James Araby

James Araby is the Director of Strategic Campaigns for UFCW Local 5, a 25,000-member union based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He works across Northern California to build political, organizing, and bargaining power for workers in the grocery, retail, retail drug, cannabis, coffee, bookstore, outdoor retail, and agricultural industries. Araby leads UFCW Local 5’s strategic campaign work, including political campaigns, coalition building, legislative advocacy, communications, and new worker organizing. Since 2019, UFCW Local 5 has organized more than 2,000 workers across multiple industries, with Araby helping design campaigns from first contact through first contract. His recent work has focused on expanding worker power in emerging and changing sectors, including cannabis, specialty coffee, and outdoor retail, while advancing a broader public argument that democracy must be built not only at the ballot box, but also in the workplace. He writes and speaks about the connection between workplace democracy, economic dignity, and the fight against authoritarianism. Araby previously served as Executive Director of the UFCW Western States Council and has worked in the labor movement for more than twenty-five years.