Who we are
Essential Workers for Democracy is a pro-union, grassroots movement to revitalize and reform the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). We organize across the U.S. and Canada with rank and file grocery workers, meatpackers, retail workers, and more.
We help workers build power on the shop floor and build a transparent, democratic union from the bottom up.
Worker Power is built on 4 pillars
Union Democracy:
Workers controlling their own unions
Commitment to Organizing:
Big resources for organizing union and non-union workers.
Coordinated Bargaining:
Meeting giant corporations with coordinated power together.
Strike Readiness:
Robust strike pay, no obstacles to striking.
After more than 6 months, members of UFCW Local 700 in Indiana have reached a victory in the fight against Kroger’s use of non-union subcontractors. Members organized to enforce the contract, file grievances, and educate their coworkers. Then, in August, Kroger announced it would be ending the Retail Odyssey DSD program entirely.
Read the interview with Andrea Reynolds and Kristen Jackson, two shop stewards in Kokomo and Zionsville, about how they did it.
Each year, EW4D compiles a nonpartisan report on UFCW finances to bring greater transparency to our union.
So, you just became a steward...now what? Sign up for EW4D’s Stewards’ Summer School training series this August to learn skills for shop stewards and union activists.
24-year Giant Eagle worker Marc Mancini of UFCW Local 1776KS and Kroger worker Amy Reynolds of UFCW Local 700 share how the merger might impact workers, and what to do about it.
Shop steward and EW4D International Organizing Committee member Kathleen Scott and Teamsters for a Democratic Union leader Frank Halstead write for The Checkout by Errol Schweizer.
UFCW International leads court to say: “Rank-and-file UFCW members have no voting rights at all.”
EW4D helped bring more than 25 rank and file UFCW members from 12 local unions to the Labor Notes Conference, where nearly 100 UFCW members gathered to build union power — the largest UFCW showing in Labor Notes history.
Join EW4D, UAW Member Action, and IBEW-CREW for an after-hours party at Labor Notes! We'll have a cash bar and a silent auction featuring labor movement art and mementos.