Frequently Asked Questions

On this page, you will find FAQs on:

  1. General Union Q&A

  2. Anti-Union Campaigns & Knowing Your Rights

  3. The Collective Bargaining Process

General Union FAQs

  • A union is a group of workers who join together to improve their workplace. Our union is us! Having a Union gives us the power to collectively bargain with management over wages, benefits, and working conditions - we will have a democratic voice in our workplace.

  • We are organizing a Union at Healthy Living because we love our job and co-workers and want to make Healthy Living a better company for everyone. With a union, we will have the right to negotiate a contract and have a greater say in workplace policies, benefits, and pay. We hope to address issues like seniority pay, company-wide software, communication with upper management, scheduling, staffing, fair disciplinary procedures, and more.

  • Workers United, Upstate New York and Vermont, is a union which is generally recognized as one of the most successful organizing unions today given their efforts with the highly publicized Starbucks and Ben & Jerry’s campaigns. The regional union is based in Rochester, NY and represents workers from many different industries, including dining halls, grocery stores, and coffee shops. Workers United is a division of SEIU, a union that represents over 2 million members across the nation.

  • An organizing committee is the group of workers that help lead the union campaign. The committee is a voluntary group of Healthy Living workers who have shown interest in organizing. Anyone who wants to get more involved with the union is welcome to join the organizing committee; it is never too late to get involved!

  • Right now, we have formed an organizing committee and are currently in the process of collecting union authorization cards. If a majority of workers at Healthy Living sign union authorization cards, we will formally ask Healthy Living management to either voluntarily recognize our union or ask the National Labor Relations Board (a federal government agency) to conduct a secret-ballot election. If we have an election, every Healthy Living employee will have the chance to vote anonymously. If 50% + 1 of those who vote in the election vote “yes,” then we will have a union and start the bargaining process.

  • Signing a union authorization card means that you support a union at Healthy Living. Every worker has the right to sign a union card or not! Management will not know who does sign, or does not, sign a union card. It is illegal for management to ask if you have signed a union support card, how you plan to vote, or whether you support the union.

  • Our working conditions impact our ability to help our customers. By improving staffing ratios, improving training standards, and elevating safety protocols, we can ensure that Healthy Living is a high-quality shop for our customers to patronize. By improving compensation, benefits, and break time for employees, we can ensure that Healthy Living is a sustainable place to start a career. When we’re less burnt out, it’s easier to provide the high-quality service that our customers deserve.

  • We are organizing what’s called a ‘wall-to-wall’ unit, meaning that all non-managerial Healthy Living workers may be eligible to join the union. This is important: just because your job has the word “manager” or “supervisor” in the title, does not mean that you are necessarily a manager. The National Labor Relations Board has specific criteria for how they define managers. If you are unsure if you’re considered a manager, feel free to connect with someone on the organizing committee.

    Currently, we have organizing committees at all three Healthy Living locations (South Burlington, Williston and Saratoga). Our hope is that we can form a union that includes all Healthy Living workers to make our Union the strongest it can be and make working conditions better for all Healthy Living employees.

  • Yes, and unfortunately our concerns are not always heard or taken seriously. Unionizing will ensure that the owners collaborate with us in good faith to resolve issues, instead of ignoring feedback and making unilateral decisions. And the solutions we agree to will be enforceable and in writing, meaning they can’t be reversed.

Anti-Union Campaigns & Knowing Your Rights

  • Are there any legal protections for workers trying to unionize?

    You are protected by a federal law called the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Under the NLRA, you have the RIGHT to:

    • Organize a union free from fear, intimidation, or threats;

    • Talk about unionizing while you’re at work;

    • Wear a union pin or shirt while you’re at work;

    • Sign a union card;

    • Record any conversation that you are a part of where you believe the law may be violated.

    • Engage in other collective concerted activity, like advocating for your co-workers to management!

    While a manager can tell you that they don’t want you to vote for a union, they CANNOT LEGALLY do the following things:

    • Threaten or intimidate anyone who supports the union;

    • Discipline or retaliate against anyone in any way for their support for the union;

    • Ask questions about your union activity;

    • Surveil or monitor union activities.

  • Unfortunately, many companies decide to fight unionization campaigns. This is because without a Union, companies have all of the decision power, but with a union, they have to share that decision making power with workers and many companies do not want to do this. Companies are also aware that unionized workers make on average 10 - 20% more than non-union peers and that they will likely have to pay unionized workers more.

