The 2026 $250k Club: 61 UFCW Officials, $20 Million in Salaries
Each year, EW4D compiles a nonpartisan report on UFCW finances to bring greater transparency to our union.
In the 2025 fiscal year, 61 UFCW officials were paid over $250,000 in total compensation. Altogether, the UFCW spent $20,323,803 in 2025 in combined compensation for the 61 members of the $250k Club.
Compared to previous years, the $250K Club has gotten smaller — in the 2024 fiscal year, the $250K Club had 67 members. Some members have retired or left the union. Others simply had lower salaries in 2025 than previous years. We believe that by shining a light on spending on officer salaries, we can continue to call attention to this issue and hopefully reduce union spending on the Club over time.
This report isn’t to single out certain officials. Union leaders who work hard for our union deserve to be paid fairly. But if the members represented by these officials are living paycheck to paycheck, officers with salaries surpassing half a million dollars — paid entirely by the members’ dues — will struggle to understand or represent the members.
That’s why EW4D supports capping officer salaries at $250,000. But when we put forward a resolution for this reform at the 2023 UFCW Convention, only 5 locals voted in favor. You can check how your local voted here.
If you believe the UFCW should belong to the members so we can fight for better contracts and stand up to the boss, join EW4D and start organizing for change.
HOW BLOATED SALARIES HURT UNIONS
Inflated officer salaries hurt our ability to organize. For one, this is money that could be going towards organizing. The $250k Club alone costs the UFCW more than $20,000,000 every single year. That money could fund an entire organizing campaign at a non-union company. Instead, it goes to the same union officials year after year.
Second, bringing new members into the labor movement is already hard enough — it’s even harder when union-busting companies can point to inflated officer salaries and say, “Do you really want your dues money to pay for someone else’s six-figure salary?”
HOW TO FIX IT
UFCW isn’t the only union that needs finance reform. Many other union presidents make anywhere between $400,000 and $700,000, as Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) writes.
In fact, TDU’s decades of informing, organizing, and uniting members in the Teamsters brought significant changes to officer salaries. How did they win? By publishing reports like this one, winning One Member, One Vote, and finally amending the IBT constitution to cap officer salaries.
Delegates can raise the issue of salary caps on top officers again at the next UFCW International Convention in 2028. To learn more information about running for delegate and organizing for change at the next International Convention, join EW4D.