The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Western States Council today released the following statement from Amber Baur, Executive Director, UFCW Western States Council, in response to the California Legislature’s agreed upon budget for 2021-2022:
“If California is going to roar back from this pandemic, it must continue to support the workers who carried us through the last year – those who kept food on our tables, risked exposure in checkout lines, cared for patients in pharmacies, and worked in meat processing plants where social distancing was virtually impossible. These are the workers who will continue to bear the greatest risks as our state reopens. While the 180,000 UFCW members in California are glad that the state Legislature’s agreed upon budget for 2021-2022 invests in working people, we believe there is much more work to be done as budget negotiations with the Governor’s office continue.
“Right now, California has the opportunity to use federal American Rescue Act funds to recognize the sacrifice our workers have made, to invest in their strength and bolster their future by providing them with hazard pay. Workers took care of us by going to work when everyone else was isolating at home, and now it’s time for us to take care of them. We look forward to continuing our work with the Governor and the Legislature to ensure California’s budget reflects the sacrifices our workers have made, and that it meets the needs of UFCW members and every working family across the state.”
