Around 1,000 workers at 11 New Seasons Market locations in Portland and Beaverton held a one-day strike Nov. 27 — the day before Thanksgiving and one of the busiest grocery-shopping days of the year. Managers and office staff scrambled to fulfill online turkey and grocery orders for customers who crossed picket lines.
In charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board, New Seasons Labor Union (NSLU) alleges that management has failed to bargain in good faith.
“The way they have been behaving at the table it’s pretty clear they’re not interested in reaching any kind of agreement,” said NSLU Co-Chair Ava Robbins said.
When bargaining began, the union proposed a starting wage of $27 an hour and a yearly cost of living adjustment tied to the consumer price index. Nearly two years later, New Seasons delivered three alternative counterproposals, none of which require it to increase compensation overall:
A “one wage” model in which all bargaining unit employees make $20 an hour (The median wage is currently $20.04 an hour, so this proposal would cut pay for half of the workers, those who’ve worked at the company the longest.)
A second “one wage” proposal in which the company would pay all workers $22 an hour but no longer provide health insurance to bargaining unit members. (This proposal would cut pay for the most senior 20% of workers.)
A one-time raise of 25 or 50 cents an hour depending on job title, paid for by cutting off health benefits for those working less than 30 hours a week (New Seasons currently provides health coverage to those working 22 hours a week or more.) New Seasons proposes this be the only across-the-board raise over its proposed four-year contract term.
New Seasons clerks currently start wage at $16.25 an hour, 30 cents above Portland’s $15.95 minimum wage.
In a November 9 Instagram post, NSLU called the company’s wage proposals “disrespectful and insulting.”
“The company has not given any economic justification for this,” Robbins said. “They’re not pleading poverty.”
The union is now calling on customers to boycott all New Seasons Market locations until workers get a fair contract.
After a previous one-day strike the day before Labor Day, the company agreed to several of the union’s non-economic proposals which the company previously cited as a holdup to their economic response.
“[New Seasons] seemingly only responds to economic damage,” said Ethan Harrison, a worker at the North Williams location. “We don’t pre-plan strikes. We respond to how management acts. Nobody wants to spend our holidays out in the cold, and we let them know numerous times how they could avoid such an action. I’m hopeful they come to their senses and substantively come to the table to avoid causing further disruption.”
“New Seasons Market staff are the heart of our business, and we respect the NSLU’s right to engage in protected activity, which is common during collective bargaining,” a New Seasons Market spokesperson said in an email statement after the strike. “Throughout the collective bargaining process, our priority has been the well-being of our staff and customers. We remain committed to constructive negotiations, which we believe are the path to resolution. We are also grateful that our customers take a vested interest in the well-being of our staff.”
Workers returned Nov. 29 after a planned Thanksgiving holiday closure, and the two sides met again for negotiations Dec. 2-3.
No Contract? No Customers!
New Seasons Labor Union is calling on supporters to sign an online boycott pledge — to let New Seasons know that customers won’t support the company until the company supports its workers with a fair contract. You can sign the pledge at nslu.org/community.
I was deliberately hit by a car at the cedar hills demonstration, but Beaverton police let him go, despite dozens of witnesses.