UFCW: Both Union and Non-Union Grocery Workers Are Essential and Important Every Day, Not Just Today
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which represents 1.3 million workers in grocery stores, meatpacking plants, and other essential industries across North America, released the following statement on “Supermarket Employee Day,” a creation of FMI, the Food Industry Association, a national trade association that champions corporate interests in the food industry.
UFCW International President Marc Perrone said:
“Today, the Food Marketing Institute, the grocery retailer industry association, is following an old, tired public relations playbook by creating a faux holiday of employee recognition which hails our nation’s amazing grocery workers, but essentially ignores the critical need for the industry to provide better wages, benefits, and treatment for these essential workers.
“Nice words are not enough, actions matter. Grocery workers – both union and non-union – have risked their lives again and again to keep food on our tables and to support American families through extreme weather events, the dire effects of inflation, and a deadly pandemic.
“As America’s grocery workers union, we know from our extensive store research that the American people already appreciate grocery workers. Now, it’s up to FMI and the large grocery corporations whose interests they represent to live up to their words by improving these essential workers’ lives every single day, not just offer platitudes on social media.”
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The UFCW is the largest private sector union in the United States. UFCW International represents 1.3 million professionals and their families in healthcare, grocery stores, meatpacking, food processing, retail shops and other industries. Our members serve our communities in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. Learn more about the UFCW at ufcw.org.