UFCW Local 1500 seeks to Build Coalition at Upcoming Conference

Posted by Loren Talbot, Local Labels

United Food and Commercial Workers Local Union 1500 is responding to the loss of supermarkets and increasing health disparities by calling for a broad coalition of advocates to guarantee that all communities have the basic building blocks of good food, good jobs and good health.

Unions, long missing from the food security community, recognize the importance as well as the unique perspective they can add to the food policy discussion. Mo Kinberg, Food Policy Coordinator for UFCW Local 1500, states that their union “Saw a need for labor to be involved in this process and also the need for a collaborative effort as to address the complexity of the issue.”

With over 22,000 members, Local 1500 members work throughout New York State with almost half of their members employed within the five boroughs. When presented with data on traditional supermarkets and bodega locations from NYS Dept of Agriculture & Markets on NYC’s food retailers, union leaders linked the access to supermarkets to the health disparities in our city. They saw the need for the labor union to address this problem because of the interconnectedness between jobs, food and health. Guaranteeing good access to all is the driving force behind the union’s Building Block Project.

The union’s upcoming symposium, The Building Blocks Project Food Policy Conference, is taking place Thursday, July 10th from 9:00 am to 11:30 am and hopes to draw representatives from all factions of the local food system. Local 1500 guiding food policy principles (http://www.ufcw1500.org/files/shared/PolicyPrinciplesVersion2.pdf) will serve as a starting point for the discussion. “The conference”, says Kinberg, “is about the need for a collaborative effort in order to address the serious food security issues facing everyday New Yorkers.”

While Local 1500 may be one of the first unions to take food policy seriously, others are joining in on the conversation. They are soon meeting with UFCW’s Detroit chapter and hope that additional locals around the country will use their model to build from. There is even some discussion that the Teamsters are taking on the issue. While internationally food policy is an advanced topic for many unions like the ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation), United States’ organized labor has been a bit slower to jump on board. The UN’s Commission on Sustainable Development which took place this past May advanced this dialogue further. Local 1500’s attendance there clearly generated new energy and brought many new players to the table. To attend the conference, contact Mo Kinberg, UFCW Local 1500 Food Policy Coordinator at 1-800-522-0456 ext. 274 or mkinberg@UFCW1500.org