Workers at Springfield Food Co-op in Springfield, Vt., recently joined UFCW Local 1459. Springfield Food Co-op is a member-owned store that has served the Springfield community for nearly 30 years, and the 25 new members are employed as office and produce clerks.
These workers initially expressed interest in joining our union through the UFCW’s “How to Start a Union” webpage because they wanted a voice in the workplace and the better wages and benefits that come with a union contract. The new members of UFCW Local 1459 are enthusiastic about being a part of our union family and look forward to negotiating their first union contract.
“Individually we had been feeling unheard during and following the stressful time of essential work during a pandemic,” the Springfield Food Co-op workers said in a joint statement. “We spoke out together as to what we wanted our co-op to be like. When our unified voices were unheard, we moved forward with formal organizing efforts with UFCW Local 1459. Now that we have recently relocated to a new store, we hope to overhaul and rewrite worker benefits to reflect a progressive workplace culture we expect from a co-op.”