United Food and Commercial Workers
Local 791
Proudly serving workers in
Peter Derouen
Director
Political & Legislative Affairs
Office: 774-568-0791 x22
E-mail: pderouen@ufcw791.org
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LEGISLATIVE ISSUES |
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STATE LEGISLATURE
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Why Politics?
Why should Local 791 members be involved in politics? Why should union members contribute to the Active Ballot
Club? Many people believe that politics is a lot of “blah blah blah”… Well regardless of what you believe, politics is very serious
business. Politics is serious because our elected officials make decisions that affect nearly every aspect of our lives.
Imagine
in this country if children as young as 10 or 11 years old being forced to work…Or no workers compensation benefits if you were injured
on the job…. Or no unemployment insurance if you were laid off…. Or no Social Security or Medicare benefits when you retire…. What
if you as a union member had no legal rights to bargain contracts every 3 or 4 years? What if workers didn’t have the legal right
to form and join a union? Imagine no time and one half pay for work on Sundays? Who is responsible for assuring we have certain rights
and protects us from legislation that could be harmful to our way of life?
The answer is our elected officials…their decisions
could impact us in a positive or a negative way.
In the
Corporate interests attack worker laws and regulations on a daily basis and these corporate interests have allies
in the Congress and state legislatures that are willing to fight for them. That’s why we must remain diligent in our efforts to insure
we have worker friendly people holding elected office.
What laws get passed or defeated depends largely on whom we as a labor organization support. That’s why we work hard to support those candidates that are sensitive to our issues and will take the appropriate action. Support comes in the form of making contributions to the Active Ballot Club (ABC). Support also comes from people registering to vote and voting for pro-worker candidates at election time… Support also comes from people volunteering time to work on the campaigns of those candidates who support the issues that are important to us.
Protect Your Job & Future!!