License to Organize

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)They’re known as “vanity plates,” but that’s not the right term to describe the license plate that adorns the Buick of UFCW Local 400 steward Gary Tafrawe (right), a 38-year member and Safeway worker. That’s because his personalized plate isn’t about him — it’s about all workers. It reads “WORKRS,” and underneath it is “UNITED WE STAND.” Tafrawe got this plate to let his fellow drivers know that workers matter to this country, that without them large corporations like Safeway and Giant would be nothing. “I was thinking about getting this license plate since Spring 2011,” said Tafrawe. “I attended the We Are One bigbox rally in Leesburg and was continuing to follow the Wisconsin rallies on the news and realizing the public views of unions and the middle class in general are skewed because of what the media puts out there.” Tafrawe decided to display his own message every day driving to and from work because “everyone wants to make a living wage and provide for themselves and their families." - story/photos courtesy of UFCW Local 400