Tacoma grocery’s workers prepare for union vote after changes implemented by new owner
Workers at a local independent grocery store known for its array of organic food and deli takeout have moved to unionize.
Representatives with UFCW Local 367 told The News Tribune that the workers with Marlene’s Market & Deli, 2951 S. 38th St. in Tacoma, have filed for a National Labor Relations Board election seeking representation with the union.
The union represents 8,000 workers in grocery, retail and other industries across Pierce, Mason, Lewis, Thurston, Pacific and Grays Harbor counties.
Lassens Natural Foods & Vitamins grocery chain of California acquired Marlene’s in November in the chain’s first expansion into the Pacific Northwest. While Lassens owns the Tacoma and Federal Way stores, it has continued to operate them under the original “Marlene’s” store names.
So far it is just Tacoma store workers who have gone public with a labor-organizing drive. The store employs more than 50 workers.
Neither the Lassens representative nor store managers in Tacoma or Federal Way immediately responded Wednesday to requests for comment on the Tacoma organizing efforts.
Tacoma store changes led to organizing efforts
According to the NLRB filing, the unit description includes all “full-time and regular part-time employees employed by the Employer primarily at its facility located at 2951 S. 38th St, Tacoma.”
“Supervisors, guards and confidential employees as defined by the Act” are excluded.
A confidential employee is broadly defined as one who helps formulate management policies and has access to confidential information.
Workers cited store changes implemented by Lassens for their decision to move toward organizing, including reduced store hours (closed on Sundays), decreased paid time off and changes to healthcare benefits and paid holidays.
A Lassens representative at the time of the stores’ acquisition acknowledged in an email to The News Tribune in response to questions that the “biggest change is that the stores will be closed Sundays.”
John Scearcy, UFCW 367 Grievance and Bargaining coordinator, told The News Tribune that the move to close the store on Sundays was hard on both the employees and shoppers.
“For employees, of course that’s one-seventh of a schedule and access to hours that goes away immediately. And then for customers, we find a lot of customers saying Sunday was their shopping day,” he said.
Joe Kennedy is a deli worker at the Tacoma store, who has worked there 2-1/2 years. He told The News Tribune in an interview that other issues include poor communication with out-of-state store officials and inadequate training on new systems introduced by Lassens.
“We are in the middle of a union-organization drive,” he said, “because we’re seeking better pay, better benefits, better health care, better training and safety training.”
He added that the workers “seek more of a voice ... more of a coming together and having more of a say in the decisions.”
“We were kind of thrown into the deep end without training (which) created a lot of stress,” he noted.
“I’ve enjoyed working at Marlene’s and have the upmost respect for everyone that works and shops there,” Monica Poole, a 10-year employee, said in a statement sent via UFCW 367, adding that “we need a strong voice and deserve livable wages, and affordable quality healthcare.”
In another statement forwarded to The News Tribune by Local 367, Rabeca Reynolds, another employee at the Tacoma store, stated that workers also seek “pay that mirrors the economic hardships within our community and can be known and expected instead of hoping that a performance review will produce a raise at an unknown monetary interval.”
“During this process, we have lost co-workers, benefits, and our culture,” Reynolds stated.
“At-will employment, in which a company can fire an employee for ‘any or no reason’ is a terrifying reality, even for the highest performers,” Reynolds added.
Washington state Department of Labor and Industries notes on its website, “While Washington is an at-will employment state, employers cannot fire or retaliate against an employee who exercises a protected right or files a complaint under certain employment laws.”
As for where the organizing is in the process, Kennedy stated, “We’ve served a notice to Lassens and the management that we do want to be recognized as a union. We are waiting for a response. And we’ve also filed with the National Labor Relations Board so they would go through the process that they need to go through.”
He added that “that is typically going to take us a month or so to go to the next step, which would be a vote.”
