UFCW International Appoints New President Without Vote From Members
The UFCW International Union officially announced the retirement of Marc Perrone and the coronation of the next president of the UFCW, Secretary-Treasurer Milton Jones, in an undemocratic process that excluded 1.2 million rank and file members.
For the last two weeks, EW4D has been sounding the alarm on this unfair process. Members sent 89 letters to local union presidents and secretary-treasurers from rank and file members across the country demanding the right to vote in this election.
Yet, the UFCW International announced changes in leadership only after the decisions had already been made — without any input from rank and file members. UFCW International leadership did their best to hide this process from their own membership.
The UFCW International referred to Jones as “elected”, but members know the truth: a group the size of less than 0.004% of UFCW membership voted in this “election”.
We hope that President Jones will take this opportunity to commit to issues that members want: coordinated bargaining, first day strike pay, investment in organizing, and direct elections.
We asked members gathered at the Albertsons/Safeway bargaining table in Colorado what they thought of the news. Here’s what they had to say:
“I’m disappointed in the little respect the International shows towards the members in this process.” — J’Nee DeLancey, UFCW Local 3000, Town & Country Markets
“I think it’s not right. I don’t know who the new president is. The union is everyone — a large community of people — but when a small group calls the shots, it goes against the message we convey to the public.” — Eli Prout, UFCW Local 7, Safeway
“I think it is unfair that our presidential elections aren’t democratic with a member led vote. We should all have the ability to vote and have a say in who is president. 1 member, 1 vote. This just upholds the status quo.” — Amy Dayley Angell, UFCW Local 3000, Kroger
“I think the process would work better if the locals were more connected with the situation to help members have a voice.” — Christian Matero, UFCW Local 7, Safeway
Please note: EW4D is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to rank and file union member education and empowerment. As such, EW4D did not make an endorsement in this election. Any and all opinions expressed by rank and file members are independent of EW4D and do not constitute an EW4D endorsement.