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United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 919
Launched in 1983, the UFCW Local 919 & Contributing Employers' Food Pension Fund serves union members across Connecticut in grocery, retail, and cannabis...
United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 919
Launched in 1983, the UFCW Local 919 & Contributing Employers' Food Pension Fund serves union members across Connecticut in grocery, retail, and cannabis industries. President Mark Espinosa and Secretary-Treasurer Jason Dokla govern the plan as trustees, with major contributing employers including Stop & Shop (Ahold Delhaize) and Verano/CTPharma. The plan provides retirement, disability, and death benefits to eligible workers under a noncontributory structure — members do not fund their own benefits. The pension deploys capital across buyout, venture capital (including early-stage and seed), distressed debt, mezzanine, and special situations mandates. The strategy relies primarily on fund commitments rather than direct co-investments. Public records show the fund's asset mix includes allocations to private credit, hedge funds, and real estate vehicles. Geographic focus centers on North American managers, consistent with a Taft-Hartley plan serving a Connecticut-based membership. The plan's operational footprint is concentrated at the UFCW Local 919 headquarters in Farmington, Connecticut. The union also maintains a separately administered Strike Assistance Fund. In 2024, the fund continued its long-standing relationship with Stop & Shop, a subsidiary of Ahold Delhaize, which remains the largest single contributing employer to the pension pool. The union's cannabis sector organizing — covering workers at Verano's CTPharma facilities — has added a newer employer contribution stream to the plan's funding base. As a Taft-Hartley multi-employer pension plan, the fund's governance structure is its defining feature: half the trustees represent the union, half represent contributing employers, and all investment decisions require consensus. This bipartite oversight creates a built-in fiduciary check absent from single-sponsor corporate pensions. The plan operates under ERISA guidelines and files publicly accessible Form 5500 disclosures with the Department of Labor annually.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1983
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Farmington
Corporate office
Farmington, CT, United States
Principals
Mark A. Espinosa
President
Jason Dokla
Secretary-Treasurer
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who controls investment decisions at the UFCW Local 919 Pension Fund?
A bipartite board of trustees — half appointed by UFCW Local 919, half by contributing employers — governs all investment decisions. President Mark Espinosa represents the union side, while employer trustees are selected from companies contributing to the plan. All asset allocation and manager selection decisions require consensus between labor and management trustees, a standard structure under Taft-Hartley rules.
How is the UFCW Local 919 Pension Fund funded?
The plan is noncontributory for members — workers do not contribute from their wages. All funding comes from employer contributions negotiated through collective bargaining agreements with UFCW Local 919. Stop & Shop (Ahold Delhaize) is the largest contributing employer, with additional contributions flowing from cannabis operators including Verano/CTPharma and other unionized retail and food-industry employers.
Does the fund make direct investments, or does it commit through external managers?
The fund operates primarily through a fund-of-funds model, committing capital to external managers across buyout, venture, distressed debt, and mezzanine strategies. There is no public evidence of a direct co-investment program. This is consistent with smaller Taft-Hartley plans, which typically lack the internal staffing to underwrite direct deals.
What asset classes does the UFCW Local 919 Pension Fund allocate to?
Public records indicate allocations spanning private equity buyout, venture capital (from seed through expansion stage), distressed debt, mezzanine lending, special situations, hedge funds, and real estate. The fund does not publicly disclose specific manager names or allocation percentages by asset class.
Is the UFCW Local 919 Pension Fund in strong funded status?
The fund's most recent funded status is not publicly disclosed by the plan. As a multi-employer Taft-Hartley plan, it files annual Form 5500 reports with the Department of Labor. These filings provide detailed actuarial information, including funded ratios, and are publicly accessible for allocators conducting counterparty due diligence.
Does the fund apply any ESG or labor-friendly investment screens?
As a union pension fund, the plan has a structural preference for investment managers with labor-friendly policies, though no formal ESG screen is publicly disclosed. Taft-Hartley plans commonly prioritize manager diversity and worker-aligned governance, and the fund's sponsor — UFCW — maintains active relationships with labor-focused investor networks including the AFL-CIO.
How is the pension fund separated from the union's operating budget?
The pension fund is a legally distinct trust, governed by ERISA and administered by a joint board of union and employer trustees. Plan assets are segregated from UFCW Local 919's general treasury and its Strike Assistance Fund. Federal law prohibits use of pension assets for any purpose other than providing benefits and defraying reasonable plan expenses.
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