Workers at 10 New Seasons stores in the Portland-metro area held a one-day strike Sept. 1 after the independent New Seasons Labor Union (NSLU) accused management of bargaining in bad faith. Nearly 1,000 workers took part in the strike, which started with Saturday night freight crews not coming to sorting shifts. Workers took part in the strike at 10 of the 11 unionized stores. The union determined that strike vote turnout wasn’t high enough at the University Park store at 6300 N Lombard St. to call for a strike there, but the store’s freight crew ended up joining the strike anyway. Workers at all stores returned to the job on Sept. 2, Labor Day.
“I haven’t had a raise in three years,” said North Williams store cheese department worker Katy Hamson on the picket line. Hamson has worked at five New Seasons stores since 2000.
“The attendance policy is the worst I’ve ever seen while working here,” Hamson said. “Good workers are getting fired for being six minutes late. That’s just balderdash. They don’t respect us. They talk to us like we’re children, and I am just over it.”
Picket lines were lively with chants, and customers mostly stayed away when approached by picketers. The Portland chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America brought coffee and pastries to all 10 picket lines, and members of other unions came by to show support.
Outside the Arbor Lodge store at 8:30 a.m., the parking lot was empty.
“People are fed up and want to give the company a piece of their mind,” said Brian Berry, an online shopping lead and NSLU Steering Committee representative at the Arbor Lodge New Seasons.
After the union announced Aug. 27 that members voted 82% to authorize a strike, New Seasons threatened discipline in a letter to all staff saying that the company may consider an “intermittent strike” to be a form of striking unprotected by federal labor law. Union leaders called the letter a scare tactic to prevent members from engaging in a lawful strike. But NSLU Secretary Hans Heintze said the union has not heard of any retaliation from management against striking workers since they returned to work.
A New Seasons spokesperson confirmed by email that no disciplinary action was taken, saying “New Seasons Market recognizes and respects employees’ rights to engage in legally protected activities, including strikes and picketing.”
New Seasons was able to keep stores open with a skeleton crew of department managers and a small number of workers who crossed the picket line, but foot traffic was low and parking lots were almost entirely empty all day. The union reported nearly all members called to strike participated. At the Seven Corners location, a typical non-holiday weekend would see around $100,000 in daily sales. On the day of the strike the store saw less than $6,500, the union reported.
“The sales impact was so enormous I’m sure the tiny group of managers had no problem running a store with almost no customers,” said Heintze, who works at the Slabtown location. “Slabtown normally does $100,000 to $110,000 in sales on a Sunday. It did $27,000 and was the highest grossing store [on strike]. We estimate that in total impact there was at least $750,000 in lost sales.”
NSLU and New Seasons Market management have been bargaining for over 20 months, and management has yet to present a counter to the union’s economic proposals on wages, or agree to mediation.
The New Seasons spokesperson said under the mutually agreed bargaining ground rules, they’re supposed to reach agreement on all non-economic items before moving on to economic proposals. The two sides haven’t reached agreement on all non-economic issues.
In August, New Seasons Market’s parent company E-Mart informed the union that they had replaced law firm Ogletree Deakins with local attorney Dennis Westlind. Westlind represented Portland Public Schools in negotiations with the Portland Association of Teachers last year.
“I’m not sure how much this will affect the company’s approach to bargaining, but we’re hopeful that it will help with availability to bargain since they don’t have to fly in their lawyer from out of state,” Heintze said. “We are proposing that we meet once a week.”
The two sides are scheduled to meet again Oct. 23 and 24.
“I don’t think this is sustainable,” NSLU Co-Chair Ava Robbins said outside the Concordia store. “If they actually want to come to the table in good faith, we would love to work with them on a contract. But if they are only committed to crushing the union, who knows how long they can hold out. I just know we have the strength and the solidarity to hold out longer.”
CORRECTION: The PDX Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) brought “socialist sandwiches” to every picket line, thanks to our national labor solidarity fund. We also held a fundraiser, netting $2,500 for the strike fund. And our Art Committee organized screen printing of the picket signs (made of cloth). In addition, we organized leafleting of customers in the three days leading up to the strike. Of course, we were also on every picket line, discouraging customers from crossing and boosting the morale of strikers. News since from the table is several items have been tentatively agreed, including increased steward rights. When we fight, we win!