Workers at New Seasons Market in Hillsboro moved to unionize in 2022. Election results show that a majority voted down the unionization proposal, however, and now a local labor group is contesting the results and saying the company illegally coerced workers ahead of the election.
Workers at New Seasons Market in Hillsboro moved to unionize in 2022. Election results show that a majority voted down the unionization proposal, however, and now a local labor group is contesting the results and saying the company illegally coerced workers ahead of the election.
The National Labor Relations Board has called a hearing to investigate after a local union chapter accused a New Seasons Market in Hillsboro of tampering with workers' vote last year on whether to form a labor union.
Employees at the store, located at 1453 N.E. 61st Ave. in the Orenco Station neighborhood, first filed with the NLRB for a union election back in May 2022. The employees recruited the UFCW Local 555 union, which represents workers at several other grocery stores and food service businesses, to help them organize.
Employees have specifically criticized a new employee attendance policy, which they said left people scared to call in sick despite an ongoing pandemic. Other complaints pertained to higher compensation and increases in other benefits.
A majority of eligible employees must vote to approve forming a union before the store can be considered unionized.
In September, employees appeared to have resoundingly rejected forming a union at the Hillsboro store, with 60 of 97 employees voting against it.
However, the UFCW Local 555 chapter said weeks later that it would contest the results of the election. It made a complaint to the NLRB, laying out what it says are illegal threats and coercion of employees ahead of the September vote.
The complaint states specifically that New Seasons limited the use of the store parking lot for union activities and communications to employees. It also stated that New Seasons’ chief executive, Nancy Lebold (though the complaint does not name her), “unlawfully threatened to rescind benefits and rewards employees had been receiving” if they formed a union.
The complaint also says that New Seasons distributed campaign materials to employees that said their “access to management” would be limited if they opted for union representation.
The final complaint says that New Seasons increased the employee discount from 20% to 30% for purchases via the online worker dashboard, “which had a chilling effect on the support for the union and affected the results of the election.”
New Seasons says that it obeyed all labor laws and disputes the allegations made to the NLRB.
“New Seasons Market disagrees that it engaged in any alleged unlawful conduct described in the NLRB complaint, which is particularly evident given that 90 percent of eligible Orenco Station staff participated in the election and overwhelmingly voted against union representation,” said a spokesperson for the company in an email.
“In the upcoming hearing on these matters, we look forward to further demonstrating that New Seasons Market acted in a lawful manner and that overturning the election is not warranted,” the company added.
Miles Eshia, spokesperson for the UFCW chapter, said the union hopes Orenco Station New Seasons employees get another opportunity to unionize.
“The result of the hearing could be a new election … because (the employer) tainted the pool of voters, so to speak, by telling them that they could lose their benefits,” Eshia said.
New Seasons said it has made clear to employees that they have a right to unionize.
“As we always have, New Seasons Market respects each staff member’s right to choose whether they want union representation,” said the company in an emailed statement.
The allegations of employee tampering are not the only dust-up that’s resulted from the employees’ attempts to form a union at the Hillsboro store.
In October, the union issued a press release accusing New Seasons of retaliating against an employee who helped organize employees for the election. The union says New Seasons fired him over his involvement. The company declined to confirm or deny that, saying it could not speak to specific employment decisions.
"While we do not comment on specific staff's employment as that is private and confidential, we can share that every employment decision at New Seasons is made with great care, involving several layers of management to ensure fairness and consistency," an email from the company said.
The Hillsboro New Seasons also isn’t the only branch of the company — which started in Portland in 1999 and was purchased in 2019 by South Korean Good Food Holdings, owners of the massive Korean grocery chain E-Mart — to pursue a union.
In Portland, seven other stores have also filed for a union election, with employees at five of them voting to approve unionization. Employees at the Sellwood branch also appeared to narrowly reject forming a union back in September, with 33 out of 62 votes against.
Employees at the Cedar Hills branch became the latest branch to file for an election, though it hasn’t been held yet.
The NLRB hearing for the Orenco New Seasons is scheduled for April 18.
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