Unnecessary Roughness on Workers

Just days before billions of people will be tuning in to watch Indianapolis host the Superbowl, the Indiana GOP is putting the wrong kind of spotlight on the Hoosier state. Governor Mitch Daniels will sign “right-to-work” into law today, making Indiana the first state since Oklahoma to adopt this destructive law.

That's what we call unnecessary roughness on workers!

As you know, “right-to-work” is not about rights or work. It is, as President Hansen said in the Huffington Post, “the ultimate transfer of wealth from the 99 percent to the 1 percent.”

You can guarantee that special interest groups, big corporations, and anti-worker zealots will try to use their victory in Indiana as leverage to pass “right-to-work” in Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Maine, New Hampshire, and in more and more states around the country.

Not on our watch! Click here to join our rapid response program so that together, we can fight back against anti-worker attacks. You can also sign up by using your cell phone to text the letters UFCW to 698329.

Join today to make sure workers across the country are protected!

A Union for Models? We Like It!

This weekend NY Mag ran a profile of Sara Ziff, the supermodel-turned-organizer who's emerged as the face of a new advocacy and organizing group called the Model Alliance.

Brainwashing Sequence in Zoolander. Credit: Paramount Pictures

From the article:

It seems like a Zoolander skit, models organizing,” Sara Ziff says between bites of pizza in the East Village. “And I am very aware of that.”

The truth is that models, like any other kind of worker across America, face serious issues in their workplaces and careers - issues they have the right to come together to discuss and try to improve. In modeling, those issues include the enforcement of child-labor laws, financial transparency in dealing with agents, supporting those who are the victims of sexual harassment and assault, and lack of health care for working models.

At age 29, Ziff has a whole modeling career under her belt, but it looks like she's on her way to another promising career as an organizer.

“You can’t make radical change being totally out there; you have to work with people in a way that is not totally combative. So does it drive me crazy to think that we might have to compromise?” she asks. “Sure. But this is part of politics.” Recently, she took a class at Fordham on fashion-modeling law—yes, they actually have those. “I’m studying modeling,” she says sheepishly. “I’m such a loser. I’m like such a nerd.”

Nerd? Maybe - but we're all for it! Head on over to NY Mag to check out the rest of the interview with Sara - and stay tuned to the UFCW blog for more information about how we can stand in solidarity with the Model Alliance after its launch on February 6.

Workers Have a Right to Stick Together

Workers sticking together - it's at the very base of everything we do and everything we stand for. Which is why we were so thrilled to read the following this weekend:

UFCW members joyously exercising
their right to stick together

"All Americans should have the basic right to stick together with their co-workers so that they have a voice on the job and a way to counterbalance the unbridled influence of the 1% in our democracy. When politicians attempt to strip away that right, the motivation is partisan politics, not job creation or balanced budgets. And when they succeed, the victory is short-lived. Just ask Ohio Gov. John Kasich."

- American Rights at Work Executive Director Kimberly Freeman Brown

Kimberly Freeman Brown hit the nail on the head with her op-ed in the Journal Sentinel this weekend. The UFCW stands in solidarity with her as she continues to spread the powerful and important truth about the attacks on workers we'e seeing all across the country. Do yourself a favor and take a minute to read the full op-ed - you'll be glad you did.