United Food and Commercial Workers Ends Boycott of Arizona O

United Food and Commercial Workers Ends Boycott of Arizona Over SB 1070

Union Calls for All Parties to Tone It Down and Work for Real Comprehensive Immigration Reform

PHOENIX, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The UFCW International union announced that the union is ending its boycott of Arizona, citing the recent court decision staying the most problematic provisions of 1070.

The UFCW called on all parties to "tone it down so that a public policy issue as significant as immigration reform can be debated with mutual respect, not trivialized as just another political campaign tactic."

The union's boycott started when Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 into law. "I hope Ms. Brewer joins the call to 'tone it down' and help create solutions for both border security and immigration reform," said UFCW Local 99 (Arizona) President Jim McLaughlin.

"It is now time for calm, reasoned discussion that can move forward to first secure our borders, while designing a workable, humane plan to finally reform our nation's immigration laws," said McLaughlin.

www.prnewswire.com

what's this there was a boycott ? that's strange , i live in arizona , and i don't recall seeing any sort of boycott ? when did this take effect ?

hmmm now that i think about it , i do recall the price of my milk going up by about a cent a few months ago ..

Yeah, Marquis. The idiots really made an impact, didn't they!

Related:
http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-1119517.html#1119517

Union denies ending boycott is political
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Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services Arizona Daily Star
Posted: Friday, September 24, 2010 12:00 am

PHOENIX - With its endorsed candidates under pressure, leaders of state's largest grocery union on Thursday called off its boycott of Arizona.

James McLaughlin, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 99, said in a prepared statement that the boycott calls followed the April decision of Gov. Jan Brewer to sign what was billed as the toughest state immigration law in the country. He said that is no longer necessary because a federal judge barred the state from enforcing "the most problematic provisions" of SB 1070. McLaughlin said that injunction paves the way for a calmer discussion of the issues.

He acknowledged that the injunction was issued in late July but denied that the decision by UFCW International to rescind the call now was the result of the political buffeting that both the union and those it supports are taking.

"The decision-makers (at the international level) were dealing with other things," he said.

McLaughlin said the boycott was never the idea of his local. But that did not stop Republicans, led by Brewer, from using it to bash not only the union but anyone it supports.

In fact, Republicans organized a coordinated effort calling on anyone endorsed by the UFCW to renounce the union support because of the boycott call, including a TV commercial by Brewer saying Terry Goddard, her Democratic opponent, is endorsed by "big labor organizations who are financially supporting the boycott of Arizona businesses."

That put Goddard in the position of having to say that while he's proud of his union endorsements, he never supported the boycott.

McLaughlin said there also is a more practical reason his local urged its parent to end the boycott.

"It wasn't allowing people to focus on what the real issues are here in the state," he said. "We were giving the governor and her people a pass to just continue to rail on the immigration issue when we should be talking about so many other things."

McLaughlin said there needs to be "calm, reasoned discussion" of a plan to secure the border. That mirrors what Brewer and other Republicans have been saying.

But he said there also needs to be a "workable, humane plan to finally reform our nation's immigration laws," a call that likely would mean a path to legal status for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country.

http://azstarnet.com