PORT TOWNSEND — Workers at the Port Townsend Food Co-op are in the process of unionization, with an election likely next month.
More than 50 percent of workers need to vote in favor in order for a union to form.
“We just really want a safer workplace. We want decision-making ability. We want to be heard,” said Beers, who uses only their last name and works in the co-op’s produce department.
Organizers filed the paperwork last Wednesday with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Beers said.
The paperwork began a process with the NLRB, which will lead to an election.
According to an NLRB webpage, if 30 percent of employees sign a card or a petition stating the desire to form a union, the NLRB will conduct an election.
George Sawyer, who works as a cashier, said he has attended organizing meetings since October.
“I’m cautiously optimistic,” Sawyer said. “Now that this is all very public and they’ve (the co-op) hired a very reputable highly skilled and probably very expensive law firm, we can expect that they’re going to act aggressively in what they see as their best interest, which is probably they don’t want the union. We’re waiting to see what they are going to do.”
Upper management from the food co-op will meet today with a union representative from United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) 3000, and an NLRB agent will be present as the parties discuss who will be included in the vote, as well as a time and date for the balloting. The vote is likely to take place somewhere on co-op property.
If the parties cannot agree, a hearing will be scheduled.
Workers cited workplace safety among the reasons for their unionizing efforts.
Beers, who was hired in 2023, said their husband Sean Gale experienced a workplace injury last April.
“My husband has a work injury a few months into our employment there that I thought was incredibly poorly handled,” Beers said. “They didn’t call the emergency contact, which was me. He had a concussion. Long story short, he was dropped off at urgent care by the store manager. No ambulance was called.”
Managers made Gale call a nurse hotline and fill out paperwork, Beers said.
“The nurse on the hotline was like, ‘Go to the emergency room,’ and still, he got dropped off at urgent care,” Beers said. “He wasn’t in a state of mind to be making those decisions for himself because he was concussed.”
Beers said their husband had to go to his locker to get his phone to call them.
“It was a mess,” they said. “His rights weren’t explained to him in regards to (Labor and Industries), how that worked, what policies the co-op had about injuries. We were left in the dark for a lot of that.”
Gale had post-traumatic stress disorder when he returned to work and had to take more time off, Beers said.
“That’s when we had the conversations about the policies, weeks later,” Beers said.
When Gale came back to work, he and Beers met with a human resources representative, the store manager and the assistant store manager to discuss how the situation was handled and request safety improvements.
“We just got a lot of deflection and excuses,” Beers said.
The co-op may have a history of failing to provide necessary information to employees, Beers said.
“There have been a lot of people who have been sharing stories about being given wrong information regarding their rights around (Family Medical Leave Act) and stuff from HR,” Beers said.
Others have talked about wage inequality, Beers said.
Sawyer, who has attended twice-weekly meetings for organizing, has noticed a theme while speaking to people about forming a union.
“The people working at the co-op don’t feel heard,” he said. “We can make suggestions, we can ask for things, but that doesn’t really matter.”
Sawyer said he has not experienced being mistreated at the co-op but has observed his co-workers being mistreated.
A co-worker who was speaking openly about the possibility of a union was denied vacation time, Sawyer said.
“He had applied three months in advance to get vacation time for his honeymoon,” Sawyer said. “When the time for his wedding and his honeymoon came around, he could not get his vacation. He, of course, wound up quitting.”
Sawyer said when a worker is involved in a situation that is complicated or awkward, they seem to disappear in one way or another.
Sawyer said he spoke with a woman who allegedly was inappropriately touched by a customer at work.
“While she was working, a customer came up and touched her without her permission,” he said. “She became upset and she said harsh words to the customer. The then general manager came over and shouted at her. The employee was told that there were or could be disciplinary issues. That person no longer works at the co-op, no longer lives in Jefferson County.”
Sawyer said he wants the co-op to succeed and to improve. The unionization effort is about making the co-op better, he said. As an employee, he relies on their success, he added.
“The Port Townsend Food Co-op is really good at a whole bunch of things,” Sawyer said. “We could make a long list of the good things they do. The place where the co-op is really weak is how they treat people.”
The co-op should spend its money fixing safety concerns when they are reported, rather than on lawyers, L&I claims and potential lawsuits, he said.
Beers also said they want the co-op to succeed and that they are hopeful conditions will improve.
“I want what’s best for me, but I want what’s best for all my fellow workers,” they said. “I want us to have better working conditions. I think we can do that with the help of store management and department managers. I don’t think it’s necessarily an aggressive movement. We want to work together; we want to have discussions.
“A big part of why we have to go this way is we fear retaliation because it’s what we’ve seen. This gives us the protection to have those conversations and to make this place better.”
UFCW 3000 represents thousands of workers in Jefferson County, according to a press release.
Its website includes a list of workplaces represented, including Jefferson Healthcare and Jefferson County.
In Clallam County, the union represents workers at the Sequim School District, Swains, Olympic Medical Center, Forks Community Hospital and Forks Outfitters.
UFCW represents workers for Safeway and QFC across both counties.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com
