UPDATED: Workers at Mississippi Market Announce Unionization Campaign

 

Update from Workday magazine: On October 9, 101 workers from across Mississippi Market Co-op’s three locations in the Twin Cities voted in a union election, and 82 workers voted yes to union representation. Around 158 employees will be represented by United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Local 1189, which also represents thousands of health care, food processing, cannabis, and other retail workers in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, including workers at the Wedge Co-op in Minneapolis, the River Market Co-op in Stillwater, Minn., and the Whole Foods Co-op in Duluth, Minn.

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On September 19, workers at Mississippi Market Coop Grocery announced that they were unionizing. Their union election date will be October 9. According to a post on the union Instagram page, the vote will be held from 9am – 11am and 3pm – 5pm at each store on that date. 

Unionizing workers with the Market shared a letter on September 20 discussing their intent to unionize. It reads in part, “We believe the only way to have a seat at the table is by forming a union. We have tried going through the channels available to us but have found no success.” [The full letter is below.] 

The union campaign encompasses workers from all three Mississippi Market Coop stories: West 7th, East 7th, and Selby Ave. 

“It’s been a background conversation amongst workers, but recently there’s been a lot of restructuring in the store and it put a lot of workers in the position that I never want to see happen again. It really pushed us to reach out to UFCW to see how they can help us,” said Rowan Garrigan, coop worker and worker-leader. Garrigan is also a member-owner with the coop. 

UFCW is the United Food and Commercial Workers. In Minnesota UFCW locals represent employees at Seward Coop, The Wedge Coop, Kowalski’s Markets, Cub Foods, Lunds & Byerlys, and other workers. 

In a letter to workers, CEO Catherine Downey urged employees to carefully consider whether or not unionizing is the right decision for themselves and the co-op. In the letter, Downey states, “As many of you know, last Thursday, UFCW 1189 asked us to voluntarily recognize the union as the bargaining representative of MM employees. I didn’t agree to that and want you to know why.”

Downey went on to say, “The decision of whether or not to unionize is yours and yours alone. Not mine, not the union’s, not anyone’s but those directly affected by the decision. It is an important decision that should be made through a free and fair election. It is for this reason that I denied the union’s request.”

Downey also released a statement to the Minnesota Women’s Press, “The question of unionization should be decided not by us or the union, but by our employees. The National Labor Relations Board has vast experience administering such elections, and we support its oversight here. We believe it’s important for every employee to have a vote. We are confident that our employees will study the issue and make a decision that is right for them and their families. We will respect their choice.” 

In her interview with the Minnesota Women’s Press, Garrigan discusses various issues faced by workers, including a restructuring that demoted several workers, folks losing their jobs because they lacked the sick leave they needed, and more. [Minnesota Women’s Press did not independently verify these claims.]

“It’s just a lot of little things that add up … if the market were accountable to someone and accountable to their staff, it would really do a lot to bring back the balance for a healthy community ecosystem,” said Garrigan. 

During a September 24 meeting, Mississippi Market board members discussed the co-op’s response. Several member-owners spoke up during the public comment period, all urged the Board to support the unionization effort, and some went as far as to ask that the Board force the CEO and management to voluntarily recognize the union — which would mean the union could be the legal bargaining representative of employees without the need for an election. 

“I know that if the union is blocked and busted again, people in the community will make sure to pull out from the co-op as members and we don’t want to do that, because we don’t want big corporations — we want to support co-ops. But if the co-op is not pro-labor, pro-worker, that’s not a co-op value,” said one member-owner.  [The Minnesota Women’s Press was able to have a reporter present at the meeting, because the reporter is a member-owner. However, because there was no opportunity to announce that transparently at the meeting, we did not include a name with this quote.] 

Member-owners expressed dismay with the Board that they limited public comment time. 

Following the meeting, the union’s Instagram page — @mmarketunion — shared a statement from member-owner Janette that read, “The board should have allowed for enough time for member comments. … I was also disappointed by the board’s dismissive attitude and abdication of their responsibilities. The board can and should direct the CEO to voluntarily recognize the union.” 

The current attempt to unionize at Mississippi Market is not its first time. Workers also tried to unionize in 2018-2019. Mississippi Market is also not the first coop in Minnesota to potentially unionize; The Wedge Coop unionized in 2015 and Seward Coop unionized a few years later.  

Garrigan states that member-owners with Mississippi Market Coop, in support of the union, should let coop management know that they stand with unionizing employees. 

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Cirien Saadeh, freelance journalist and article author, is a member-owner of Mississippi Market. 

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Letter, posted on Instagram September 20, shared by Mississippi Market workers We, the workers of Mississippi Market, believe in the values and principles of the co-op movement. We seek to embody those values in our work. Ideas like a just and inclusive local economy and democratic control are more than abstract concepts to us. For this reason, and many others, we have come together to make our voices heard and join with our fellow workers in a union.  We take pride in our work and the experience that we offer you from the moment you enter the store to the time you spend preparing your purchases at home; however, the current system prevents us from taking care of ourselves, our families, and our communities. We already look out for each other but do not feel like we are looked out for by administration. We suffer from unpredictable schedules, unrealistic attendance policies, and unequal enforcement of their own standards. We believe the only way to have a seat at the table is by forming a union. We have tried going through the channels available to us but have found no success. The co-op workers enjoy helping members and the broader community, and we see this as a way of better serving our customers and building a stronger community. With more control over our working conditions, we will have happier staff, suffer less turnover, and improve our work-life balance. We want to have the time, energy, and security to engage in the community we help feed.  We love our Co-op, it is a wonderful, community-centric and thoughtfully curated space. Now is the time for leadership to include the workers in that community and engage in good faith bargaining with their employees. We call upon you, our members, to support us in our fight for voluntary recognition and a strong contract. We look forward to joining our fellow unions co-ops across the Twin Cities and to building a stronger co-op movement.  In Solidarity,  The Workers at Mississippi Market Co-op

 

Letter from CEO Catherine Downey to workers at Mississippi Market  As many of you know, last Thursday, UFCW 1189 asked us to voluntarily recognize the union as the bargaining representative of MM employees. I didn’t agree to that and want you to know why. The decision of whether or not to unionize is yours and yours alone. Not mine, not the union’s, not anyone’s but those directly affected by the decision. It is an important decision that should be made through a free and fair election. It is for this reason that I denied the union’s request. Local 1189 has filed its election petition with the NLRB, (National Labor Relations Board) a step that triggers the process for scheduling an election. As each step in that process comes into focus, we will provide you with more details in terms of procedures and timing. The union is seeking to represent essentially all non-management team members at all of our locations. The NLRB, the federal agency that oversees union elections, will make a determination on that question and then administer the election. The outcome will be determined by a majority of those voting. I, and the entire management team, will respect the results. I encourage you to gather the facts around unionization; like any important decision in our complex world, it comes with pluses and minuses. I won’t be using this platform to advocate on this topic, but I am happy to meet with anyone who has questions about it. The best way to reach me is by email at cdowney@msmarket.coop. Thank you, Catherine