In 2005, Ernest Duran, President of UFCW Local 7 in Colorado negotiated concessions for 8,000 Kroger workers. The four year contract froze wages and made workers pay health-care co-payments for the first time.1 UFCW Local 7 also negotiated a four year contract for 8,500 Safeway workers that was nearly identical to the Kroger deal, which included pay freezes and health-care co-payments.2
From 2005, the time when 16,500 UFCW members’ wages were frozen, through 2009, Duran’s union compensation increased more than $80,000. Over the course of this time, Local 7 raised membership dues by nearly $200 a year.3
Over that same time, UFCW Local 7 spent $76,382 on tickets to Denver Bronco’s football games. This is the equivalent to using the yearly dues of 209 members solely for the purpose of purchasing tickets. 4
Duran had union members pay for his two week trip to Spain so he could learn Spanish.5 Duran also put his family members on the Union payroll, giving each of them compensation exceeding $130,000.6 The Durans used the union’s funds, taken from thousands of dues payers, to pay for lavish dinners where no business was discussed. 7
As a final thank you, when Duran retired at the end of 2009, the union gave him a car which cost nearly $50,000.8
While the thousands of UFCW Local 7’s rank and file members were forced into concessions and increased dues payments, the local’s leadership frivolously spent the members’ hard earned money. Duran bankrolled his personal life on the banks of the workers he claimed to represent.
1 Kristi Arellano, “Union Leader Ponders His First Defeat,” The Denver Post, 3/13/05
2 Kristi Arellano, “Union Leader Ponders His First Defeat,” The Denver Post, 3/13/05; Jeff Tucker, “Safeway Workers OK Four-Year Agreement,” The Pueblo Chieftain, 3/29/05
3 UFCW Local 7, 2005-2009 LM-2 Filings, U.S. Department of Labor
4 UFCW Local 7, 2005-2009 LM-2 Filings, U.S. Department of Labor
5 Catherine Tsai, “UFCW Local 7 Picks New Union Leaders,” Associated Press State & Local Wire, 9/23/09
6 Andy Vuong, “UFCW Chieftain Voted Out,” The Denver Post, 9/23/09
7 Editorial, “A Chance At Reform After UFCW Local 7 Shake-up,” The Denver Post, 9/24/09
8 UFCW Local 7 LM-2 Filing, U.S. Department of Labor, 2009
