UFCW 21 Opposes Seattle Charter Amendment 29

UFCW 21’s executive board announces our opposition to Seattle Charter Amendment 29 with this public statement:

“Dealing with our region’s housing crisis is a top priority for UFCW 21 members, many of us frontline workers who have experienced housing insecurity and interact daily with customers and patients who are underserved by current housing and mental health systems. But sweeping unhoused people from one place to the next is a waste of city resources, degrading to our unhoused neighbors, and an ineffective solution to a systemic problem. Real solutions will put affordable housing first, refrain from criminalizing homelessness, and invest in racial and economic equity. Charter Amendment 29, calling itself 'Compassion Seattle,' does none of this and we condemn its attempt to write a policy of encampment sweeps into our city’s founding document for years to come. We urge Seattleites NOT to sign the petition for Charter Amendment 29.”

-Jeannette Randall, UFCW 21 Executive Board Member