On Feb. 25, members of UFCW Local 400 who work at three Politics and Prose bookstores in Washington, D.C., ratified a new contract.

The three-year agreement covers approximately 70 booksellers and baristas and includes:

• Guaranteed wage increases each year of the agreement.

• Protections against “clopening shifts.”

• Retention language to promote from within before accepting external candidates.

• Bereavement pay.

• An additional holiday.

• Recall language in the event of layoffs.

• The ability to appoint more shop stewards.

• A “Dignity and Respect” clause.

“Congratulations to our members on a hard-won contract,” said UFCW Local 400 President Mark Federici. “None of these improvements would have been possible without everyone staying engaged and unified throughout this process. And a special thanks to our hard-working bargaining committee for their time and effort getting this across the finish line. It’s never easy to negotiate a contract and they stepped up in a big way on behalf of their co-workers. We’re proud to have you in our union family.”

Politics and Prose employees were the first bookstore in Washington, D.C. to unionize in January 2022 and the first to win a union contract later that year.

On March 2, the UFCW urged lawmakers to vote “no” ahead of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture’s markup of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, also known as the Farm Bill.

The Farm Bill includes a proposal to reduce or eliminate testing requirements and background checks for industrial hemp producers, which incentivizes employers to bypass safety training and protocols for workers. The legislation also includes support for competitive funding for workforce training and development in meat and poultry, but makes no assurance that workers and union stakeholders will have the ability to weigh in on how these dollars will be spent, or to ensure that worker safety is a factor in any approved grants.

The bill also proposes a pilot program to allow a small number of custom meat facilities to sell directly to consumers. However, this would further incentivize consolidation in the meat industry and lower overall supply in retail grocery stores, leading to higher prices.

“As farmers and food workers face headwinds from trade wars and high food prices continue to squeeze families, a bold Farm Bill is needed in order to change course,” said UFCW International President Milton Jones in a statement. “Instead, this proposed legislation falls woefully short and fails to meet the needs of consumers and workers alike.”

“This bill paves the way for big meatpackers to tighten their grip over the sector, cuts workers out of training programs that should be ensuring their safety, and does nothing to make groceries affordable for working families. Members of the House Agriculture Committee must block this bill and return to the bipartisan approach that has been key to the Farm Bill’s success for decades.”

“Food workers, including hundreds of thousands of UFCW members, work every day to feed America – they know the toll that high prices have taken. This Farm Bill leaves them and their customers out to dry and should be rejected before it goes any further.”