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Then & Now

UFCW Local 328 is a union which has never stopped growing.

In January of 1937, five meat cutters who worked for First National Stores in Rhode Island, including two future presidents of Local 328 (Sam DiSano & Joseph Crowley) met with the general manager, Byron Fleming of the Company’s Providence Division and asked for the same wages, workweek and working conditions as the Boston Division of the Company, who were represented by Local 592 of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America. They were quickly rebuffed by the general manager. The spokesman for the group, Sam DiSano, replied to the rebuff with truly prophetic words - “we’re going to form a union in Rhode Island”.

This was the beginning of Local 328.

Later that year 984 workers voted 85% Union Yes and became the newly chartered Local 328 of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters & Butcher Workmen of North America.

Its first president was Walter Powe. Its second president, Joseph Crowley was killed in action liberating France in 1945. Jim Casey became president next. In 1948 Salvatore “Sam” DiSano became president and served the local union for 24 years. Sam’s hard work and dedication to the members and their families is a story unto itself. His tremendous organizing efforts brought the union to 6,000 members. Upon his retirement, Sam was appointed Director of the Rhode Island Department of Labor by then Governor, Phillip Noel. He retired from his remarkable service to working men and women in Rhode Island and is happily still with us today.

In the 30 plus years since Sam’s retirement, Local 328 has grown to over 12,000 members serving the needs of workers in a myriad of industries including retail food, institutional food, health care, banking, transportation, recycling, manufacturing, barbers and cosmetologists. Seven presidents have served terms since Sam retired. They were Romeo Caldarone, Prentice Witherspoon, Louis Spetrini, Frank McCarthy, George Tennian, and Lee DiIorio to the current president, David Fleming.

Today we have collective bargaining agreements with Stop & Shop, Grand Union Family Markets, Nutramax, Inc. (the largest producer of private label cough drops in the Country) the Rhode Island State Credit Unions, Dexter Credit Union and Woodlawn Credit Union. Also, under contract with Local 328 is Eastside Marketplace and Brigido’s IGA in Rhode Island.

We also represent school and university food service workers at UMass Dartmouth, Roger Williams University, and Norton, Seekonk, Westerly and Bridgewater-Raynham school cafeteria workers.

Other contracts are enjoyed by school bus drivers in Marshfield and Middleboro, Massachusetts. The workers at the Recycling Center at the Johnston Landfill are also members of Local 328.

Contracts also cover healthcare workers at New Bedford Jewish Convalescent Home and Landmark Hospital.

We are currently in negotiations on behalf of 225 workers at KIK Manufacturing in Cumberland, RI, which make household and beauty products.

Today the everyday operations at Local 328 still continue at 278 Silver Spring Street in Providence, Rhode Island, which has been our home for 42 years.

Servicing the membership, organizing new members, and constant negotiations for new and existing contracts keep our full-time staff of 16 individuals very active.

Political action and advocacy is also a major aspect of our membership service. Supporting existing laws and developing new legislation to protect and preserve the rights of working families is an ever present duty of this Local Union.

At Local 328 when the call goes out, we put on our boots. We raised $80,000 for four Local 328 members’ families tragically affected by the Station Night Club Fire. Our members collected needed supplies for our troops in Iraq. We delivered a truck full of necessities to the Women’s Center of Rhode Island and continue to support this great organization.

This year our Toy Drive at our annual Stewards Conference will provide us the opportunity to provide a magical “Holiday Season” for our union families through Local 328 “Adopt A Family” program.

Our UFCW Local 328 Scholarship Program continues to provide our members families with the resources needed to attend colleges and universities.

The UFCW Local 328 Food Bank has been in existence for decades. Each year we provide 50 families with sumptuous food baskets to help them enjoy Thanksgiving.

When a member or a member’s loved one passes on, Local 328 presents a beautiful bible to the family. For our Jewish members, we plant a tree in their memory in Israel.

We also continue to have an ongoing relationship with the March of Dimes, the Pawtucket Child Development Center, Progresso Latino, A Wish Come True, the Massachusetts Youth & Government as well as many, many others.

This year we are initiating English Speaking classes in conjunction with the Rhode Island Institute for Labor Studies to be held evenings at our Headquarters in Providence, Rhode Island.

Lastly, our relationship with the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society deserves special recognition. In the past 10 years our annual Local 328 Golf Tournament has raised almost one-half million dollars for the Society. In 2005 we presented the Society with a check for $101,000.

Dedication to the members and the community has been the historic creed of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 328, then and now.

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A Union on the Move

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union is a union on the move. Our International Union, located in Washington, DC, is more than 1.4 million members strong and growing.

The UFCW is a young union, the result of the 1979 merger of the Retail Clerks and the Amalgamated Meat Cutters. Our aggressive approach towards organizing new members, representing our members, and building our political clout establishes the UFCW as the Union to watch for in the future.

The UFCW is a big union,.but our influence and importance does not come from our numbers alone. It comes from our ability to produce results: from the strength of our membership; and from the confidence and experience of our leadership.

Presently UFCW Local 328 represents approximately 12,000 members making us the largest local union in Southeastern New England. We represent workers in Retail Food Service, Banking, Transportation, Manufacturing, Health Care, Barbers & Cosmetology and Recycling.

Being the largest brings major responsibilities and Local 328 is not afraid to lead. Over the past five years, we have continually worked to negotiate the best contracts in our core industry of Retail Food, and we have developed an organizing mentality that has kept us negotiating “first contracts” for our newly organized workers. Through our continued commitment to both long standing and newly organized members, UFCW Local 328 continues to live up to its guiding vision:

“The Members First.”