Reflections on the 2025 Contract Campaign: Washington
Kevin Flynn has worked as a meat cutter at Albertsons in Marysville, Wash., for the last 18 years. He is a shop steward and was a member of the 2025 Bargaining Committee for UFCW Local 3000. In Essential Voice, Kevin writes about what went right — and what could be done differently in the future.
What We Did Right
In Local 3000, we had a multi-faceted approach to member engagement. We successfully gathered information about what members wanted to prioritize in the contract through member surveys. We also fostered open dialogue via Town Hall and Contract Action Team (C.A.T.) meetings, which were open to any members to attend, ask questions, express concerns, and get involved. Joint C.A.T. meetings with UFCW Local 3000 and Teamsters Local 38 had up to 90 members participating!
Being a part of the C.A.T., Town Halls, and bargaining committees was great because it involved meeting new people that I wouldn't normally cross paths with. We had deep conversations that allowed members to see that we are all dealing with the same obstacles at work.
A key strength was our bargaining team itself, which brought together experienced veterans with new rank-and-file leaders. This ensured our table representatives are directly impacted by the issues they're fighting for.
What We Can Do Better Next Time
To build greater member power for the next cycle, we should begin our information gathering earlier, so we can better understand what our coworkers’ top issues are and how to prioritize them.
We must also revitalize our steward program through a more proactive approach to identify, educate, and train new workplace leaders. By having a strong layer of active stewards in our local, we can help get stores strike-ready. We need educated and empowered stewards at every single store — and lots of them.
During our campaign, we held informational, or “practice” pickets, outside of our stores. We held informational picket signs, walked the picket line, practiced chants, the whole nine.
These informational pickets were fun and even let some members blow off some steam, but informational pickets could be even stronger if we had the continued support of local leaders to back us up. Amplifying customer input through expanded polling in local publications and social media will provide us with more leverage for future negotiations.
I believe we could build towards a targeted campaign that educates community leaders and politicians on how these corporate practices harm both members and the community.
With more community and political support, we can win even more next time.
Kevin Flynn
Marysville, Wash.
UFCW Local 3000, Albertsons