    Finally, union-busting is a multi-billion dollar business. Companies will often hire expensive law firms to try to fight unions, and those law firms use scare tactics to make companies more afraid of unions than they should be. This is because these union-busting law firms make more money when companies decide to fight a union.

  • The short answer is NO. Once we vote in our union, all current company practices and benefits remain in place until the contract is ratified. That means our annual raises continue as planned and our benefits remain the same (including the Angel Food program). Through the bargaining process, management is obligated to bargain in good faith with regards to benefits. If they propose worse benefits than what we currently have, that could be considered regressive by the National Labor Relations Board, and would obviously be rejected by our bargaining committee.

  • No. A union contract will set the standards for our workplace and a process for resolving issues through dialogue with management. It also gives us the option of using resources from Workers United to help out with resolving those problems if we need to. We still have every right, and are encouraged, to talk about issues directly with our managers. What our contract will ensure is that there are clear mutual standards for how our store will operate.

    Sometimes management will tell workers that a contract makes your job less flexible. Since the content of our contract is up to us, we get to decide how flexible we want the rules to be. If we want to maintain flexibility in scheduling or leaves of absence, for instance, we can put that in our contract. On the other hand, if we want to make the minimum starting rate a firm standard, we can do that too.

  • Unions are independent organizations that are run and funded by their members. Once we have a union contract, we will pay dues to support enforcing our contract and strengthening our union.

    No one will have to pay a cent in dues until after we have voted to ratify the first contract. This means the cost of dues will in all likelihood be offset by the wage increase we negotiate into our contract, otherwise, no one would vote for it! Once we have our contract, dues are $10.84/week for full-time workers and $5.42/week for part-time workers. At Ben and Jerry’s on Church Street in Burlington, workers negotiated a base pay increase from $14 to $21, meaning a full-time employee takes home $280 more in base pay each week, $10.80 of which goes toward supporting their union.

  • No. Our collective labor power is invaluable to Healthy Living - without us, Healthy Living cannot run. Collectively withholding our labor is a powerful action but not one to be taken lightly. Striking would obviously have a big impact on the customers we serve which is why it is a last resort tactic and one that requires an approval vote from all of us. A strike only works if a supermajority of workers are on-board (90% or more, generally), so a strike vote will only be called if there is widespread support. No workers will be forced to strike if they wish to refrain.

FAQs on the Collective Bargaining Process

  • A Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is a contract that is negotiated between the workers and owners of Healthy Living. It sets the standard for wages and working conditions at our store, sort of like an employee handbook except that we get to help write it and it’s legally binding. - but one that we help write.

  • We do! CBAs are bargained by a bargaining committee made up of Healthy Living staff. The bargaining committee writes the contract proposals based on feedback they gather from their coworkers. They present these proposals to management in bargaining sessions where they work with the owners to come to an agreement. Once the workers on the committee have reached a tentative agreement with management, all Healthy Living workers will have the opportunity to vote on the contract, which only goes into effect with majority approval.

  • Besides pay and benefits, we can also bargain over policies and practices that are important to us! For example, we can bargain over things like: staffing ratios, seniority raises, disciplinary processes, breaks, schedules, health and safety policies, etc.

  • No. A union contract will set the standards for our workplace and a process for resolving issues through dialogue with management. It also gives us the option of using resources from Workers United to help out with resolving those problems if we need to. We still have every right, and are encouraged, to talk about issues directly with our managers. What our contract will ensure is that there are clear mutual standards for how our store will operate.

    Sometimes management will tell workers that a contract makes your job less flexible. Since the content of our contract is up to us, we get to decide how flexible we want the rules to be. If we want to maintain flexibility in scheduling or leaves of absence, for instance, we can put that in our contract. On the other hand, if we want to make the minimum starting rate a firm standard, we can do that too.

  • As “at will” employees, we can currently be fired at any time for any reason or no reason at all (as long as the reason isn’t discriminatory). With a union contract, we can implement a “Just Cause” for discipline provision which means we can only be reprimanded for a proven and fair reason. With Just Cause, management must follow due process and progressive discipline standards. This does not mean that workers cannot be disciplined – only that it must be done fairly and with equal standards and expectations for everyone.

  • Typical first contract negotiations range from four to six months. The speed at which we negotiate a contract will depend on how many workers are in the union, how management responds to our proposals, and the ability for us to foster an active membership.

  • After a contract is ratified, we will elect union stewards to represent our interests in the workplace and ensure that the contract is being followed. We will work to build a strong, democratic union that fosters equity, community, and solidarity with all Healthy Living workers. We will also have a union representative from Workers United to assist if there are grievances or issues that need additional support.