WASHINGTON, DC (September 9, 2025) – Today, United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 Union President Mark Federici released the following statement regarding the Trump administration’s deployment of troops and federal takeover of Washington, DC:
“The federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department, deployment of armed military personnel, and expanded use of federal law enforcement are alarming acts of aggression against the people of Washington, D.C, including thousands of our members who live and work there. Militarizing our communities creates a hostile environment for our members, their families, friends, and neighbors. This approach does not make residents safer and undoes years of work building more collaborative and trusting relationships between residents and government officials, including law enforcement, in the District.
“Every day, we learn of deeply troubling incidents where federal agents have shown little to no regard for our well-being, even going so far as to send armed men in masks to our members’ elementary schools and day care facilities to pull families apart, terrorizing children.
“While the administration claims this is to address crime, the reality is different. If Republican governors or the President truly wish to address crime, they would deploy troops in their own states, where crime rates exceed those of Washington, DC. Their refusal to do so proves that their reasons are disingenuous at best.
“This situation is only possible because the people who reside in our nation’s capital live under the same regime our country was founded to oppose – taxation without representation. District residents have no voting representation in Congress and their right to self-determination is at the whim of the federal government. It is because of this lack of democratic representation that the administration can forcefully exert its will on the Americans who live there.
“Now, Congress is considering legislation to seize all local control from Washington, DC, residents, taking city governance back to a time before the Civil Rights movement when it was completely under the control of a Congress that residents have no say over. This legislation directly attacks the fundamentally American principle of self-governance and must be stopped.
“If we do not take a stand now, what is happening to our members in Washington, DC will eventually affect other Americans. In a sign of what’s to come, on Saturday, the administration threatened war against Chicago. It goes without saying that we should never tolerate a president threatening war against our fellow Americans. And we will not sit idly by and allow this attack on Home Rule in the District to continue.
“Together, along with our union siblings from the Metro Washington Labor Council and countless other local organizations, UFCW Local 400 demands:
- ICE out of our communities
- An end to the president’s control over the Metropolitan Police Department
- Immediate withdrawal of all National Guard members
- The right to protect our communities in the future, permanently
“UFCW Local 400 proudly represents members of all colors, creeds, nations of origin, and political affiliations. We are committed to fighting for their freedom, fairness in the workplace, and meaningful opportunities for a better life, free from oppression. Armed troops and masked federal agents will not achieve this; we must do it ourselves as a united labor movement, ready to protect the rights and dignity of all people.”
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United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 is led by President Mark Federici and represents 35,000 members working in the grocery, retail, health care, food processing, service and other industries in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. www.ufcw400.org