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It was announced on Friday that UFCW Local 9 in Austin will merge with United Food & Commercial Workers Local 663 following a vote by union members on Thursday.
The merger will bring the total membership to 17,000 and create a stronger base for those who represent the two organizations.
“We will be the largest packing house in the state of Minnesota and the largest UFCW in the five states,” said Local 9 President Richard Morgan. “The strength lies in the number and the cooperation with Matt (Utecht, Local 663) and Michael (Potter, Local 663) and me, that’s well over 60 years of experience.”
The majority of Local 9 members work in the meat packaging industry, with the largest employers being Hormel Foods and Quality Pork Processing; however, some union members work in food processing and in various communities in southeast Minnesota.
The members of UFCW Local 663 consist of workers in the food industry, meat packaging, healthcare and national retailers.
“Together we are stronger,” said UFCW Local 9 member and walking steward Claudia Ambriz on Friday in a press release who works at QPP. “We have already worked together on legislature to improve the safety of meat packaging, so this merger is another step in the right direction for workers.”
UFCW Local 663 will continue to be run by Utecht, the current president. Morgan will take on a leadership role as the packaging director for southeast Minnesota.
“Both of our locals have deep roots in the Minnesota labor movement,” Morgan said in the press release. “I look forward to working with President Utecht on the next chapter as we build membership power in Austin, Worthington and across the state.”
Local 663 is the result of a 2018 merger of Local 653 and 1161 that brought together retail and healthcare members with Worthington-based meat packers.
That year, Locals 663 and 9 worked with State Representative Dan Wolgamott (14B) to introduce the Minnesota Safe Workplaces for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers Act, which was passed.
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