The History of UFCW Local 464A

The history of Local 464A commences in 1939 with the establishment of Local 389, which comprised 120 members in the meat markets around Paterson, New Jersey. A one-room office was rented on Bridge Street in Paterson. The room was heated by a potbellied stove and telephone service was provided from a pay phone located in the candy shop next door.

In 1947 the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America merged Locals 39, 389, and 261 with the successor emerging as Local 464. Irving Kaplan was elected President and John Niccollai Secretary-Treasurer. Membership totaled around 1000 butchers and meat cutters and the union offices were moved to 1060 Broad Street, Newark. Several months later Local 177 of the Poultry Workers Union comprising 125 members and headed by Irving Levy was merged into Local 464.

In the late 1940's and early 1950's Local 464 launched organizational drives against the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company and finally, in 1952, was successful in winning recognition on behalf of A&P employees.

Paterson, NJ 1969: John Niccollai Opens Labor Campaign

From the early 1950's to the early 1960's membership grew steadily. The local attained a membership of almost 12,000 with the 1960's holding the promise of more growth via independent and cooperative supermarkets such as Shop Rite, PathMark, Foodtown, and King's.

In 1963 the union moved its headquarters to a newly constructed and purchased building on Sanford Street in East Orange, New Jersey.

As growth continued in the 1970's the union expanded beyond its facilities in East Orange, which necessitated the move of the union headquarters to Little Falls, New Jersey. The new building consisted of 36,000 square feet, providing an 8,000 square foot meeting hall, in-house dental, optical and legal services.

1972: Amalgamated Meat Cutters Convention

By the late 1970's membership had increased to over 15,000. The local union was busy increasing and improving benefit programs and could proudly point to the following:

• Self-Insured Hospital, Medical & Surgical Plan
• Major Medical Coverage
• Prescription Drug Program
• Preventive Care Mobile Medical Van Services
• Dental and Optical Programs
• Pension Program
• Prepaid Legal Services
• Credit Union

 

 

In 1979, at the international level, the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and the Retail Clerks consummated a merger and formed the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW). Local 464 was given the designation "A" and would now be known as UFCW Local 464A.

President John T. Niccollai meets Pope John-Paul II in Rome –  1982

In the early 1980's Local 464A embarked upon the construction of a diagnostic and medical center to be located adjacent to the union office in Little Falls. The center was completed and operational in 1982 providing free medical care to both full time and part time members. The 1980's saw further growth for Local 464A, which presently has a membership of nearly 20,000.

The future of Local 464A is very promising. We continue to enjoy a period of growth that began several years ago when many union employers began building or acquiring additional stores. Our membership is experiencing full-employment and, fortunately, one of our greatest concerns is finding qualified people to staff the new stores. We project continued membership growth.

The success of any organization is attributable to people who place the needs of individuals collectively above the needs of the individual alone. To our past leadership and membership we say, "Thank you for all you have given us and we pledge that we shall carry on the tradition of UFCW Local 464A with pride and zeal."

Who We Represent

UFCW Local 464A represents approximately 20,000 service workers primarily in food and related industries located in New Jersey, New York and a portion of Pennsylvania. The various jobs represented include, but are not limited to such areas as meat cutting/packing, food manufacturing and processing, cashiers, grocery clerks, delicatessen/appetizer specialties, seafood, produce, frozen foods, bakery, household supplies, drug & beauty aids, as well as the delivery of all the items that support these functions.

Our Members work at numerous companies throughout the region and several major companies employ the majority of Local 464A’s membership. These companies are:

A&P	Foodtown	Kings
Pathmark	ShopRite/Wakefern	Stop & Shop

The unique role and importance of each of the functions that our Members perform cannot be overstated. Food service workers, unlike nearly all other positions in society, touch every person in America no matter where they live, whether rich or poor, regardless of ethnicity or religious persuasion.

Meat Cutters/Packers – Difficult and hazardous work that calls for a person with unique skills. These workers are involved with the processing and distribution of meat and byproducts from animals for human consumption. There is a high turnover of these workers where non-union labor is employed, but union workers enjoy a career and a stronger focus on safety. These workers are among the original foundations of Local 464A when the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workers emerged in 1947.

Manufacturing and Processing – This function begins with raw food materials. Before they are sent to the factory they must be observed and tested for quality. If ingredients are inferior no worker, no matter how skilled, can produce a quality food product. Once selected the raw materials are processed most often in a high technology production environment that requires experienced workers who operate machines that add ingredients, mix, cook, dry, chill, freeze and package the finished product. Local 464A members engaged in this function serve food stores and restaurants - many with special requirements.

Grocery Clerk – Few Americans consider the remarkable efficiency at work behind the scenes to make sure that store shelves are fully stocked at all times. This is hard work requiring speed and an aptitude for determining individual product demand especially during holidays and special occasions.

Cashier – Often the face of the industry, these workers aid the speedy purchase of goods and handle the last stage of customer interface. Not only must cashiers ensure accurate and quick tallies of purchases, but also they frequently are called upon to handle customer issues making satisfaction the primary goal.

