Putting the “You” in Union

Originally published in Essential Voice Issue #2, Winter 2025. Read the full issue here. Click here to order a bundle of print copies!

Eric Marcuz was a shop steward at Safeway in UFCW Local 8 when he decided he wanted to take action to get ready for contract expiration on April 12, 2025. Read how he and his coworkers are stepping up and getting involved.

Eric Marcuz, Safeway

UFCW Local 8

Redding, California

Have you struggled to figure out how to get involved in your union? Waiting on union staff or elected leadership to make a move? What if there was a better way?

START BY SHOWING UP

Some members think of their dues like a Netflix subscription — you pay a monthly fee, and you get a service in return. But I think of my dues more like a gym membership. You can pay for the gym, but your dues are worth nothing if you don’t show up and work out.

Instead of building muscle, being a union member allows you access to tools and resources to strengthen your solidarity. Solidarity is the union members’ muscle. We can stand up against the boss when our solidarity is strong. But the first step is recognizing that you are the union. No one is going to do it for you.

CREATING A SURVEY

In July 2024, my fellow sisters and brothers in UFCW 8-Golden State began asking ourselves: “What would happen if we stopped complaining about a weak union and organized ourselves to become a strong one?”

I wanted to get involved with my local, but I was surprised to find out that we didn’t even have a union hall where members could meet or a way to attend meetings by Zoom or phone. Our local stretches from the California-Oregon border to Bakersfield. That’s over a 7 hour drive!

So we created a Discord Server, called “The UFCW 8 Unofficial Union Hall”, and began recruiting our coworkers. We used the chat to discuss our upcoming grocery contract expiration in March 2025.

We were told that the local’s bargaining surveys weren’t ready yet, but we got tired of waiting. We created an open-ended survey so we could talk to our coworkers about what we wanted in our next contract.

We worked together to decide on what we should include in the survey. We included open-ended questions like, “What are your biggest safety concerns at work?” and “What are your priorities in contract negotiations?”

We created a flyer with a QR code inviting members to fill out the survey. We drove to nearby stores in the area to share the flyers and talk to workers about our next contract. So far, we’ve reached over 130 members and counting.

GETTING MEMBERS INVOLVED

As we continue to gather survey responses, we make sure to share the results during bi-weekly meetings held on Zoom. We also also discuss our everyday struggles on the job, and how we can improve our lives through our next contracts. We record each meeting and share the recording in the Discord Server for those who can’t make it.

We made sure to attend the next general membership meeting and submit our survey results to our local union officers via email. After almost 2 months of our unofficial survey, the official survey is starting to be shared with members, which we make sure to boost to our coworkers as well.

This is how a group of us in Local 8 are putting the “You” in union. If you can relate to how we felt at the beginning of our story, don’t give up. You can start organizing with your coworkers and getting more members involved. Reach out to Essential Workers for Democracy for help.