Since its inception in 1951, UFCW 951 has evolved from a 200-member, company-run union into an independent local labor union affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. UFCW 951’s membership now stands at 33,000.

The forerunner to UFCW 951 received its charter from the federal government in September 1951. At the time, the organization was known as the Consolidated Independent Union (CIU). Representing about 200 Meijer workers, the CIU was limited by the constraints of being a union for and by one employer. The first Meijer contract had a five-year term and consisted of only a few pages. As the company expanded and changed, Meijer workers saw a need for an independent, organized Union to represent their interests with the company.

In 1973, Robert Potter joined the CIU as a Union Representative. The organization had grown to 5,000 members since 1951 and had an office on the second floor of a house on Plainfield Avenue in northeast Grand Rapids . With Potter on staff, CIU members began to see a new trend of strong leadership and an effective and innovative Union.

To obtain independence from Meijer and join the larger labor movement, members of the CIU began a campaign to affiliate with the Retail Clerks International Union in 1972. After a six-year campaign and two votes, members approved the affiliation. The CIU became Local 951 of the Retail Clerks International Union. The 7,000 Meijer members of Local 951 could now participate in a true collective bargaining arrangement, with the union and management working as equals.

In 1974, Local 951 purchased a floor in an office building on Wilson Avenue in Grand Rapids (near the Standale Meijer opened in 2005) and moved from its overcrowded upstairs office in the house on Plainfield . Local 951’s staff grew along with an expanding membership. Local 951 established an official Steward education program and opened an organizing department in the mid-1970s.

The year 1979 brought a change in Local 951’s International Union. The Meatcutters & Butcher Workmen Union merged with the Retail Clerks International Union to form the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.

The 1980s and ’90s saw tremendous growth for UFCW 951. At the beginning of 1980, Bob Potter ran for and was elected President of the local union. 3,500 new members joined UFCW 951 through mergers with UFCW Local 20 in 1981 and UFCW Local 36 in 1982. New organizing campaigns and the expansion of Meijer tripled UFCW 951’s membership. The Union created new programs and services to serve the growing membership. UFCW 951 looked to the future, making sure that everything from staff and internal resources to finances and organizational structure were ready for the revolution in retailing during the next twenty years.

In 1982, UFCW 951 took on additional organizing staff, causing the Union to outgrow its Wilson Avenue office space. The Union relocated to a new office building near today’s Centerpointe mall. In 1984, UFCW 951 established the communications and education department to produce in-house publications and provide informational resources and educational seminars. The Local added a computer mainframe system in 1985 (replacing it with a more modern server system about ten years later) to run an efficient and sophisticated membership records system. With all this expansion of capabilities and services, UFCW 951 moved again, purchasing the first floor of the first building in the Eagle Park office development at Leonard and the East Beltline.

The Eagle Park office served the Union well, but by the early 1990s, UFCW 951 members worked all over the state—from Muskegon to Bay City , from Jackson to Benton Harbor . UFCW 951 rented small offices in a few places in the Detroit area during this period. Meanwhile, the Grand Rapids office had too much desk space as Reps stayed out in the field and an aging infrastructure, making new technology (even reliable heating and cooling) very difficult to implement.

UFCW 951 needed offices with flexible meeting spaces and modern technology. It needed to stop renting space in southeast Michigan and start building equity in its own building.

Today, UFCW 951 owns two offices: a headquarters at 3270 Evergreen Drive in Grand Rapids opened in 2005 and a satellite office in New Hudson, Michigan west of Detroit. UFCW 951 employs 39 highly trained and skilled professionals, 21 of whom are Union Representatives in the field.

Throughout UFCW 951’s history of growth and innovation, the Union has adapted to the changes in the retail industry and the needs of its members. UFCW 951 has moved from its position as a small, one-company organization to become one of largest local unions in Michigan and the largest UFCW local union in the United States .

2005 provided two examples of UFCW 951’s growth and innovation. UFCW 951 negotiated and ratified a new Benefits Agreement with Meijer in 2005. The Agreement covers all Meijer employees—union and non-union—in five states and is in effect through 2011. Meijer and UFCW 951 together designed new health care plans that saved money both for the company and union members. Members are able to choose the health care coverage best suited for their needs—all members qualify for at least one plan, no matter how many hours they work or how long they’ve been with the company.

UFCW 951 also played a key role in the transition of the American labor movement when the UFCW and six other international unions formed the Change To Win coalition (www.changetowin.org). Change To Win will focus on finding new ways to enhance the lives of working families, going above and beyond traditional union activities.

As the 2005 Benefits Agreement demonstrates, UFCW 951 works in partnership with members, employers, and our communities to find innovative ways for all to thrive. Modern unions, their members, and responsible employers create real success and build strong communities and families. UFCW 951 is proud to exemplify what a twenty-first century union can and must be.