Deli/Appetizer – Another key face of our industry, many of these workers are familiar and known by name to their regular customers. Their roles are multi-faceted because they not only fill and price orders, but also prepare and cook the food as well. These are skills not everyone can perform, requiring true professionals.

Delivery – Today sophisticated web site ordering means a fast paced demanding environment in which selecting, packing, loading/unloading and most important, delivering must be done with precision. The convenience seeking demands of American society is fueling the rapid growth of this function. One of Local 464A’s employing companies operates the largest food delivery fleet in the U.S.

Seafood/Produce/Frozen Food/Bakery/Household Supplies/Health & Beauty Aids – No other country can boast the myriad of choices that Americans enjoy each time they shop. In Local 464A’s region this is even more significant because our members serve the most diverse population with the broadest tastes in America. This takes workers who have expert knowledge of all manner and varieties of foods and other supplies. Seafood managers must not only know every type of fish, but also recognize quality. Produce and frozen food workers must identify and stock only the best varieties. Bakery workers must have the skills to cater to ethnic preferences especially during holiday periods. And, the proliferation of household supplies and health & beauty aids requires the workers devoted to this function to be constantly aware of consumer demand.

The people represented by UFCW Local 464A have one other factor that makes them unique and extraordinarily professional. That is, where we live and work. The New Jersey and the New York metropolitan areas are the most densely populated and ethnically diverse geographies in America. All manner of tastes and traditions must be catered to with a high degree of efficiency and skill that no other region of America can boast.

The executives, management and staff of UFCW Local 464A are proud to support you as you perform America’s most important jobs!

Major Company Profiles

A&P (The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc.)

A&P was founded in 1859 in New York City. At its peak in the 1930s it operated 16,000 stores and remained the number one retailer in the US through the 1950s. By the 1960s local and regional competition began to push the company from some markets and its quantity of outlets has declined steadily to approximately 400 stores in nine states today. New Jersey and New York are mainstays of its operation. One of its top-performing stores by volume is in Midland Park, NJ. The company also operates The Food Emporium, Food Basics, Waldbaum and Super Fresh chains among several others. Recently A&P acquired Pathmark Stores for about $1.3B. The company is majority owned by Tengelmann Group of Germany.

HQ	Montvale, NJ
Web	www.aptea.com

Food Basics

Food Basics is a division of A&P (The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company). Its concept is no frills, which A&P successfully introduced in Canada and then brought to the US in 2001 by converting one of its A&P branded stores in Passaic, NJ. There are approximately 11 Food Basics stores in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. In 2006 A&P revitalized the Food Basics “look & feel” with a newer format, wider aisles, new signage and colors and an emphasis upon everyday low pricing.

HQ	Montvale, NJ (See A&P)
Web	www.foodbasics.com

The Food Emporium

The Food Emporium is a division of A&P (The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company). It is comprised of 30 stores primarily located in Manhattan with some located in New Jersey and a few north of NYC and in Connecticut. It is viewed as upscale and caters to an affluent clientele. The Food Emporium was originally part of Shopwell, Inc prior to its purchase by A&P in 1986. Many of the stores in New York City were originally A&P outlets that were converted to The Food Emporium brand.

HQ	New York, NY
Web	www.thefoodemporium.com

Foodtown

Foodtown is a cooperative comprising individually owned or groups of entrprise owned stores in central New Jersey, New York and eastern Pennsylvania. In the 1980s and 1990s more than 150 stores operated in New Jersey and New York. In 1995 Royal Ahold of the Netherlands purchased 45 stores and in the following years a number of others left the cooperative. Since the 1990s 5 stores have opened in Pennsylvania to go along with more than 50 stores in New Jersey and New York. Foodtown’s corporate offices negotiate with suppliers, and direct marketing programs on behalf of the cooperative’s storeowners.

HQ	Avenel, NJ
Web	www.foodtown.com

Gristede’s Foods, Inc.

Two brothers, Dietrich and Charles Gristede, founded Gristede’s in 1888 in New York City. By 1938 there were more than 150 stores, including liquor stores in the New York area. In 1969 the company was sold to Southland Corporation which itself was acquired by the Red Apple Group in 1986. The Red Apple Group, privately held, continues to operate the chain with more than forty stores in operation today. Most are supermarkets primarily in Manhattan with others in Westchester County and other parts of New York. The chain operates several mega-stores and owns City Produce Operating, which provides groceries to the supermarkets and sells wholesale produce to third parties.

HQ	New York, NY
Web	www.gristedes.com

Kings Super Markets, Inc.

Kings was founded in 1936 and has grown to more than 20 stores in New Jersey and New York. The stores target upscale consumers and are located in or near affluent communities. Marks & Spencer, a UK clothing retailer that also targets affluent buyers, purchased the company in 1988. Kings was again sold in 2006 to a private investor group who continues to operate the stores with a bias toward its original target market.

