Elected Officers (2023-2027)

President

Mark Lauritsen

In 2017, Mark Lauritsen was elected President of the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF). Mark serves as International Vice President and Director of the Food Processing, Packing and Manufacturing Division of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). A third-generation packinghouse worker who began his union career as a shop steward in the Wilson Foods meatpacking plant in Cherokee, Iowa, Mark’s rank-and-file perspective guides his work to unite worker activists from across the country. He spearheads the UFCW’s work to organize new packinghouse workers, negotiate contracts, and to educate political and community allies in the effort to raise standards for all workers in the meat packing and food processing industries.

General Secretary

Sue Longley

Sue Longley was elected General Secretary of the IUF in 2017, the first woman to hold the post. Prior to her election, she served as IUF Assistant General Secretary from 2016 and from 1994 as the IUF’s International Coordinator for Agriculture and Plantations. Sue earlier worked for the IUF-affiliated Transport and General Workers Union, now Unite the Union, where she held several posts including Editor of the union’s journal, the Landworker. The IUF Rules and their commitment to “actively promote the organization of the world’s resources in food for the common good” have been one of Sue’s key priorities and have shaped how she engages with farmers, global food companies and the UN system in defense of workers’ rights and in the battle for a sustainable food system.