Food Coop workers push for ‘neutrality pledge’
Employees at Park Slope grocery store demand management end intimidation
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
Labor leaders are accusing
management at the Park Slope
Food Co-op of violating employees’
efforts to unionize by refusing
to sign a “neutrality pledge,”
despite a recent settlement with
federal labor authorities.
“They’re not just squashing
the unionization efforts.
They’re intimidating workers,”
said labor organizer Chelsea
Connor. “They’ve taken retaliatory
measures against employees.”
Workers are demanding
management at Park Slope’s
unique brand of food-based
communism sign a “neutrality
pledge” committing the store to
refrain from taking any action
that would stymie their effort
to organize, which has so far
been plagued by accusations of
union busting on the part of the
market’s granola-munching
leadership.
“Companies aren’t allowed
to retaliate against unionization
efforts, but many of them
do — as is the case with the
Food Co-op — because labor
laws aren’t strong enough,”
said Connor. “So, neutrality
agreements offer an added
layer of protection to workers
while they’re going through the
unionization process.”
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avenues employs 72 fulltime
paid staffers, who work
hand-in-hand with co-op members
that contribute two hours
and 45 minutes of labor per
month in exchange for the right
to purchase cheap, organic produce
and use the supermarket
as a platform to advocate for international
issues .
The paid staffers’ effort
to unionize gained headlines
in April, when the New York
Post reported on several veiled
threats that co-op managers
allegedly aimed at workers,
including one store head who
told staffers they “should have
a backup plan” if their collective
bargaining scheme petered
out.
The Nation Labor Relations
Board — the federal body that
governs labor laws in the United
States — ordered managers not
to meddle in the unionization
process amid a settlement earlier
this month, which required
the co-op to post fl iers detailing
their rights to organize.
But even with federal watchdogs
breathing down their neck,
co-op management still haven’t
warmed to the unionization effort,
according to Connor, who
said that whatever passes for
ownership at the leftist supermarket
remains obstinately opposed
to the neutrality pact.
“We asked them for a neutrality
agreement, and they
wouldn’t even sit down with us
to talk about it,” she said. “They
haven’t even come to the table
to discuss it.”
The recent settlement bars
Connor from speaking openly
about certain aspects of the coop’s
secretive inner workings,
but she was able to describe
how employers use various tactics
to cow perspective union
members — such as threatening
them with termination,
writing them up for disciplinary
actions, and reassigning
them to arduous tasks as punishment.
Co-op workers declined to
be interviewed publicly for fear
of retaliation, but their website
details the complaints that have
led them to advocate for collective
bargaining power.
One of the major sticking
points is their status as “at-will
employees” who can be terminated
at any time, without
proper cause. They also complain
of overwork, inconsistent
scheduling, and inadequate
workplace safety standards.
Co-op members have supported
the market’s full-time
staffers through an online petition
that has garnered 3,300 signatures,
and union advocates
hope the recent settlement and
added attention will lead additional
shoppers to intervene on
their behalf.
One petition author said she
hopes members’ grassroots advocacy
will force management
to engage in good-faith discussions.
“The management... said
that the members don’t have
anything to do with this. We
are pushing back against that,”
said HanaKyle Moranz.
Co-op management did
not respond to requests for
comment.
Full-time employees at the Park Slope Food Coop are attempting to
unionize, but they feel that managers are interfering in their efforts.
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