{"id":64178,"date":"2026-03-02T10:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T15:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/?post_type=press_releases&#038;p=64178"},"modified":"2026-03-02T10:26:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T15:26:13","slug":"ufcw-urging-no-vote-on-farm-bill-in-house-agriculture-committee","status":"publish","type":"press_releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/ufcw-urging-no-vote-on-farm-bill-in-house-agriculture-committee\/","title":{"rendered":"UFCW Urging \u2018NO\u2019 Vote on Farm Bill in House Agriculture Committee"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 <\/strong>Today, the <strong><u><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/about\">United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW)<\/a><\/u><\/strong>, which represents 1.2 million essential workers across North America, released a statement ahead of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture\u2019s markup of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, also known as the Farm Bill.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>UFCW International President Milton Jones<\/strong>\u00a0said:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"quote\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs farmers and food workers face headwinds from trade wars and high food prices continue to squeeze families, a bold Farm Bill is needed in order to change course. Instead, this proposed legislation falls woefully short and fails to meet the needs of consumers and workers alike.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis bill paves the way for big meatpackers to tighten their grip over the sector, cuts workers out of training programs that should be ensuring their safety, and does nothing to make groceries affordable for working families. Members of the House Agriculture Committee must block this bill and return to the bipartisan approach that has been key to the Farm Bill\u2019s success for decades.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFood workers, including hundreds of thousands of UFCW members, work every day to feed America \u2013 they know the toll that high prices have taken. This Farm Bill leaves them and their customers out to dry and should be rejected before it goes any further.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>BACKGROUND<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"list\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"list-item\">\n<li>The UFCW opposes the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 and has urged House Agriculture Committee members to vote \u2018No\u2019 during the committee\u2019s markup of the bill.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"list\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"list-item\">\n<li>The Farm Bill includes a proposal to reduce or eliminate testing requirements and background checks for industrial hemp producers, which incentivizes employers to bypass safety training and protocols for workers.<\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"list\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"list-item\">\n<li>The legislation also includes support for competitive funding for workforce training and development in meat and poultry, but makes no assurance that workers and union stakeholders will have the ability to weigh in on how these dollars will be spent, or to ensure that worker safety is a factor in any approved grants.<\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"list\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"list-item\">\n<li>The bill proposes a pilot program to allow a small number of custom meat facilities to sell directly to consumers. However, this would further incentivize consolidation in the meat industry and lower overall supply in retail grocery stores, leading to higher prices.<\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"list\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"list-item\">\n<li>Members of Congress interested in lowering food costs for families and supporting food workers should instead support the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/ban-surveillance-pricing-on-groceries\/\">Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act<\/a>, which would ban surveillance pricing and electronic shelf labels in grocery stores, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/ufcw-supports-food-secure-strikers-act\/\">Food Secure Strikes Act<\/a>, which would allow striking workers and their households to receive SNAP benefits.<\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">###<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The UFCW International is the largest private sector union in the United States, representing 1.2 million workers and their families in grocery, meatpacking, food processing, healthcare, cannabis, retail, and other essential industries. UFCW members serve our communities in all 50 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Learn more about the UFCW at\u202f<\/em><em><u><a href=\"http:\/\/ufcw.org\/\">ufcw.org<\/a><\/u><\/em><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which represents 1.2 million essential workers across North America, released a statement ahead of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture\u2019s markup of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, also known as the Farm Bill. UFCW International President Milton Jones\u00a0said: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":426,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[449,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64178","press_releases","type-press_releases","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-official-statements","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UFCW Urging \u2018NO\u2019 Vote on Farm Bill in House Agriculture Committee - The United Food &amp; Commercial Workers International Union<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/ufcw-urging-no-vote-on-farm-bill-in-house-agriculture-committee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UFCW Urging \u2018NO\u2019 Vote on Farm Bill in House Agriculture Committee - The United Food &amp; Commercial Workers International Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which represents 1.2 million essential workers across North America, released a statement ahead of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture\u2019s markup of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, also known as the Farm Bill. 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