State's Largest Union Urges Passage of Marriage Equality in Washington

Washington’s largest private sector union, UCFW 21, said on Thursday that it will support efforts to pass marriage equality there, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports:

“Domestic partnerships were a giant step forward and provided working families with important protections. However, only marriage can provide gay and lesbian couples and their children legal rights that provide essential protections such as social security, spousal and survivor benefits,” the 35,000-member union, which represents people in the retail and health care sectors, said in a statement.

Last month a poll conducted by Seattle political consulting firm Strategies 360 found support for gay marriage marriage in Washington state at at 54-35.

Washington's current domestic partner bill was called an "everything but marriage" bill because it gave same-sex partners the rights of marriage but not the label.