{"id":64071,"date":"2026-02-18T13:41:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T18:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/?post_type=press_releases&#038;p=64071"},"modified":"2026-02-18T13:41:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T18:41:29","slug":"ufcw-mourns-the-passing-of-civil-rights-leader-and-labor-champion-rev-jesse-jackson","status":"publish","type":"press_releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/ufcw-mourns-the-passing-of-civil-rights-leader-and-labor-champion-rev-jesse-jackson\/","title":{"rendered":"UFCW Mourns the Passing of Civil Rights Leader and Labor Champion Rev. Jesse Jackson"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 <\/strong>The <strong><u><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/about\">United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW)<\/a><\/u><\/strong>, which represents 1.2 million essential workers across North America, released a statement mourning the death of Reverend Jesse Jackson, an icon of the Civil Rights Movement and a steadfast ally of working people across America.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>UFCW International President Milton Jones <\/strong>said:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"quote\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe entire UFCW family mourns the passing of Rev. Jesse Jackson, a champion of civil rights and labor rights. Rev. Jackson stood arm-in-arm with working people across the country in contract fights, organizing campaigns, and labor disputes. His work, from demanding economic justice for Black workers as part of Operation Breadbasket to standing up against anti-union corporations like Walmart, impacted the lives of many.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe UFCW always looked to Rev. Jackson for support \u2013 and he never let us down. Rev. Jackson fought for the labor rights of Smithfield workers in Tar Heel, North Carolina, as they organized to join the UFCW at the biggest pork plant in the world. He stood in solidarity with UFCW grocery members in Southern California as they bargained to protect their union health care. We celebrate his life with gratitude for the ally that he was.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cRev. Jackson worked to bring people together, no matter their background, because he knew that it takes everyone to achieve justice. His moral courage and fortitude, even in the darkest of moments, should be a lesson to us all.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">###<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The UFCW International is the largest private sector union in the United States, representing 1.2 million workers and their families in grocery, meatpacking, food processing, healthcare, cannabis, retail, and other essential industries. UFCW members serve our communities in all 50 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Learn more about the UFCW at\u202f<\/em><em><u><a href=\"http:\/\/ufcw.org\/\">ufcw.org<\/a><\/u><\/em><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which represents 1.2 million essential workers across North America, released a statement mourning the death of Reverend Jesse Jackson, an icon of the Civil Rights Movement and a steadfast ally of working people across America. UFCW International President Milton Jones said: \u201cThe entire [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":416,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[449,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64071","press_releases","type-press_releases","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-official-statements","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UFCW Mourns the Passing of Civil Rights Leader and Labor Champion Rev. 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