NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS |
Raymond Thomas
CAN WE SPEAK TO THE MANAGER? The union and the community are still
waiting for the CEO’s response to New Seasons Workers United, Jean Eilers
of Portland Jobs with Justice tells a manager at the Seven Corners store.
Cynthia Newton
James Coon
Chris Frost
...New Seasons union
From Page 1
rectly with me, with your man-
agement team, or with anyone
in HR,” Collie wrote. [Just not
as a group, apparently, or not as
New Seasons Workers United.]
In its letter to Collie, New
Seasons Workers United asked
that New Seasons sign a five-
part proposed code of conduct:
■ Sit down with us, discuss our concerns,
and begin to map a shared path forward
■ Publicly commit to respect workers’ right
to organize and not oppose these efforts
■ Publicly commit to not hire “union busting”
firms whose purpose is to undermine our
efforts
■ Comply with all labor laws
■ Rehire with full back pay any worker
terminated because of their involvement
in worker-led efforts to improve standards
at New Seasons
That last item wasn’t hypo-
thetical. In charges filed Nov. 17
with the National Labor Rela-
tions Board (NLRB), Local 555
alleges that New Seasons unlaw-
fully terminated a worker for
supporting a union campaign.
Adrian Mendoza, a deli
worker at the North Williams
New Seasons store, heard about
the union effort over the summer
and became an enthusiastic sup-
porter, talking with co-workers
and getting more than 20 of them
to sign a petition. Then on Sept.
21, CEO Collie and New Sea-
sons “Chief People Officer”
Kristi McFarland met with Men-
doza personally at his workplace
and heard his concerns about the
company. Less than two weeks
later, he was terminated. Men-
doza says he was told he was
fired for having created a hostile
work environment, and because
his presence was making co-
workers uncomfortable.
“I’ve always been very vocal
at work,” Mendoza says.
Presumably New Seasons will
argue, when the NLRB pursues
its investigation, that Mendoza
was terminated for reasons other
than union involvement.
By mid-November, store
managers were pulling workers
in one by one to present another
letter from the CEO, describing
Local 555 as “an outside organi-
zation.” “This union would seek
to speak, act, and make decisions
on your behalf,” Collie wrote.
“We always want our conversa-
tions to be directly with you.”
New Seasons also always
wants to be transparent, Collie
said in the letter — yet the com-
pany’s designated media contact
would neither confirm nor deny
that New Seasons has hired the
union avoidance consultants
Cruz & Associates — the same
firm that Oregon window manu-
facturer Jeld-Wen hired last year
to bust a union campaign by the
Machinists union.
On Nov. 21, small delegations
of pro-union workers, joined by
union and community support-
ers, visited four New Seasons
stores and asked to speak with
store managers.
“Portland is a strong union
community,” Laborers Local 483
representative Ted Bryan told the
manager of the Seven Corners
store. “The community is going
to be paying attention to how
New Seasons responds to their
workers.”
“At this point all we’re asking
the CEO to do is call and set up
a meeting,” said Marty Hen-
dark, an employee at the
Hawthorne Boulevard New
Seasons. “We’re asking that
they live up to the ‘speak-up’
culture she proudly touts.”
HOW TO SHOW SOLIDARITY
New Seasons Workers United is asking
supporters to call New Seasons CEO
Wendy Collie at 503-473-8720 and
ask her not to retaliate against work-
ers for organizing a union.
Melissa Haggerty
Sydney Montanaro
Why is it that a
worker injured on
the job is made to
feel like they are now
"the accused" who
did something
wrong? Good
question! Don’t
let them add insult
to your injury!
820 SW Second Ave., Suite 200,
Portland, OR 97204
Scott Sell
Chris Thomas
www.tcnf.legal
SHOP LOCAL. AND BUY UNION AND AMERICAN-MADE!
December 1, 2017 | PAGE 3