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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2015)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | March 20, 2015 | PAGE 3 Amid union activity, Grand Central Baking closes cafe Laborers Local 483 says Sawtooth Cafe closed early after an employee protest By Don McIntosh Associate Editor Grand Central Baking — a pop- ular local chain of artisan bak- eries — is facing accusations that it closed its Northwest Port- land cafe months ahead of schedule in retaliation for em- ployees there having made de- mands. The allegation is con- tained in a charge filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) by Laborers Local 483. It’s not the first time Grand Central has been scrutinized by the federal agency: In June 2013, Grand Central settled an NLRB charge that it fired cafe worker Ryan Wisnor for complaining about safety, wages, and staffing on behalf of co-workers. Grand Central agreed to reinstate Wis- nor with back pay, but he was one of the eight who were then laid off in the closure of the Saw- tooth Cafe, located at 2240 NW York in the industrial part of Northwest Portland. The closure came as a shock to workers interviewed for this story. Grand Central is a success- ful company that has grown from a single Seattle location 25 years ago to 10 locations in Port- land and Seattle today. The closure was announced at a Jan. 4 staff meeting attended by workers from the Sawtooth Cafe and Grand Central’s adja- cent wholesale bakery. At the meeting, workers say, company co-owner Piper Davis an- nounced that because wholesale bread demand was exceeding bakery capacity, Grand Central would close the Sawtooth and use the space to expand the wholesale bakery. Cafe workers didn’t take the news well. Sev- eral began to cry. Davis said the closure would happen March 31, to give workers and customers time to adjust. A week later, some of the workers asked Grand Central HR manager Paul Munoz if the company could give them pref- erential rehire at other locations. Munoz said no, but promised to let them know by email when positions become available. They could apply like anyone else, and give their best inter- view. Then on Jan. 16, all but one of the pink-slipped workers — joined by co-workers and a dozen community supporters from Portland Jobs with Justice — marched into a manager’s of- fice to present a written demand Social Security Disability benefits: You paid into the system while you worked and if you can’t work anymore, it’s time to obtain them. for the right to preferential rehir- ing. The company didn’t respond. Instead, on Jan. 22, managers called a meeting at the end of the day, and told Sawtooth Cafe workers not to come back the next day. Workers would get five weeks severance pay, and health insurance through the end of February, but the Sawtooth would close immediately — more than two months before the previously announced clo- sure date. Why the sped-up closure? Co-owner Davis told the Labor Press that the company didn’t close the cafe early out of retali- ation. “We totally support employ- ees’ Section 7 rights,” Davis said — a reference to workers’ rights under the National Labor Rela- tions Act to join a union or act in concert. Rather, the cafe was closed because it was becoming increasingly difficult to sched- ule, Davis said. A manager had quit months before, a worker had to be fired for leaving a safe unlocked, and remaining work- ers weren’t flexible enough with shifts, Davis said. But several laid-off workers disputed that, saying there were enough work- ers available to keep the store open until March 31. The NLRB case may hinge on which side is more plausible. It’s being inves- tigated by NLRB field attorney Lisa Dunn, who investigated Grand Central’s previous charge. Since the closure, Grand Cen- tral has made good on its pledge to notify terminated employees of new openings at other loca- tions. But at least two have ap- plied for open positions, and the company hasn’t hired them back, even when it was the same job they did at the Sawtooth Cafe. “It’s less than I’d expect from a company that holds itself to the standards it does,” said laid-off Sawtooth worker Casey Enns. Grand Central has cultivated a reputation as an ethical busi- ness. It uses pastured eggs, hu- manely-raised meat, sustainably caught tuna from the Oregon coast, and flour from Northwest farmers. And its compensation is relatively high for its industry: Cafe workers make up to $12.50 an hour, and bakers up to $15. Employees working more than 25 hours a week get health insur- ance for as little as $20 a month. There’s also one to three weeks paid vacation a year, a 25 per- cent 401(k) match, and quarterly profit sharing checks of up to 70 cents an hour. Workers at the Sawtooth Cafe say they loved their jobs. Yet they may also have wanted a union. In October 2014, the Sawtooth workers began talking with Laborers Local 483. Local 483 is a public sector local of the Laborers Interna- tional Union of North America (LiUNA). But Local 483 also has some history fighting for low-wage workers, and recently helped a group of food service workers at the Oregon Zoo unionize. Closing the cafe and laying off the workers appears to have nipped any union campaign in the bud. Whether the sped-up closure was done only for legiti- mate business reasons, or some- thing more, NLRB will try to de- termine. An online petition calling on Grand Central to rehire the workers into open positions has over 600 signatures. Merkley introduces bill to crack down on unfair trade practices U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) has introduced a bill that would crack down on unfair trade prac- tices and level the playing field for American manufacturing companies. “If we don’t make things in America, we won’t have a mid- dle class in America. Global trade shouldn’t be a race to the bottom where countries win by allowing corporations to adopt abysmal labor and environmen- tal practices” Merkley said at a press conference March 13 in front of the abandoned Blue Heron paper mill in Oregon City. He was joined by several laid-off workers who used to have good-paying jobs at paper mills in Oregon before they shut down and relocated overseas. The Level the Playing Field in Global Trade Act would, for the first time, require that any new trade deals considered un- der Trade Promotion Authority (fast track) recognize egregious environmental and labor prac- tices as a form of illegal subsidy that can be remedied by U.S. du- ties. Merkley pointed out that current U.S. law and trade agreements already prohibit “dumping” of products, where companies export products at prices below the cost of produc- tion or cheaper than they sell for in the home country. The law allows the U.S. to impose duties to make the sale price in Amer- ica reflect what the true cost would be without cheating. The Act would reward com- panies that adhere to high global standards by creating new trade enforcement incentives. “As we debate our future trade policy, we need to make sure that we’re not allowing the deck to be permanently stacked against American manufactur- ing,” Merkley said. “On a level playing field, American manu- facturing and American workers can compete with the best in the world. Let’s create that level playing field by counting vastly sub-standard wage and environ- mental standards as exactly what they are — unfair subsi- dies that cost jobs and damage manufacturers who play by the rules.” The Level the Playing Field in Global Trade Act is co-spon- sored by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).
