UFCW   1775 K Street NW Washington, DC 20006

United Food and Commercial Workers Union

In 1979, the merger of the Retail Clerks International Union and the Amalgamated Meat Cutters Butcher Workmen of North America created the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW). Throughout the 1980s, numerous other unions, including the Insurance Workers International Union and the United  Retail Workers Union, merged with the UFCW. This increase in membership allowed the union to give a voice to many workers and improve their working conditions. In one example, the UFCW instituted national safety and health programs to identify job hazards and create job safety training programs in 1981. The helped to minimize health risks and increase safety on the job.

Today, UFCW members work in a variety of positions in the following industries and locations:

• Supermarkets
• Packinghouses
• Food processing plants
• Poultry processing plants
• Retail stores
• Garment and textile mills
• Chemical production plants
• Drug stores
• Banks and financial institutions
• Auto dealerships and car rental agencies
• Breweries, distilleries, and wineries
• Health care
• Public service

UFCW workers nominate and elect union officers and leaders to represent their collective voice. They enjoy the security of union contracts that include negotiated wages, health care, and retirement plans, defined work schedules, job security and seniority rights, grievance procedures, and more. The union is organized into 14 departments and divisions in order to best serve the needs of its members and has 7 regional offices to provide assistance to the local unions.