• Free Covid-19 Tests Available

    Four free COVID-19 tests from the United States Postal Service are available now.

  • 2021 CA Legislative Scorecard

    Is your representative a policy champion for issues that affect UFCW members and working families?

  • COVID-19 Resources

    Learn how to stay safe on the job and what your local union is doing to ensure the health and safety of our members.

  • YOUR VOTE MATTERS.

    Voting is the way UFCW members flex their power in the political process. From wages and worksite issues to strengthening our kids’ future, voting is the way we have our say.

  • Look up your Legislator

    Find out how to contact your elected representatives.

We Fight Inequality Every Day.
Here are just a few examples of how.

Voting and Elections

UFCW voters matter for California.

California Candidates: District UFCW Endorsement State Senate SD 01 Pamela Swartz SD 03 Bill Dodd SD 05 Susan Eggman SD 07 Steve Glazer SD 09 Nancy Skinner SD 11 Scott Wiener SD 13 Josh Becker SD 15 Dave Cortese SD 17 John Laird SD 19 Monique Limón SD 21 Kipp Mueller SD 23 Abigail Medina […]
United States Representatives in Congress CA Labor Fed CA Dem Party UFCW CD 1 Audrey Denney (D) Audrey Denney (D) Audrey Denney (D) CD 2 Jared Huffman (D) Jared Huffman (D) Jared Huffman (D) CD 3 John Garamendi (D) John Garamendi (D) John Garamendi (D) CD 4 Refer to Exec Council Brynne Kennedy (D) No […]
The right to vote is a cornerstone of our country’s democracy. Ordinary men and women fought – and even died—to protect people’s right to vote without intimidation or obstruction. Voting is the opportunity for citizens to hold their elected officials accountable for their actions. The below listed labor-endorsed candidates’ promote advocacy for working families, commitment […]

Safe Prescriptions

UFCW is working to ensure pharmacists have the support to do their most important job: delivering the right medicines, in the right doses and protecting consumers against potentially deadly drug interactions.

Sacramento, CA – Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Western States Council applauded the California State Board of Pharmacy’s election of Seung Oh as President. The Board of Pharmacy is tasked with protecting and promoting the health and safety of Californians by pursuing the highest quality of pharmacist’s care and the appropriate use […]
Sacramento, CA – After hearing from member pharmacists with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Western States Council, the California Board of Pharmacy adopted regulations that reinforce standards set out by SB 1442 (Wiener), the No Pharmacist Left Alone Law. The nation-leading, pro-patient regulation, drafted in response to a petition by UFCW, will help […]
Board of Pharmacy to Enforce “No Pharmacist Left Alone” Law Sacramento, CA – After hearing from member pharmacists with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Western States Council, the California Board of Pharmacy voted Wednesday to write regulations to help enforce SB 1442 (Wiener), the No Pharmacist Left Alone Law.  The vote on the […]

Cannabis

The UFCW is the only union representing cannabis workers in California. We are committed to building a successful industry that offers consumers access to safe products and local communities jobs with better wages and benefits.

Sacramento, CA – Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Western States Council celebrated Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature on AB 2188 (Quirk), which will prohibit employers from discriminating against employees who use cannabis off the job and away from the worksite by banning out-dated cannabis urine testing methods. The following statement may be attributed to […]
Sacramento, CA – Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Western States Council applauded the California State Senate’s passage of AB 2188 (Quirk), which would prohibit employers from discriminating against employees who use cannabis off the job and away from the worksite by using out-dated urine testing methods. “California has always led the nation […]
Sacramento, CA – The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Western States Council today released the following statement from Amber Baur, executive director, UFCW Western States Council, in response to the agreed upon California budget for 2022-2023:  “The 180,000 UFCW members in California applaud Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Legislature’s 2022-2023 budget that invests […]
UFCW in the News
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Sacramento, CA – Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Western States Council applauded the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee for passing AB 647 (Holden), the Protect Grocery Workers Job Act. AB 647 will protect grocery and pharmacy workers’ jobs by strengthening our existing Statewide Grocery Worker Retention Law and requiring recall and rehiring rights in the case of mergers or acquisitions in the grocery industry. Strengthening recall and rehiring rights will ensure that skilled and trained workers can continue to provide our communities with access to safe food and lessen the economic impact to our social safety net. 

In October 2022, it was announced that Kroger and Albertsons would pursue a $24.6 billion mega-merger, joining together two of the largest grocery chains in the United States. Nationally, these two grocery chains employ over 700,000 workers and operate over 50 manufacturing facilities and 5,000 retail stores. California has more of these two grocery chains than any other state in the country, with Kroger operating approximately 233 stores under the Ralphs, Food 4 Less and Foods Co banners and Albertsons operating approximately 579 grocery stores under the Albertsons, Safeway, Vons and Pavilions banners.

“The effects of mergers and acquisitions ripple across an industry – this is especially true for the grocery industry,” said Amber Baur, executive director, UFCW Western States Council. “Staffing needs will decrease, leading to workers losing jobs, benefits and pensions, worse service and higher bills for consumers, and worse pay, benefits and working conditions for the remaining workers. Stores will inevitably close, leading to communities losing places to buy fresh food and businesses located next to the grocery store losing business. 

