The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers[1] in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufacturing; hospitality; agriculture; cannabis; chemical trades; security; textile, and health care.

[6] In 1980, the Barbers, Beauticians and Allied Industries International Association merged with UFCW, followed a year later by the United Retail Workers Union (now Local 881).

[12] In 1991 the 5,000 members of the Independent Food Handlers and Warehouse Employees Union in Rhode Island and Massachusetts merged with the UFCW to form Local 791.

And the following year, both the United Representatives Guild, Inc. and the Production Service and Sales District Council merged with the UFCW.

[23] The cannabis industry was originally targeted for union organizing by UFCW Local 5 special operations director Dan Rush in 2010.

[24][25][26] In 2010, Rush brokered a deal in which some California medical-marijuana business owners voted to become UFCW Local 5 members, in return for union endorsement of marijuana law reform.

[citation needed] On 17 September 2015, the office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California announced that a federal grand jury had indicted Rush on a variety of counts on the basis of his cannabis-related union activities.

The union reached a tentative agreement with Eaze, which included higher pay, better rules for vehicle reimbursement, and working conditions.

[29] On October 11, 2003, the UFCW declared a strike on Vons (owned by Safeway Inc.), in Southern California, because of company-proposed changes to the new labor contract.

"[34] In October 2008, the UFCW and Smithfield reached an agreement, under which the union agreed to suspend its boycott campaign in return for the company dropping its RICO lawsuit and allowing another election.

[35] Walmart, a non-unionized company, has repeatedly been accused by the UFCW of treating its workers poorly and driving down employment standards.

The company also named Radio Campesina (a project of the United Farm Workers Union founded by Cesar Chavez), Councilman Michael Nowakosky, and Reverend Trina Zelle as defendants.

The strike ended after about a week with a new labor contract that included a cap on the number of temporary workers and a commitment from the company to hire more full-time employees.

The strike was in response to the company not agreeing, after extensive negotiations, to a contract which did not reduce employee pay and benefits.

[43] In September 2021, about 420 members of UFCW Local 23D went on strike at the Heaven Hill bourbon distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky.

In the United States, the UFCW's political action committee spent $13,440,000 in the 2022 election cycle, 100 percent of which went to Democratic candidates.

[48] The UFCW Canada National President also leads the efforts of the UFCW Canada national office, which involve field staff in every Canadian province, as well as dedicated resources and staff for communications, training and education, political and legislative affairs, and special projects.

[49] Region 18 included the former members of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters, and its directors were Romeo Mathieu (1979–1983), Frank Benn (1983–1986), and Willard "Bill" Hanley (1986–1988).

[50] On October 22, 2013, the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) of the United States Department of Labor accepted a voluntary compliance agreement with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 5 (located in San Jose, Calif.), concerning the challenged election of officers conducted on September 4, 2012, as well as the March 22, 2013 re-run election ordered by the International union.

The union agreed to conduct a new election, including new nominations, for the offices of president, secretary-treasurer, recorder, and vice-presidents 1 through 31 under OLMS supervision.