Working Cheeseheads Rejoice! Organizers Submit 1 Million Signatures to Recall Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker

A watershed moment has occurred today in Wisconsin. One million signatures have been collected in the effort to recall Governor Scott Walker. The magnitude of this accomplishment sends a simple message, loud and clear: Governor Walker’s ideological war on workers will be met with stiff resistance.

To successfully force a recall election, organizers needed to gather a little over 540,000 valid signatures, or 25 percent of all of the votes cast in the election that put Walker in office last January. By gathering over one million signatures, organizers have ensured that this threshold will be met and that a recall election will occur. Today’s triumph is a collective one. It belongs to the volunteer activists who battled through harsh weather conditions all winter to collect signatures; it belongs to UFCW members who have been active and present since the very beginning; it belongs to the working families of Wisconsin who will at last see Governor Walker face accountability for his actions.

But let’s back up a little. This recall effort is a long and ongoing process – one that arose when Governor Walker and anti-worker legislators in Wisconsin used a budget shortfall as an excuse to launch an ideological attack on the collective bargaining rights of teachers, nurses, social workers and other public employees. This budget plan was never discussed during Governor Walker’s gubernatorial campaign and displayed his willingness to sell out Wisconsin’s working families in order to please his corporate cronies. This lie ignited the masses and made Wisconsin residents realize they couldn’t stand by and wait until the Governor was up for reelection – they had to demand a recall immediately.

This recall effort isn’t just about a campaign lie. It’s also about Governor Walker’s inability to govern effectively. Since he took office 65,000 people have lost health care, workers have been stripped of their collective bargaining rights, and public education has faced the largest cuts in the state’s history. Wisconsin simply can’t continue down this perilous path.

If you needed any more proof that Governor Walker is woefully out of touch with the people of Wisconsin – here it is: Where is Governor Walker today, the day his constituents have risen up to hold him accountable for his anti-worker agenda? Not in Wisconsin creating jobs for those in need. Not in Wisconsin doing anything. Instead, he’s in New York fundraising from special interests groups so that he’ll be able to defend his own job. That pretty much says it all.

United Food and Commercial Workers Union Endorses Obama 2012

The 1.3 million members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) are ready to fight for the future of our country and to stand with leaders who will stand up for working families. President Barack Obama is that leader.

I am proud to announce that the UFCW is endorsing President Obama’s reelection campaign because our members understand how much is at stake in this election. President Obama has stood up for the jobless, the uninsured, the middle class taxpayer, Medicare recipients, working women, and accountability from Wall Street. UFCW members are ready to mobilize for the president and to elect more leaders who will stand with him in Congress and statehouses across the country.

Cashiers and grocery workers are ready to stand up to elect leaders who will ensure good jobs stay in their communities and that their children can achieve their dream for a better life. Meatpackers and food processors are ready to stand up to elect leaders who will keep fighting to hold Wall Street gamblers accountable to the home owners and retirees who have invested in their future and deserve security and honesty from financial institutions.

Working families are struggling during this recession - a recession created by Bush-era tax breaks, lack of financial regulation and unnecessary military escalation. Turning our economy around is going to take a tremendous effort - an effort that must be led by a president who speaks for the 99 percent of Americans who clock into work every morning, instead of those who simply watch stock tickers all day.

UFCW members are energized because corporate-backed politicians at the federal and state level have launched an all-out assault on working people. President Obama is fighting back.

UFCW members have never stopped fighting back in statehouses and in their communities. They are ready to win the fight for the White House in 2012. The UFCW will be mobilizing, organizing and energizing our members, their friends and families to keep President Obama in the White House and to elect a Congress that works hard for hard working Americans. Ours is an enthusiastic choice to stand with President Obama as he fights against political opposition that seeks to enrich a select few at the expense of millions of regular Americans.