“UFCW members won’t let Kroger and Albertsons’ corporate greed put thousands of California’s workers out of a job and leave customers and public programs holding the bill. That’s why we’re proud to sponsor AB 647, a critical bill to strengthen the existing grocery worker retention law and adopt a process for grocery workers to be recalled and rehired. Essential knowledge about the store, customers and communities are lost with job turnover, and our communities depend on these companies. When good jobs are lost, the standard of living goes down for everyone, not just those who lost their jobs. I’m thankful the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee supported the workers and communities that will be the victims in the case of corporate mergers.”

In Los Angeles and Orange Counties alone, 115 of 159 Albertsons stores are within two miles of a Kroger store and are potential targets of closures by the Federal Trade Commission. This could result in an estimated 5,750 jobs being lost in the Los Angeles region alone. It’s clear that a merger between these two companies will result in large scale layoffs for workers, grocery stores closing down, particularly in food deserts and rural areas, increasing food costs, and a reduction in a variety of products, including seasonal, organic, and climate-friendly plant-based foods for consumers.  

“I’ve spent over 30 years working my way up Albertsons’ pay scale,” said Brian Baxley, a produce manager at Albertsons in La Mirada. “If my store is closed because of this merger between Albertsons and Kroger, without protection from the legislature, I’m at risk of losing all that hard work and the benefits I’ve earned. I would have to start over at the bottom, when I should be instead focusing on my retirement. Thank you Assembly Labor and Employment Committee for stepping up and protecting my and my co-workers’ jobs and our communities.”

AB 647 (Holden) is part of UFCW’s legislative package to mitigate the effects of mergers and acquisitions on the retail and grocery industries. The other two bills in the package are: 

  • AB 853 (Maienschein), Californians’ Right to Know on Essential Goods and Services. California residents and workers must have the right to know about proposed mergers in the Grocery and Drug-Retail industries that affect the supply and affordability of food and medicine and the supply of experienced grocery retail workers with knowledge of food safety and licensed pharmacy staff entrusted with supplying safe and accurate medications and clinical services to ailing Californians. AB 853 will require grocery or drug-retail companies to notify the California Attorney General 180 days in advance of finalizing a proposed merger or acquisition and submit an impact analysis report on the impact of the merger or acquisition on communities, such as food deserts, food prices, and access to food, and workers, such as supply of experienced grocery workers, unemployment, wages and benefits and more. 
  • SB 725 (Smallwood-Cuevas), Grocery Worker Safety Net, which requires a grocery establishment who conducts layoffs as a result of a merger or acquisition to provide workers with one-week severance pay for every year of service. Without severance pay protections, the loss of this many jobs in one region will have ripple effects through the local economy and further burden an already tattered social safety net.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 22, 2023

Contact: Jenna Thompson, 949.246.1620, [email protected] 

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Sacramento, CA – Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Western States Council released the following statements after Walgreens said it would not distribute abortion medication in 20 states. 

“Women and people who can give birth have the right to health care and bodily autonomy plain and simple,” said Amber Baur, executive director, UFCW Western States Council. “This decision by Walgreens, a ‘go-to’ pharmacy for many, will have a devastating effect on workers’ access to essential health care services – the same workers who already have to overcome years of systemic inequality putting them further and further away from quality health care.” 

“This decision will have a profound impact on my members and we won’t stand by when working women are losing freedoms,” said Dan Larsen, president, UFCW Local 648. “UFCW will continue to fight until every person can access the reproductive care they need, including by ensuring language is put into workers’ contracts and politicians who support reproductive rights are elected. ”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 13, 2023

Contact: Jenna Thompson, 949.246.1620, [email protected] 

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Sacramento, CA – Today, as lawmakers return to Sacramento for the beginning of the 2023-2024 legislative session, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Western States Council released its 2022 Year in Review and California Legislative Scorecard, which evaluates how legislators voted on issues important to UFCW members in the past legislative session. Bills that promote and increase workplace safety, advance workers’ rights, fight discrimination in the cannabis industry, and protect workers’ health were among the key issues considered as UFCW evaluated California’s elected officials’ voting records in the 2021-2022 legislative session. 

Demonstrating the effectiveness of UFCW members in communicating their values and priorities to lawmakers, 70 legislators scored 100% on issues important to California’s workers. See each legislator’s scores here: ufcwwest.org/scorecard.

Amber Baur, executive director, UFCW Western States Council, released the following statement:

“The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed our world; the ways we connect, communicate, and live will likely never be the same. For workers in the food, healthcare and cannabis industries, the pandemic forever transformed our workplaces; our lives, and our family members’ were on the line. But together, we’ve shown the world that a union card means more than just higher wages and benefits. We will persevere in fighting for the critical benefits and protections working families need to do their jobs – from increased paid sick leave, ensured health benefits to industry-wide safety standards.

“During the next legislative session we’ll stand together to ensure California’s elected leaders uphold our progressive principles and value the hard work of UFCW members. We’ll continue to work with our elected leaders in Sacramento and statewide, the Administration, state agencies and boards and interested stakeholders and organizations to stand together for justice, for workers and our future.

“Because when we stand together, we WIN.”

See how each legislator scored here: ufcwwest.org/scorecard.

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