Simply put: John’s blood flows blue and gold. Meat packer. Shop steward. Picket captain. Union rep. In-house counsel. President. There is not a single part of union organizing John hasn’t seen up close since joining UFCW 770 as a Packing member in 1976. Today, he is ready to lead our union forward through this critical moment in the long march for dignity and democracy. His commitment to working people extends across the city we call home as a champion of safety and health protections and low-cost housing for working families.

Before she even stepped out of law school, Kathy Finn began fighting for the rights of working people. Since 1990, she’s brought that grit and dedication to UFCW 770 workers. With a passion for protecting the health and pension benefits of our members, she currently serves as a trustee on the Southern California UFCW Health & Welfare Fund and the Pension Fund. Kathy also sits at the bargaining table during contract negations to ensure our members get the benefits we deserve.

Lavanza “Cheryl” Butler worked as a head pharmacist at Rite Aid from 1980 to 2002, where she strove to keep working Angelenos healthy. She then joined UFCW 770 as Vice President, with a focus on keeping the benefits and rights of our members in perfect health. Cheryl is currently a member of the California State Board of Pharmacy, the Professional Pharmacist Division Executive Board and the NAACP.

With 17 years of experience in political campaigning, Nam Le is committed to one thing: winning for working people.  From day one, he has been committed to ensuring politics is used for the good of development, housing, and labor. Prior to joining our union, Nam served as a district director for California Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally from South L.A. There his passion for policy and people blossomed. Nam is also Vice President of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance Los Angeles, AFL-CIO.

Matt O’Malley has never questioned which side he is on. For more than two decades, Matt has worked on strategic campaigns to organize and represent the downtrodden and dispossessed. As Director of Research and Collective Bargaining, Matt directs the strategic research informing the Local’s organizing, political and bargaining campaigns, and leads contract negotiations with unionized employers. Prior to joining UFCW Local 770, he was Senior Research Analyst at the AFL-CIO Organizing Department’s Center for Strategic Research. He began his career in the labor movement with the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees (HERE), Local 11, in Los Angeles, California, where he led a successful campaign to organize the LAX Radisson. Matt received his M.S. in Industrial & Labor Relations from Cornell University, and his B.A. in Political Economy from Skidmore College.

When it comes to protecting the rights of working Californians, Paul doesn’t back down. For 15 years, Paul served as a UFCW 770 union rep, where he worked in union shops across Southern California to fight back against employers who threatened the rights of workers. He currently oversees all union reps at our union.

Linda Nguyen is Chief of Staff. She brings over a decade of experience building and leading local and national teams that drive campaigns to improve the lives of working-class people, advocating for economic, social, racial and environmental justice through policy advocacy, coalition building and strategic communications. Prior to joining 770, Linda co-founded Jobs to Move America and was the driving force behind the expansion of the organization’s work nationally to Chicago and New York. Her work led to the passing of good jobs policies on over $5.9 billion of public projects and the creation of thousands of new union manufacturing jobs and pipelines for low-income communities of color. She is an Aspen Institute Job Quality Fellow and holds a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of California, Irvine.

Rigo is responsible for making sure UFCW 770 harnesses the full power of its 30,000 members. In addition to overseeing all organizing activities, he has a special commitment for our most vulnerable co-workers. He serves as a commission on the Los Angeles County Immigrant Protection Advancement Taskforce and a proud founding member of UFCW’s OUTreach – a group dedicated to fighting for full equality for LGBTQ workers on and off the clock.