95% of Members say YES to Merger!
Merger to Create Largest Union for Retail Workers in State
At a time when some organizations are hunkering down to ride out tough economic times, two labor organizations are moving forward to create larger, stronger union for workers in Minnesota.
United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Locals 789 in South St. Paul and 1116 in Duluth have been given the green light by both of their memberships to create a new union - Local 1189 and will soon be turning challenges into opportunities for workers in Minnesota.
Don Seaquist, President of Local 1189: “Growing our union, negotiating good contracts and helping workers form and join a unions will be the priorities of the new organization. As retail, meatpacking, food processing and health care employers have grown, it is now time for labor organizations to meet the challenge and strengthen workers' voices. We choose to move forward by creating a state-wide organization which will provide greater power and voice to workers in all the industries we represent.”
UFCW Local 1189 represents nearly 12,000 workers in retail, health care, meatpacking, manufacturing, and food processing in Northern, East Metro and Southeastern Minnesota, Western Wisconsin and North Dakota.
