UFCW Local 555 - Takes a Position of Strength

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, According to the UFCW Local 555, U.S. corporations hold a record $1.93 trillion cash surplus while 25 million unemployed and underemployed people of this nation require a financial stimulus that will provide living wage jobs;

WHEREAS, economic disparity continues to escalate so that the richest 5 percent now own 65 percent of this nation’s wealth;

WHEREAS, total spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is estimated to exceed anywhere from $1.4 to $5 trillion, and bailout lending by the Federal Reserve to financial institutions has already hit $9 trillion.

WHEREAS, elected officials vilify unions and workers by scapegoating wages, benefits, and social services as the cause of state and national deficits, as demonstrated by anti-collective bargaining legislation passing in states across the nation and Congressional deficit-reduction negotiations which aim to:

* reduce payroll employment by 1.9 million jobs by 2014 without a revenue tax on the financial industry,

* raise the payroll tax and reduce the corporate tax,

* cut Medicare and Social Security by as much as 20% over the next 10 years,

* reduce farm subsidies, civilian and military federal pensions and student loan subsidies

WHEREAS, labor unions must proactively organize for reform with their membership because traditional lobbying during electoral campaigns does not rival corporate campaign spending and stock options earned by individual Congressional and Senate members therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the UFCW Local 555 will work with our International and Change to Win to organize massive demonstrations in cities across the country and mount a sustained campaign for the following popular demands:

1) Make no cuts or concessions in wages, benefits, and social welfare programs;

2) Tax Wall Street Banks, large and multi-national corporations, and the wealthiest Americans at both the federal and state levels through whatever means necessary, including by measures that mirror the successful Oregon Measures 66 and 67;

3) Make public investments in education, rebuilding of infrastructure, public transit improvements, and a national public works program.