishing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, fighting the growth of income inequality, and guaranteeing retirement security for all workers so that growing old does not mean growing poor.
With Barack’s victory, as well as Democratic gains in both the House and the Senate, we can make real reforms to improve the lives of every union member in this country and every worker who wants a union.
To be sure, the current economic crisis will present great challenges. But we are inspired by the change that is possible. And we believe in Barack Obama - a man who understands the experiences of working people. A man who, more than twenty years ago, took a job as a community organizer in Chicago to fight for families devastated by steel plant closings – to fight for working people.
UNITE HERE is thrilled to have a proven advocate for working Americans named our new Secretary of Labor. With this appointment and a firm commitment to a stimulus package that helps working people including the Employee Free Choice Act, the President elect is affirming his commitment to bring working families the kind of change they voted for. Representative Solis understands that unions are the key rebuilding and expanding the American middle class and restoring our economy. Rep. Solis has championed workers right to organize for family sustaining jobs. With a strong Secretary of Labor we will finally be able to address the crisis in labor law enforcement that has plagued our country for the past 8 years and build and create an economy that rewards work.
Demonstrating the pro-worker values that he will bring to the Presidency, Barack Obama will be sworn in to office wearing a tuxedo made by UNITE HERE members at Chicago's 
The start of the holiday shopping season also is the start of the most active time of year for charitable giving. But in the midst of an economic crisis, Americans are considering what, or even if, they can contribute to charity this year.
Barack’s insight and leadership drive a policy agenda that supports those working people who have formed a union, as well as those who have not yet formed a union. He is committed to ensuring that working families have wages that enable them to put food on the table, cutting taxes for 95 percent of workers and their families, securing healthcare for all Americans, promoting fair trade and not “free trade” that sends good jobs overseas, defending the right of workers to freely join unions by passing the Employee Free Choice Act, establishing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, fighting the growth of income inequality, and guaranteeing retirement security for all workers so that growing old does not mean growing poor.
