Japanese Workers Visit Local 400

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)UFCW Local 400 hosted a delegation of workers from Japan recently. The workers, from the Japanese Federation of Service and Distributive Workers Union (JSD), were on a two-week tour visiting labor unions across the United States. JSD represents nearly a quarter-million workers in distributive, service and allied industries in Japan. Local 400 President Tom McNutt visited JSD two years ago as part of UFCW’s global labor exchange program. “Visiting the JSD was an enlightening experience,” said McNutt. “I found that the way other unions operate in different parts of the world isn’t so different from how we do it here in the United States. It was a great honor to have them here at Local 400 to learn about our structure and our best practices as we continue to grow and develop our partnership.” The UFCW’s global exchange program, established in the 1960s, focuses on developing of relationships with unions internationally, because many companies that U.S. union members work for are based overseas, like Giant’s parent company, Ahold, which is based in the Netherlands. By developing lasting relationships with unions abroad, locals in the U.S. can reach out for support globally. – Excerpted from a longer report on UFCW 400’s website. photo: Local 400 Executive Board Member, Jaki Bradley (bottom left) addresses the JSD delegation on her role with Kaiser Permanente.