A Home Depot store in Northeast Philadelphia could soon become the home-improvement chain's very first to unionize.
A store employee filed a petition this week for a union election. He gathered more than 100 union cards from his co-workers in less than a month.
Starbucks, Amazon, Trader Joe's and REI are some of the companies where labor unions have made inroads. Home Depot shouldn't be next according toQuiles.
The catalyst at Home Depot is inspired by Starbucks and Amazon. The people in that building are familiar to me. They aren't being treated with respect and dignity.
Starbucks Workers United and Trader Joe's United are examples of recent successful campaigns. The effort is not affiliated with a union that has the resources to organize.
“People come in and bust their ass. They work really hard, and it’s been a struggle during the pandemic.”
- Home Depot worker Vince Quiles
He did the card-gathering on his own after getting some legal advice from a pro bono lawyer. An employee of the National Labor Relations Board in Philadelphia had to sit him down for about an hour and a half to explain how the unionization process works.
She was a pleasure to work with, saidQuiles, who has worked at Home Depot for five years. I flew by the seat of my pants.
The U.S. employers are facing an organizing wave at the moment, despite the low union membership. In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the labor board saw a significant increase in union election petitions. The tight labor market has given workers more bargaining power, while the Pandemic has changed the way workers view their jobs.
Many of his co-workers grew to feel unvalued.
We are not unique in this experience. He said that he felt like people didn't want to acknowledge the dynamic that was there. People don't really respect you and all you're looked at is a means to an end.
Home Depot didn't reply to a request for comment on Friday.
It is difficult to form the first retail union at a large corporation. The Home Depot store in Southern California does not have a retail union.
Workers at the company have been subject to anti-union talking points in the past. He acknowledged that he has no formal organizing experience and that many of his co-workers are afraid of how their employer will respond.
Longshot organizing efforts seem to be more viable now that the Amazon Labor Union has won an election. Chris Smalls is a former Amazon worker who was fired after leading a protest over safety.
In both instances, workers requested a union election before securing a majority of support through union cards.
The labor board only needs signatures from 30% of the workforce to approve an election. Under the assumption that the company will launch an anti-union campaign, a union may want to have a supermajority onboard before filing. The union needs to win a majority of votes in the election to become the workers' representative.
“Labor unions have made a number of breakthroughs at high-profile, historically non-union companies in recent months: Starbucks, Amazon, Trader Joe’s and REI, among others.”
There are an estimated 276 workers at the Home Depot store, meaning there will be plenty more organizing work to be done. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported the number of workers who had signed.
He moved forward because he wanted to show his co-workers that the campaign was legit.
The corporate people came into the store and everyone was like, "Holy shit, this is the real deal."
An aggressive counter-campaign would usually be put together as soon as possible. Captive audience meetings are where managers or consultants try to convince workers to vote against the unions. Workers are usually pulled off the floor for one-on-one conversations with their supervisors to see where they stand on the union.
Before an election can be held, the labor board has to certify that Home Depot Workers United rounded up enough interest through union cards. In the meantime, the lawyer he is working with is training him and his co-workers on how to spot unfair labor practices if Home Depot takes legal action to fight the organizing campaign.
He hopes the effort changes the job for the better.
People come in and have sex. It has been a struggle for them during the Pandemic. Home Depot will respect the people in that building more if something happens.
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