UFCW Frequently Asked Questions

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• What is a "union shop"?

To be a union shop means that all employees within the collective bargaining unit must be a part of the union or at least pay their fair share to the union for representation services. It is a standard clause contained within union and labor contracts. It enables the union to bargain from a stronger position. This not only serves the individual union member, but all the other members employed in the company.

 

• Why must we pay union dues?

No organization, institution, business or even a club can exist without funding. A labor union is no different. Considering the responsibility that is entrusted upon the union by its members, it is critical that their union have the adequate funds to work on the members’ behalf. All members—including leaders, staff and Stewards—pay union dues, which are used to operate your Local Union. There is no other source of income for your Local Union other than union dues, and every penny is spent efficiently and effectively with your best interests in mind, and under the supervision of your Executive Board (comprised both of rank and file members as well as staff and officers).

• How can I reach my Union Representative?

Phone the Local 1116 office. The office phone number is 218-728-5174. The toll free number is 1-800-942-3546. If you don’t know your Union Representative’s name, be prepared to provide the name of your employer. If your Union Representative is not in the office, your message will be returned as soon possible.

• What are the office hours for Local 1116?

Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

• If I phone the union office, my Union Rep. is often not there and must call me back. Why?

All Local 1116 Union Representatives are assigned to cover a territory comprised of many workplaces that employ numerous members. UFCW 1116 represents over 4500 members from as far west as Grand Forks, North Dakota, as far east as Ashland, Wisconsin, as far north as International Falls, Minnesota and as far south as Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Your Union Rep is out in the workplaces that Local 1116 represents providing service to our members.

  

• Why is my union—or any union—involved in politics?

Who gets elected (on the local, state or federal levels) to office can and often does have a significant effect on the laws that impact working families. Being active in the political and legislative arena is another important way that Local 1116 works to guard the livelihoods of the members we serve and represent. Our union lobbies to create and/or protect laws that work in favor of our members and against those that aim to hurt them. Local 1116 also educates our members on the records and likely behavior of specific candidates, in an effort to help elect pro-labor office seekers and defeat those with demonstrated anti-union views. What happens in the halls of government can directly impact our ability to represent the members, so it is our responsibility as your union to be involved on your behalf in the political and legislative arenas.

• How can I help?

Local 1116 members are invited to stretch their political voice by joining our UFCW Active Ballot Club or “ABC” for short. The ABC, through small voluntary contributions by members like you, works to elect pro-labor candidates and enact legislation that helps working families. This non-partisan, political arm of your union can never match what big business and corporations spend to elect their own candidates, but when your contributions are combined, you can make a powerful difference in American politics! The cost to belong is only about $12.00 a year. See your Union Rep. to learn how you can become an ABC member.

• Does UFCW 1116 endorse any particular Presidential candidate?

No. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union endorses Presidential candidates. Our local union has a strict policy about not endorsing Presidential candidates that may be in contradiction and conflict with the International's endorsement.

• When was Labor Day first celebrated in the United States?

After the first Labor Day in New York City, celebrations began to spread to other states as workers fought to win workplace rights and better working conditions and wages at a time when they had little power.

In 1893, New York City workers took an unpaid day off and marched around Union Square in support of a national Labor Day. The following year, 12,000 federal troops were called into Pullman, Ill., to break up a huge strike against the Pullman railway company and two workers were shot and killed by U.S. deputy marshals.

In what most historians call an election-year attempt to appease workers after the federal crackdown on the Pullman strike, shortly after the strike was broken, President Grover Cleveland signed legislation making the first Monday in September Labor Day and a federal holiday. Cleveland lost the election.