President’s Message
HOW TRUMP WILL DESTROY LABOR
a ruthless corporate overlord who
will stack the deck against working
families if elected.
This is why it is more important
than ever that UFCW members
such as yourself participate in
this election, and work to defeat
Trump’s party. Together, we can
simultaneously defeat the party
of privilege and inequality and
advance the cause of working
families and good jobs.
RICK ICAZA
President
The political and cultural soul of
our nation stands at a crossroad.
The steady and unfortunately
effective plan of elites to dismantle
the working and middle class have
unleashed a nearly uncontrollable
upwelling of anger, anxiety, and
feelings of exclusion. Some, such
as Donald Trump, are manipulating
these feelings through an
unprecedented campaign of blame,
hatred, and racism.
It is no mystery why our nation’s
residents feel dissatisfied with our
government when the levers of
power are controlled by a congress
and Republican party which places
the needs of the rich and privileged
above those of working families
and the needy.
Your union interviewed and
reviewed the records of the
candidates for President. We
looked not only at their promises
but their record in delivering for
working families.
The Republican candidates, in their
race to the bottom, fell far short
of our requirements. Both Hillary
Clinton and Bernie Sanders have
policies and positions we agree
with.
But Hillary Clinton, with her
breadth of experience, proven
record of fighting for us, and
commitment to unity and diversity,
clearly stood out.
In any election year, she would
make a fine President, but in this
year she will not only be a fine
President but a healing force in a
nation torn by anxiety and fear over
the future.
We must unite behind a candidate
who will fight for working
families. The stakes are too high. If
Republican obstructionism in the
Senate succeeds, the next President
will immediately nominate the
tie breaking vote to the Supreme
Court, and ultimately appoint as
many as two more Justices. The
next President will have control
over the National Labor Relations
Board, and the regulatory apparatus
that can either protect working
families or smash their hopes in
favor of corporate oligarchs like
Trump.
UFCW and its members must be
a part of the process that proves
to our citizens and the world that
we will not give in to hate and
division. That we will not only
choose the path of unity, but we
will fight for it, win it, and wield it
fairly.
Please vote on (or by, if you have
an absentee ballot) June 7th. There
has not been a more important
election in our memory.
But what is a mystery is why
citizens would flock to a multimillionaire beneficiary of this very
system who is peddling policies of
hate, isolation, and discrimination
to solve our very real problems
of working class wage erosion,
income disparity, and disappearing
middle-class jobs.
Trump’s record of union busting,
firing union activists, and
employing illegal workers to
bring down his costs are enough
to disqualify him as president. He
poses as a populist, but in fact is
Issue 2
President Icaza with then First Lady Hillary Clinton
THE VOICE
June 2016
2