UFCW Local 1776 Keystone State

As of 2022, the Local claims to represent roughly 35,000 members working in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, and Ohio grocery stores, drugstores, food processing plants, government services facilities, manufacturing facilities, nursing homes, professional offices, Pennsylvania’s Wine and Spirits Shops, and medical cannabis facilities. ¹

Background

In 1937, employees in Philadelphia working for American Stores and A&P Supermarkets founded Local 1357 of the Retail Clerks and Managers Protective Association, a national labor union. In the three decades that followed its membership grew to around 4,000 members working in Philadelphia supermarkets. However, following a growth campaign oriented toward employees working in industries besides food retail, led by the local’s president at the time, organizer Wendell W. Young III, the local grew to include about 10,000 members by 1970. ¹

In 1971, clerks working for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, a state government agency charged with managing the alcohol industry in Pennsylvania under the Pennsylvania Liquor Code, joined the union. ¹

In the 1980s, the Local further expanded to include food processing workers, footwear workers, healthcare providers, administrators, insurance salesmen, barbers, and aestheticians. During this decade, the Local’s parent union, the International Retail Clerks International Association merged with the Amalgamate Meat cutters to create the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. Later, in May 1989, the Local 1357 adopted the number “1776” into its name as a patriotic gesture. ¹

In 1998, Local 1776 merged with UFCW Local 72, which represented workers in Northeast and Central Pennsylvania. On May 1st, 2018, Local 1776 merged with UFCW Local 23, and in doing so amended its name to UFCW Local 1776 Keystone State, in the process gaining workers in Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. ¹

Labor Demands

Demands the Local has made on employers during its history include the provision of post-secondary tuition reimbursement benefits, child daycare benefits, legal benefits, and physical well-being programs. ¹

Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board

UFCW Local 1776 Keystone State opposes the economic liberalization of the alcoholic beverage industry in Pennsylvania, which is closely regulated and managed by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) much more strictly than other states. The PLCB directly operates over 600 “Fine Wine & Good Spirits” stores (known as “State Stores” prior to 2010). ² Local 1776 opposes legislation proposed by Republican Pennsylvania State Representative Natalie Mihalek (R-Upper St. Clair) calling for an amendment to the state constitution that would bar the state from manufacturing or selling wine and spirits. ³

Medical Cannabis

Throughout its recent history UFCW Local 1776 Keystone State has supported and advocated for legislation legalizing the production and sale of cannabis for medicinal uses in Pennsylvania. In the wake of the state’s legalization of medical cannabis in 2016, Local 1776 has grown to include workers in medical cannabis facilities and cautions consumers of the substance to look for labels denoting that a given product is union made, such as one intended to be stamped on products of Franklin Labs, a facility in Reading, Pennsylvania that employs union members. ^{4 5}

Endorsements

Generally, UFCW Local 1776 Keystone State endorses candidates for office running on the Democratic Party Ticket. For instance, in the Local’s list of endorsements in the 2022 Pennsylvania Primary election, including candidates John Fetterman for Senate, Josh Shapiro for governor, and Austin Davis for lieutenant governor. For U.S. Congress in 2022, it endorsed all Democrats except moderate Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick. ⁶

Policy Positions

In line with the national United Food and Commercial Workers, UFCW Local 1776 Keystone State opposes the Trans Pacific Partnership, a trade deal negotiated by the United States during the Obama administration, as well as paycheck protection and right-to-work legislation that would limit union powers to compel payments from represented workers. ⁷ However, the union supported other Obama administration policies, including the Affordable Care Act (popularly known as Obamacare) as well as the United States Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which struck down legislation prohibiting same-sex marriage recognition. ^{8 9 10}

Wendell Young IV

Wendell Young, IV has been the president of UFCW Local 1776 Keystone State since January 2005 and is a vice president of the UFCW International Union. Previously, from 1977 to 1983, Young was employed at Penn Fruit and Acme Markets, and in 1983, began working as a union representative and organizer. Additionally, Young is the president of the board of directors of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. ¹¹