Employees at the Fredericksburg Food Co-op say they are unable to afford local housing on the wages offered by the community grocery store and that those among their ranks who chose to wear pins supporting the “Free Palestine” movement were met with hostility by management, which responded by changing the store’s policy on prohibited political activity.
Those grievances, along with a perceived “disregard for employee input,” spurred a cadre of workers to come together earlier this month as the “Fredericksburg United Cooperators,” three members of the group told the Free Press in an interview Thursday evening.
The group, which estimates its membership at roughly one-third of the Co-op’s non-management staff, is requesting pay increases, a change in store policy to allow employees to express support for social issues and the ability to have an employee observer present at board meetings when decisions are made concerning store policy.
A recent social media post by the FUC stated that “we believe these changes are essential for the Co-op’s long-term health and align with the socially conscious values the Co-op is meant to embody.”
The group apologized for “any inconvenience” their efforts might cause for customers and stated that management refused to meet with them.
To date, their most visible gesture was a walkout staged by several employees on April 5 — the Co-op’s third birthday. Workers have also worn pins displaying their current hourly pay rate along with messages like “give me a raise” in an effort to increase visibility among customers, many of whom are “owners” who paid $200 for a small stake in the Co-op and are eligible to serve on its board of directors.
FUC members asked for community support by requesting a comment card in the store or leaving an online review.
The Co-op, located at 320 Emancipation Highway in Fredericksburg, opened in 2021 and is consumer-owned. Grocery workers, however, are not granted a stake by virtue of their employment.
The board of directors and general manager sent a letter to owners Wednesday to make them aware of the employees’ demands. They said that while any member of the public is welcome to attend their board meetings, they are declining the requests of “a small group of employees” to negotiate on behalf of all the Co-op’s workers.
The group’s members claim that while negotiating on behalf of all Co-Op employees is not their goal, a substantial number of non-members are sympathetic to their cause — but haven’t joined because they fear retribution from management.
Board member Rich Larochelle, a founding director of the Co-op, said he does not believe the issue will impact store operations.
“We value all of our employees, and we have no doubt that these team members are well-intentioned, and were acting within their rights,” the letter to owners stated. “We always want to be available to give a fair hearing to all such requests.”
The letter from the board of directors and general manager went on to state that they do not believe negotiations would be fair to the majority of employees who are not currently a part of the group and may not wish to be represented by them.
The board and GM wrote that a decision to be represented by a labor organization as defined in the National Labor Relations Act should be made by all employees and that there are guidelines to doing so.
They said the National Labor Relations Board is set up and designed for the purpose of conducting elections in which each employee can decide for themselves if they want to be represented by a group.
“If such an election is held, and if a majority of our non-supervisory employees vote to be represented by a union, then we will negotiate with that union and all non-supervisory employees will be bound by any agreements arising from such negotiations,” the board and GM stated in the letter. “We believe that this approach – as defined in the National Labor Relations Act — best protects the rights of all of our team members and does not marginalize or discriminate against any individual or group of employees.”
While the workers have not yet taken steps to align themselves with the NLRB, they told the Free Press that they are affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a labor union that represents more than 9,000 workers across North America, according to its website.
In their letter, the board and GM also professed to “sincerely appreciating” their employees and reflecting that by increasing entry-level pay from $10 per hour when the Co-op first opened in 2021 to $14 per hour now.
They said this rate increase occurred despite the Co-op not yet experiencing a profitable year. They pledged to continue increasing salaries as the Co-op “gains stronger financial footing, and we are certainly moving in that direction.”
The employees, however, cited MIT’s living wage calculator, which pegs the living wage for an adult living in Fredericksburg with no children at $23.70 per hour.
As for the ability to show support for social issues, the board and GM wrote they are leery of allowing employees to wear pins associated with any social or political message because the Co-op is not a political entity. They emphasized that the grocery store is consumer-owned and aims to be inclusive of everyone.
But Megan, a Co-op worker who chose to identify themselves only by their first name for this story, said that the store set a precedent last year when it displayed donation bins to support Ukraine. Some workers have also worn pins with their preferred pronouns on their uniforms in the past, as well as pins supporting other social causes such as Black Lives Matter.
“We had no reason to believe that this wouldn’t be allowed,” Megan said of the “Free Palestine” pins.
The Co-op’s letter to owners on Wednesday said in closing: “We seek to unite and not divide. Our core focus is on healthy and local foods, environmental sustainability and an inclusive sense of community. We believe that this focus can help to bring us together as a community.”
In stating their intentions during Thursday’s interview, members of the FUC struck a similarly conciliatory — if slightly more defiant — chord.
“If [working at the Co-op] were so horrible, we would just move on,” said Grace, a store employee. “We’re here because we love the Co-op. We’re not here to destroy it.”
(Senior reporter/editor Joey LoMonaco is a member/owner of the Fredericksburg Food Co-Op)
