Monthly Archives: April 2022

On April 1, about 20 workers at Half Price Books in Greenwood, Ind., joined UFCW Local 700 for a better life. These new members joined our union family because they wanted to continue to have opportunities to hone their craft, protect their seniority, and improve their benefits.

The hard-working booksellers at Half Price Books in Indiana are the latest bookstore workers to join the UFCW.  They learned about organizing victories in Coon Rapids, Roseville, St. Paul, and St. Louis Park, Minn., with UFCW Locals 663 and 1189 and reached out through social media to begin organizing at their store, too. After the victory in Indiana, workers launched their national Half Price Books Workers United campaign with assistance from the Digital Department.  

Indiana Half Price Books workers stood together to win their union election and look forward to the next steps of negotiating their first union contract.

“Once we saw the Minnesota HPB booksellers organize and go public with their union campaign, we saw that it was possible and knew that it was an amazing opportunity to organize ourselves,” said Michael White, a bookseller at Half Price Books. “Our election win means we now have that ability to meet our employers on equal footing and negotiate for better wages, expanded benefits, and all the little things that we think would improve our jobs and our lives.”

“We are looking forward to negotiating a first contract for our newest members from Half Price Books,” said UFCW Local 700 President Joe Chorpenning. “No matter if you work as a food and grocery professional, as a professional bookseller, or in other service to our community, UFCW Local 700 is committed to fighting with you for a better life.”

The UFCW continues to build momentum for bookstore workers across the country to unionize for better jobs. In addition to workers at Half Price Books in Indiana and Minnesota, the UFCW also represents workers at Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C., who are members of UFCW Local 400; Greenlight Bookstore and Yours Truly stationery workers in Brooklyn, N.Y., who are members of RWDSU/UFCW Local 1102; and McNally Jackson and Goods For The Study stationery workers in New York City, who are members of the RWDSU/UFCW.  

On April 15, approximately 15,000 members of UFCW Local 455 who work at Kroger grocery stores in the Houston area ratified a new contract that improves wages and benefits. This new contract will unfreeze wages with increases, secure better health care options, and improve working conditions. Since April 2020, UFCW essential workers have been calling for a fair and reasonable contract that rewards the hard work and sacrifices of Houston Kroger workers, and ensures they are able to continue to provide a vital service for millions of Houstonians.

“I am just grateful that my union made this contract possible,” said Linda Rogers, a union steward at Kroger store 161. “Due to our new union agreement, I’m happy that our membership is able again to have a voice in their health care after nearly two years. I’m excited about the new health care plan, the unfrozen wages with increases, and the protection of full-time jobs that we got secured in this agreement. It has been a very stressful two years fighting for this contract and I am glad that we got a deal ratified by our membership.”

“The essential grocery workers who keep Kroger stores running across the Houston area finally have a contract that works for them,” said UFCW Local 455 President Brandon Hopkins. “After months of hard negotiations, we have secured a deal that unfreezes wages with increases and gives our members control over their health care again. Most importantly, this contract will protect full-time jobs, which means both better service for customers and a safer workplace for our members.”

“It was the resoluteness and strength of our hard-working UFCW members and the widespread support of Kroger customers across the Houston area that made this contract possible,” Hopkins added. “I could not be prouder of our members, who have stood together in solidarity and fought for every inch throughout a very difficult negotiation process. At the end of the day, we believe our essential workers should be able to work towards a better life for their families. This contract helps ensure that is possible.”