Statement of Change to Win Executive Director Chris Chafe on UNITE HERE Affiliation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 17, 2009

CONTACT: Greg Denier, 202-486-2365

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Change to Win Executive Director Chris Chafe issued the following statement regarding the affiliation of UNITE HERE with the AFL-CIO.

“We recognize and understand UNITE HERE’s decision to affiliate with the AFL-CIO. While the union movement - CtW, AFL-CIO as well as other unions - share a common purpose and agenda, we sometimes disagree on strategies. We, however, believe that in working together with the entire labor movement in support of our shared purpose we will make the critical difference in winning our agenda from Employee Free Choice to health care reform to fair trade.

“The mission and focus of Change to Win, however, remain critical to the future of the labor movement, and the unions of Change to Win, among the largest in the nation, remain committed to organizing on a broad scale the workers of the industries and occupations of the 21st century. CtW unions are leading in growth and innovation with key programs from food processing to transportation to weatherization. CtW unions are committed to allocating both internal resources to organize workers in their core industries, and allocate seventy-five percent of their shared resources to the CtW Strategic Organizing Center. If there ever was a time to commit to industry-wide organizing to rebuild the middle class, that time is now. We look forward to working with the unions of the AFL-CIO and its new leadership in that effort.

“UNITE HERE has been an important partner with the other unions of CtW, and was one of the founding six CtW unions. Issues and divisions arising in the merger of Unite and HERE, however, remain unresolved. We hope for a fair resolution of those issues based on our shared values.”