A democratic organization of workers who have formally come together to promote their interests and advocate on each other’s behalf. A union provides:
- A voice on the job
- The right to negotiate with Fred Meyer as equals about wages, benefits, and workplace conditions

We do this through negotiating contracts between workers and employers that clearly spell out wages and benefits in writing and make company promises legally binding. You vote on these contracts!

Through unions, workers win better wages, benefits, working conditions, and a voice on the job - and strong unions mean better workplaces. On average, union workers nationwide earn 11.2% more than their non-union counterparts and are more likely to have strong healthcare and retirement benefits, such as pensions, than those without a union.

Unions lead the fight to improve the lives of all workers. In addition to increased wages and benefits, unions advocate for policies such as medical leave, family leave, fair trade agreements and “Made in America”
provisions, and improved safety and health protections on the job.

Unions fought for and won:
-Laws to end child labor
-Laws establishing overtime after eight hours per day
-THE WEEKEND
-Protections for workers’ health and safety (OSHA)
-Social Security
-Minimum Wage
-Unemployment Insurance

Today, the United States is seeing a revival of workers organizing unions in their workplace - nurses, hotel workers, construction workers, retail workers, grocery store workers, tech workers, journalists, and even professional athletes are among those forming unions.

From Starbucks to the NFL, Americans understand that a union is the best way to win a better workplace!

A UFCW contract spells out wages and benefits in a signed and binding document that YOU get to help negotiate. We also fight for key provisions in the contract, like:

-Seniority - protection for layoffs, hours of work, recall rights, etc.
-Job security, discharge, and discrimination - states no employee is to be disciplined without “Just Cause.”
-Workplace health and safety conditions
-Grievance procedure - ensures that your employer shows no favoritism, discrimination and protects your contractual rights.
-Fair scheduling and leave, such as leave of absence

With over 1.3 million members UFCW is the choice of workers in the retail, grocery, and commercial industries. Nationally, hundreds of thousands of Kroger (Fred Meyer parent company) workers have gained better wages, benefits, and working conditions by joining UFCW, including in Alaska, where we represent hundreds of Fred Meyer workers at stores in both Fairbanks and Anchorage.

-The average union retail worker makes $5,400 more per year over their nonunion counterparts.
-Fred Meyer 485 is one of the most profitable Kroger-owned stores in the United States, doing well over $3 million/week in sales.
-In 2022, the number of petitions filed at the National Labor Relations Board by workers to exercise our freedom to stand together in unions and negotiate for a fair return on our work was up 69% compared to 2021.
-Rodney McMullen, CEO of Kroger (Fred Meyer parent company), topped the list of CEOs with the highest ratios of pay compared with their companies' average worker. McMullen's $18.2 million total compensation in 2021 was 679 times that of the median Kroger employee's pay, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.