Union Organizing
Prospective buyers of Mother’s Market & Kitchen should know they are buying a company where management has failed to build an effective workforce operation. Moreover, when workers have tried to solve the problems of arbitrary management, abusive scheduling, inferior wages, understaffing, and substandard customer service, management has responded with threats, intimidation and illegal terminations. The result is an escalating labor dispute that threatens to undermine further the company’s unique customer value proposition.
Any buyer will have to resolve some real problems. Thankfully, there is a simple solution, one very familiar to many other grocers in Southern California.
In petitions and delegations to management, Mother’s Market workers have put forth that solution:
A fair process to choose whether or not to join a union free of intimidation and harassment.
Two weeks’ notice for workers’ schedules, so they can plan their lives.
Better wages, so workers can afford the high cost of living in Southern California.
Fair staffing, so workers can deliver the best customer service possible.
Mother’s Market management wants workers to “…create a welcoming space where healthy living feels easy, inspiring, and part of everyday life.”[1] Mother’s Market workers want the same thing, a job where “healthy living feels easy, inspiring, and part of everyday life.” Treating workers with respect – through a union contract – is an essential ingredient for Mother’s Market to deliver on its promise.
With a union contract, workers can negotiate the conditions they need to succeed at work. And with that success they can solve the workforce management problems, improve productivity, and deliver better service that more than pays for any increase in workforce costs.
