UFCW Local 400 is a labor union affiliated with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) representing grocery, pharmacy, and other employees in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, Maryland, Virginia, and Appalachia.

Background

UFCW Local 400, a local affiliated with United Food and Commercial Workers, is a labor union founded in July 1941 and based in Landover, Maryland. ¹ Local 400’s parent union UFCW was formed on August 8, 1979 following a merger of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workers of North America and the Retail Clerks International Union. ²

Generally, Local 400 represents workers in the retail food, healthcare, retail department store, food processing, and services industry in Maryland, Virginia, the Washington, D.C metro area., West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. As of 2022, the Local claims to represent roughly 35,000 members. ³

Employers

Employers of UFCW Local 400 union members include the Annapolis, Takoma Park, and Belpre Police Departments; Bloomingdale’s; the Clearon Corporation; CVS; the Democratic Party of Virginia; Giant Food; Kaiser Permanente; Macy’s; the Washington, D.C. bookseller Politics and Prose, Safeway, Tyson Foods, and Westbrook Health Services. ⁴

Activities

In February 2022, following a press event held in Alexandria, Virginia at a Safeway supermarket location where Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) reportedly did not wear a face mask, UFCW local 400 published a statement criticizing the omission. In describing the governor’s behavior, Local president Mark Federeci said that “words cannot do justice” to describe Gov. Youngkin’s “behavior,” and demanded an apology “to every customer present.” He added, reflecting on the omission, “what hope is there that he can govern in the best interest of his constituents?” ⁵

On April 29, 2022, UFCW Local 400 announced that a majority of employees, largely occupational, physical, and speech therapists, at twelve Kaiser Permanente facilities in in Maryland had signed authorization cards to unionize with the local. Notably, however, those employees would be represented by UFCW Local 27 in negotiations with employers in Baltimore, where 17 of the employees work at locations in Woodland and Nottingham. ⁶

On May 11, 2022 UFCW Local 400 hosted a press conference at the “Corner” Bodo’s Bagels in Charlottesville, Virginia in support of unionizing the business’s workers. Elected officials who joined the press conference in support of the union include Charlottesville council members Michael Payne and Sena Magill, as well as Virginia State Delegate Sally L. Hudson (D). ⁷

On June 15, 2022, UFCW Local 400 announced its support of a deal made by District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) with Giant Food to open a new location on East Capitol Street in Washington, D.C. In a statement accompanying the announcement, Local president Mark Federeci, while praising the deal, took the opportunity to criticize Walmart for failing to do likewise, particularly in the city’s seventh ward, in which the corporation had formerly expressed interest. ⁸

In January 2022, Union Kitchen workers at four locations in Washington, D.C. and one in Arlington, Virginia filed for an election to unionize with UFCW Local 400 with the National Labor Relations Board. Later, on June 21, 2022, following a count of ballots by the Board, it was announced that a majority of the workers had voted in favor of unionizing. ⁹

On July 20, 2022, UFCW Local 400 organized a rally in collaboration with UFCW Local 27 at Shoppers Grocery Store in Largo, Maryland to protest for health care and retirement benefits programs that Shoppers had not reached an agreement with the union to continue past August 2022. ¹⁰

Endorsements

UFCW Local 400’s endorsements in the 2022 Maryland Election, published jointly with the UFCW Local 27 and UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO, included Democrats Tom Perez for governor, Shannon Sneed for lieutenant governor, Anthony Brown for attorney general, and Chris Van Hollen for United States Senate. ¹¹

In 2022, UFCW Local 400 along with UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO announced their publication of a joint list of endorsed candidates in an upcoming county-level election in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Largely, the list, including Angela D. Alsobrooks for county executive, and Aisha Braveboy for state’s attorney, are running on the Democratic Party ticket. ¹²

Mark Federici

Mark Federici is the president of UFCW Local 400 and a vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. Initially, Federici joined UFCW in 1984 while working as a produce clerk and night time stocker at Riverside Markets. Later, after graduating from college, he interned with the National Hospital Workers District 1199P and the International Association of Machinists. In 1987, he worked as a field representative with the Seafarers International Union of North America. In 1991, he joined Local 400, where he successively worked as an organizer, representative, director of governmental affairs, director of strategic programs, executive assistant to the president, and secretary-treasurer, before being elected president. Additionally, Federici is a member of the PG County NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Council of Richmond. ¹³

1. “UNITED FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION ↳ 400 LOCAL.” ProPublica. August 1, 2022. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/530241580
2.  “UFCW Celebrates 38 Years of Standing Up for Workers.” UFCW Local 400. August 8, 2017. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.ufcw400.org/2017/08/08/ufcw-celebrates-38-years-of-standing-up-for-workers/
3. “About UFCW Local 400.” UFCW Local 400. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.ufcw400.org/aboutus/
4. “Where We Work.” UFCW Local 400. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.ufcw400.org/aboutus/who-we-represent/
5. ^[1] “Youngkin Puts Safeway Workers’ Health At Risk, UFCW Local 400 Charges.” UFCW Local 400. February 4, 2022. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.ufcw400.org/2022/02/04/maskless-youngkin-safeway/
6. “Kaiser Permanente Occupational, Physical, and Speech Therapists Unionize with UFCW.” UFCW Local 400. April 29, 2022. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.ufcw400.org/2022/04/29/kaiser-permanente-occupational-physical-and-speech-therapists-unionize-with-ufcw/
7.  “Bodo’s Bagels Workers Seek to Unionize.” UFCW Local 400. May 10, 2022. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.ufcw400.org/2022/05/10/bodos-bagels-workers-seek-to-unionize/
8. “UFCW Local 400 Statement on New Giant Food Opening in Ward 7.” UFCW Local 400. June 15, 2022. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.ufcw400.org/2022/06/15/ufcw-local-400-statement-on-new-giant-food-opening-in-ward-7/
9. “Union Kitchen Workers Win Union Recognition.” UFCW Local 400. June 21, 2022. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.ufcw400.org/2022/06/21/union-kitchen-workers-win-union-recognition/
10.  “Shoppers Food Grocery Workers Plan Protest to Save Benefits.” UFCW Local 400. July 13, 2022. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.ufcw400.org/2022/07/13/shoppers-food-grocery-workers-plan-protest-to-save-benefits/
11. “United Food & Commercial Workers Unions Announce Endorsements in Maryland.” UFCW Local 400. June 1, 2022. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.ufcw400.org/2022/06/01/united-food-commercial-workers-unions-announce-endorsements-in-maryland/
12. “UFCW Local 400 & UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO Announce Endorsements in Prince George’s County.” UFCW Local 400. June 1, 2022. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.ufcw400.org/2022/06/01/ufcw-local-400-ufcw-local-1994-mcgeo-announce-endorsements-in-prince-georges-county/
13. “Executive Board.” UFCW Local 400. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.ufcw400.org/aboutus/local-400-executive-board/