Most of our readers are familiar with the companies that Local 1500 represents like Stop & Shop, King Kullen, ShopRite, Fairway, Scaturro, Columbus Foods and Key Food’s like Dan’s Supreme, Man-Dell, Gemstone, Matlyn, and Pick Quick. This list does go on and on. These are companies that we have been representing and reporting on for decades. They have all fortunately stood the test of time. You have seen pictures of our members at these locations on social media or in our Union newspaper going back as long as one can remember. We have recently been referring to these companies as our “legacy” shops, and not because they are old, but because they are more typical, traditional supermarket operators, and we distinguish them from our newer shops that have more recently joined our Local 1500 family.
However, some of the new companies that we have begun representing over the past few years are names that many of you might not have heard of before, like: Petee’s Pie Company, Gourmet Garage, Pomegranate, Whitsons, Certo, Gourmet Glatt, Aron’s Kissena Farms, Blank Street, or Partners Coffee. Heck I’ll even throw Hale & Hearty, Square Roots and Foragers in there because, although they are no longer around, we have to give credit to the workers at those locations that stood strong and voted for Local 1500 to represent them. Those members also fought hard to bargain and establish their inaugural Union contracts with us, so we are still very proud to have worked with them.
But with all these recent changes to our Union, some might say that the Union recently got a facelift. And while that may be a true statement, it is not necessarily a new statement. Okay, how many old schoolers do we have out there? The folks that remember companies that our great Union also represented in the past? Companies like Bohack, Bradlees, or Big V ShopRite? Dairy Barn, Gran Central, or Hills? What about Penguin Key Food, Shelf-Life, or Supersol? Of course we can never forget about Pathmark, right?
And although the Pathmark name is still alive and kicking, it’s a completely different company than before – to the one we had thousands of members working for. But that’s how a lot of these historical changes happen…a company struggles, eventually goes bankrupt, and another company or, like in the cases of Pathmark and Fairway, multiple companies come in and seek to purchase either the entire chain, a single store, or a group of stores during the bankruptcy process. That’s another way of being able to welcome new operators into our Union. We have seen it with companies that were around for a very long time, like Village ShopRite, Bogopa/Food Bazaar, and Seven Seas/Foodway, that once upon a time Local 1500 did not represent. These companies have had long-term success, sought to grow, and purchased some Local 1500-represented stores to add to their existing fleet.
Some of these companies also purchased the intellectual property of the bankrupt companies along with their purchase of store locations, which is how companies like Fairway and Pathmark still exist although they went bankrupt. Village ShopRite came to New York City and purchased those Fairway locations, along with the Fairway name, so they are still running some of those stores with the Fairway name on the banner. On the flip side, PSK/Foodtown, a traditionally Local 338-represented company, bought the Pathmark name during that bankruptcy, so they are now operating a store under the Pathmark banner, and are represented by our sibling Union, Local 338. Sad to see that banner go, but glad it it’s still in Union hands.
I only named a handful of former shops that we once represented. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of former shops that we used to represent, that (even slightly) younger folks may not remember being in our Union family. But that is actually normal for Local 1500. Historical change is part of our life. We are an ever-changing Union. It’s an ongoing and evolving process. We will continue to grow and welcome in new companies and new workers. And looking back 20 years from now, you can expect that the face of 1500 will have changed again.
With our newest crop of companies we have seen an invigorated desire for workers to unionize. Over the past few years we have seen workers seeking a voice on the job, improved PTO, guaranteed wage increases, and other protections on the job. And on some occasions, workers just want to make their good work situation better, achieving goals without animosity. There is nothing wrong with that!
We sometimes market our union as New York’s largest supermarket, or grocery workers’ union. And we are very proud of that fact – of us being the representatives of the most essential supermarket workers in the biggest and best city in the United States (and its suburbs for sure). But we are much more than that. Within our Union, we have pharmacists, baristas, chefs, food manufacturers, and delivery workers, to name a few. We have butchers, bakers, and sooner or later maybe we will organize some candlestick makers. We now have a Kosher food division and a coffee division. We’ve represented everyone from urban farming to Country Valley Farms to Sunnydale Farms. And we will continue to grow our footprint in the labor market in the New York Metro area.
We clearly welcome the arrival of new companies and of course their employees to our Union. And when we face store closings, it doesn’t always have to mean something terrible. We have fought hard to ensure the continued best livelihoods of our membership and will always do so. There are many silver linings when a store closes, and in some cases, folks actually wind up making out better in the long run. Is this always the case? Of course not, but we know that our membership puts their trust in us, and as such we will never let them down.
The nature of some of the industries we represent is to cycle through different ownership and to change over and over again, but there is one thing that everyone can depend on being a constant, from the newest member to the most senior old-timer…UFCW Local 1500 will always be here to make sure you have the best job possible. So when you hear of us engaging with a new company that you have never heard of, who knows, we just might be welcoming a future legacy shop into the fold!I want to take this opportunity to welcome all the new members to our Union. You have joined a family that sticks together through thick and thin, for better or worse. Thank you for choosing Local 1500 to represent you. And thank you to all our members for making this 1500 family great!