The day before their joint convention, thousands of members of UNITE and HERE voted yesterday to merge into UNITE HERE to better fight for their rights: “Today, we made history! We are coming together to be stronger,” said Carlos Maldanado, a cook at the Holiday Inn City Center in Chicago and a UNITE HERE member. “We do the same kind of work and we want the same things: dignity and a shot at the American Dream for all of us.” Bruce Raynor of UNITE will serve as General President of the new Union, and HERE's John Wilhelm will be President/Hospitality Industries. The two presidents will share executive, budgetary and personnel authority. “By voting to merge today, UNITE and HERE members did more than just combine two unions; they showed us a blueprint for the future of the labor movement,” said President Raynor. “In this new global economy, workers need bigger stronger unions that are capable of taking on giant global employers when they have to. UNITE HERE is a union for the 21st Century.” “UNITE and HERE represent the same people, mostly women, a majority immigrants, and substantial numbers of African-Americans. We share the same priorities: to organize the unorganized and to restore the American Dream for hundreds of thousands of workers in North America,” said President Wilhelm. “This merger is about organizing and about combining two great Unions to be able to do so on scale.” Time to get myself a new T-shirt.