2022 Man of the Year -
Steve Meador, UFCW 400
Hello, my name is Stephen A Meador (Steve). I was born on June 24th,1968 at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, and have lived in Roanoke VA my whole life. I am one of 3 boys who were blessed to be raised by a stay-at-home mom, while my father worked for Kroger and was a union member. I grew up in a home where we were taught to have an extraordinarily strong work ethic. My Uncle, Aunt and Cousin all work or have worked for Kroger and were all supportive Union members.
I began working for Kroger in 1987 at the age of 19 and immediately signed my Union card. I worked my way up to Head Grocery Clerk by 2007 and continued to work as Head Grocery clerk in four different stores. The first store was the 460 Kroger and then I transferred to the Salem Kroger Ridgewood Farms store, and then onto the Hollins Kroger and lastly the Daleville Kroger store. I was always proactively mobilizing my co-workers to sign up with our Union.
In 2004 I served on my first contract bargaining committee for UFCW Local 400. I continued to serve on the committee in 2007, and again in 2012. While working at Kroger for over 27 years I became extremely interested in pursuing a career within UFCW Local 400. In 2013 UFCW Local 400 approached me to become a Special Representative for our Union. In 2014 I was hired on as a full time Representative for UFCW Local 400.I genuinely love my job of being a Representative for UFCW Local 400 over the last 9 years. Helping our members solve their work-related issues and enforcing workers’ rights at Kroger is my passion.
I serve as a Delegate on the Western Virginia Labor Federation AFL-CIO and am currently an Executive Board member of the State of Virginia AFL-CIO. I also am a current member of our Western VA Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women. I enjoy participating every year in the Roanoke Labor Day Parade, marching with UFCW Local 400 alongside my daughter Erica and my fellow Union Representatives.
In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my family as well as my girlfriend Tanya Caldarella, as well as spending time with my 4 dogs. One of my best loves is watching Ice hockey and my favorite team is The Washington Capitals, go Weagles!!!