Today, workers at the Washington, DC-based nonprofit FRESHFARM voted to unionize with United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400.
The workers organizing committee released the following statement:
“We are excited to announce that FRESHFARM has unionized! With our union, we will have a greater voice in the workplace and the opportunity to collectively address our working conditions, pay and benefits. We look forward to negotiating our first union contract with the same energy, unity and camaraderie that made our union possible in the first place.”
A majority of employees signed union authorization cards and filed for a union election in December and the vote was conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Mail-in paper ballots were distributed to workers on January 18 and votes were tallied by NLRB officials on February 8.
The unionized workforce covers approximately 25 employees responsible for staffing and operating 28 local farmers markets in DC, Maryland and Virginia, including:
- Arlington, VA – Arlington
- Arlington, VA – Ballston
- Arlington, VA – Crystal City
- Arlington, VA – National Landing
- Arlington, VA – Rosslyn
- Fairfax, VA – Mosaic (Sun)
- Fairfax, VA – Mosaic (Thurs)
- Oakton, VA – Oakton
- Reston, VA – Reston
- Silver Spring, MD – Downtown Silver Spring
- Springfield, VA – Springfield
- Washington, DC – By The White House
- Washington, DC – Cesar Chavez
- Washington, DC – CityCenterDC
- Washington, DC – Columbia Heights (Sat)
- Washington, DC – Columbia Heights (Wed)
- Washington, DC – Dupont Circle (Sun)
- Washington, DC – Dupont Circle (Thurs)
- Washington, DC – Foggy Bottom
- Washington, DC – H Street NE
- Washington, DC – Kenilworth Rec Center
- Washington, DC – Minnesota Ave.
- Washington, DC – Monroe Street
- Washington, DC – Mount Vernon Triangle
- Washington, DC – Penn Quarter
- Washington, DC – Petworth
- Washington, DC – The Parks at Walter Reed
- Washington, DC – Uptown
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United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 is led by President Mark Federici and represents 35,000 members working in the grocery, retail, health care, food processing, service and other industries in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. www.ufcw400.org