Happy New Year to all the ICWUC family! 2008 is here and is shaping up to be a very exciting year for all of us. There will be a convention held in August in Montreal, Canada with the UFCW that we will be participating in, as well as one of the most important Presidential races that we will see in our lifetimes. And there will be new and exciting changes coming to our own organization. We will have the opportunity to award the highest public office in our nation to a person who will finally be responsive to working people’s needs. Healthcare for all, pension reform, the ability to communicate with and organize new members, and bringing jobs BACK into this country are all on the table this coming November and it is not only our responsibility to participate in who our next leader is, it is our RIGHT to participate! And that is a right that is not to be taken lightly. Our country guarantees free elections and our choice of who will lead our nation for the next four years. We cannot afford to sit by and let things happen to us without our input. There are NO unimportant voters in our nation, not one. Even though we have been hearing about upcoming Presidential elections for longer and longer times with each election we MUST become informed about issues that are near and dear to working America’s hearts and we MUST talk about those issues with our family, friends, and neighbors. We have witnessed for far too long what a hostile Administration can do with Executive orders, Supreme Court and Federal Court appointees, and a National Labor Relations Board that was intended by our Congress to help working America, but hasn’t. This year will have a lot of time dedicated to educating our members about issues, so please watch for that! And when the UFCW Legislative Conference is announced, the ICWUC will be participating fully so that we can bring important information back to our memberships all over our nation. We will be an informed and active labor organization to workers everywhere! While no one can tell anyone how to vote, we WILL make our members aware of those that are running for office that we believe will help working people out in our country so that you can make an informed decision on how to cast your ballot on election day next November.

And the ICWUC will continue to make representing our members and organizing new members our highest priorities this year. There will be new organizing programs and incentives coming out soon from your Board that will encourage participation from ALL our members in providing us with leads into places that need organizing. We need to let our rank-and-file membership know that we will be encouraging them to not only let us know who in their families or communities need to be organized, but we can take our members out of their jobs temporarily (if their contract permits) to assist us in organizing those workers, if they so desire. That way our current members can actually see and participate in how rewarding it is to assist the unorganized in gaining a union voice on their jobs. We will be continually looking for new faces that are interested in organizing to assist us. And we will provide training, not only for organizers, but for our existing local unions as well. And training will be provided not only in the area of organizing, but the areas of representation too. Through new training opportunities that are going to be provided to us training sessions will be scheduled all over the country to minimize our locals expenses and increase their abilities to participate in those sessions. Your Board is working on training right now, so be prepared to move into the future a new and more energized ICWUC/UFCW! We have a big job ahead of us, but we are going to rise to the occasion as one, united union nationwide. Failing to do that is NOT an option!

Frank Cyphers

1799 Akron Peninsula Road
Akron, Ohio 44313
Phone (330) 926-1444   Fax (330) 926-0816