HQ	Parsippany, NJ
Web	www.kingswebsite.com

Pathmark Stores, Inc.

Pathmark was born in 1968 when Supermarkets General Corporation left the Wakefern Cooperative with approximately 80 then named ShopRite stores, which were re-branded to Pathmark. By 1978 about 109 stores were in operation. After years of positive and negative performance Pathmark filed for bankruptcy in 2000, but recovered quickly to emerge stronger in 2001. It operates about 140 stores in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware. A number of stores are 50,000 square foot Super Centers with pharmacies, mini bank branches, large bakery operations and plant & flower centers. Recently Pathmark was acquired by A&P.

HQ	Carteret, NJ
Web	http://www.aptea.com/

ShopRite Supermarkets/ Wakefern Food Corporation

ShopRite Supermarkets is the brand moniker of the largest retailer owned store cooperative in the US. It was incorporated as Wakefern Foods in 1946 when seven storeowners agreed to form a cooperative to negotiate the purchase of wholesale goods on their collective behalf. The ShopRite name was introduced in 1951 to attract consumers and to bring more stores into the cooperative. In 1968 Supermarkets General Corporation left the cooperative with about 80 stores to become Pathmark. However, after a few years those members who remained had expanded to a level of equal or greater sales volume. Today the Wakefern Cooperative is comprised of more than 40 members who own and operate over 200 ShopRite stores in seven states. Wakefern maintains 2.5 million square feet of warehouse space and operates a fleet of 400 tractors and 2000 trailers.

HQ	Elizabeth, NJ
Webs	www.shoprite.com www.wakefern.com

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company

Stop & Shop was founded as the Economy Grocery Stores Company in 1914 in Somerville, MA. Its name became Stop & Shop, Inc. in 1946. The company grew steadily primarily in New England with purchases and sales of other retail chains such as Bradlees, Medi-Mart and Perkins Tobacco. In the late 1980s it was acquired by a leveraged buyout firm which unsuccessfully tried to arrange a merger with Safeway. In 1995 the American division of the Dutch company Ahold purchased Stop & Shop. Today it operates about 385 stores in six states and has begun integrating new Starbucks licensed outlets in some of its locations such as Morris Plains, NJ and Dix Hills, NY. In July 2007 Stop & Shop announced that it was selling 10 super stores in Southern NJ and Philadelphia to Wakefern Foods. They will be converted to ShopRite Supermarkets.

HQ	Quincy, MA
Web	www.stopandshop.com

Waldbaum, Inc.

Waldbaum’s began in 1904 with a shop opened by Joseph Waldbaum in Brooklyn, NY. Today it operates more than seventy stores in New York City, Westchester County and Long Island. During the 1970s it expanded into New England by purchasing Foodmart, Inc. of Springfield, MA. The New England stores became Waldbaum’s Foodmart and rose to over 150 outlets at their peak. The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P) acquired Waldbaum’s in 1986. Over time Waldbaum’s Foodmart branded stores were renamed Super Foodmart and A&P Foodmart. The other stores continued with the Waldbaum’s moniker. Today most stores have bakeries and more than half have pharmacies.

HQ	Montvale, NJ (See A&P)
Web	www.waldbaums.com

Change to Win

Our United Food and Commercial Workers International Union is a member of the Change to Win Federation. Change to Win was formed at the time of the 2005 AFL-CIO Convention. On the eve of the convention the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Teamsters (IBT), after seeing many years of diminishing union influence in the affairs of America’s workers, announced that they were leaving the AFL-CIO. One week later UFCW, also concerned with bringing the values of union membership to more workers, disaffiliated from the AFL-CIO.

On September 27, 2005 Change to Win held its founding convention in St. Louis and dedicated its primary goal to organizing more workers. By stripping away much of the old bureaucracy common in the AFL-CIO, Change to Win demonstrated its determination to re-focus the skills and resources of its member unions on the workers they represented and new workers who badly needed the protections and benefits that union membership delivers. For example, the total compensation of a union worker is dramatically higher than that of a non-union worker.

In addition to UFCW, Change to Win is comprised of the following affiliated unions:

• International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT)
• Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA)
• Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
• United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC)
• United Farm Workers of America (UFW)
• UNITE HERE (formerly the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union)

Change to Win has set an agenda that emphasizes:

• A paycheck that supports a family – Today’s worker earns 83 cents compared to a dollar earned by a worker in 1972
• Quality, affordable health care for all – The fastest rising expense for all workers
• A secure and dignified retirement – Too many companies no longer provide workers with a retirement security plan
• The freedom to join together in unions – The Employees Free Choice Act (EFCA) must be passed by congress to improve the standard of living for working families

What you can do to move the Change to Win agenda forward:

• Tell every non-union worker you meet about the benefits of union membership
• Call and write your local, state and national representatives. Tell them you want a decent wage for all workers, pensions and pension protections, affordable comprehensive healthcare, and enactment of EFCA.

For a sample letter you can use and the names and contact information of your government representatives click Political Action.