Yesterday, one year after the murder of George Floyd, our member-led Executive Board founded the UFCW 21 Racial Justice Advisory Board. The COVID pandemic has exacerbated the glaring racial disparities in our country—in our health care system and our economy, in education and housing, in the very health and safety of the water we drink and the air we breathe. The disproportionate effects of COVID and its economic consequences on BIPOC communities have included higher risks for diverse front-line workforces combined with poorer health care access and outcomes, a childcare crisis for working families that again fell more heavily on BIPOC workers, and an ongoing rise in anti-Asian hate crimes spurred by racist rhetoric from people in power.

While we still grieve over George Floyd’s death and the deaths of countless others, we have put our grief into action by organizing for change. We have been discussing how to build a union that fights for racial justice for a long time, and we have taken steps toward that future over the last year, including embedding racial justice work in our union’s fundamental strategic planning.

Now we take a further step and convene this formal body, made up of rank-and-file members, executive board members, and supported by union staff, to offer a clear racial justice lens for our work moving forward.

“Turning words into action is something we as union members have always done. We have turned words into bargaining proposals and won. We have turned words into legislation and passed laws. We look forward to taking member-led action on racial justice issues that impact us in our workplaces and in our communities.” Kyong Barry, UFCW 21 executive board member, shop steward, Auburn Albertsons front end supervisor 

Boards like this meet and advise union leadership from a specific perspective, bringing experience and insight that helps put our values of solidarity in action. We have an existing Health Care Advisory Board, which offers guidance from the perspective of health care members and helps our union make decisions that support our health care membership and the health care systems all our members and families rely on. We know our membership is affected by structural racism at work and in our communities. We continue to believe that we can only be weakened as a union by not addressing the things that divide and oppress us.

The UFCW 21 Racial Justice Advisory Board will help our union move forward on the work of building true solidarity, eliminating racial bias and promoting racial justice in our contracts, advocating for public policy that supports all our members and addresses equity, and learning what other steps will best help us create the future we want to see. 

The group will create its own founding document, recruit members, and elect group leadership in the coming weeks and months.

Yesterday, Michelle Obama called for “Lasting Change Across the Country” to mark the anniversary of Floyd’s death, and our executive board discussed the impact of our racial justice work over the past year and what we want to see moving ahead. We are answering the call for change by building something we expect to last and inviting all UFCW 21 members and allies to participate in building that future.

To learn more about our Racial Justice Advisory Board and get involved in our union’s work toward racial justice, contact Sarah Cherin at scherin@ufcw21.org.