The AFL-CIO Executive Council mourns the passing of our brother and friend, Douglas H. Dority, former international president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW).
Dority began his union career in the 1960s by organizing the grocery store where he worked in Lynchburg, Virginia. He served in various roles for the UFCW and its predecessor, the Retail Clerks International Union, working as a field organizer on campaigns across the United States and Canada, particularly in Quebec and Ontario. In 1994, he became international president of the UFCW, a position he held for 10 years.
As international president, Dority led the union’s expansion through mergers and organizing drives while strengthening protections for members’ wages, health care and pensions. He intensified the union’s efforts to organize workers at Walmart and guided tens of thousands of grocery workers through major strikes across the country to preserve their health care benefits.
Dority was an engaged member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council, serving on a number of committees, including as chair of the Organizing Committee. He strived throughout his career to improve the lives of working people, and his efforts strengthened our labor movement.