Bryan Gilderoy just returned from a trip to Wisconsin to canvass for Vice President Kamala Harris. This is his third election canvassing with UFCW 3000, having previously worked in Missouri in 2018, and Minnesota in 2022. This was his first time door knocking for a presidential candidate. He really enjoyed the opportunity to travel with his fellow union members and staff, and feels like his work will make a difference to get Kamala Harris across the finish line in an important swing state!

But Bryan is no stranger to dedicating his time for a good cause. Bryan has worked in the grocery industry for 24 years, in 2008 he started in the produce department at the Kent Fred Meyer. In 2013, Bryan and his wife welcomed their daughter into the world, Bryan says that the night she was born was the night that he decided he would become a shop steward. “For my daughter’s sake, I want to do my small part to help the world become a better place. For me, that’s being a shop steward and helping my coworkers as best I can. I know it makes a difference.”

Bryan’s involvement as a union leader has expanded over the years as he took on other roles and responsibilities, serving on both the Grocery Store Contract Action Team and the Bargaining Committee, joining the UFCW 3000 Executive Board, and serving on many of union committees that address union members interests not only in the work place but in the broader community.

During the COVID pandemic Bryan organized campaigns to get frontline essential workers PPE (personal protective equiptment) and Hazard Pay. After choking smoke from wildfires sent air quality plummeting to dangerously unhealthy levels for everyone from Oregon to Canada, the impacts on grocery workers was felt especially hard. As customers entered and left the store, hundereds of times a day, it brought the smoke in with them. This time inspired Bryan to serve on the Climate Advisory Board. Among the many committee that Bryan has served on, the climate actions are the most important to him.

"All of us Essential workers were there during covid putting our lives at risk to provide much needed services to the public, we will be there again through the smoke from wildfires, the floods from storms, the bitter cold from winter and the heat domes, we just ask that the places we work be safer and more prepared for these extreme weather events."

In 2023 Bryan was an elected delegate to the UFCW International Convention, where he and his fellow union members let their voice be heard on important issues that would determine the direction of our International Union for the next 5 years, and Bryan was there to speak to his fellow delegates about safety and climate change.