Peoples Food Coop

The exterior of People's Food Co-op of Ann Arbor, 216 N. 4th Ave., is seen in this 2013 file photo. Employees of the Co-op recently voted to unionize and are awaiting certification of the voting process.

(File photo)

ANN ARBOR, MI - A group of employees at the People's Food Co-op has voted to unionize, a move organizers say could benefit the 45-year-old business.

Phil Bianco has worked at the People's Food Co-op's Cafe Verde for about a year and a half, and has been involved with the unionizing process since it was first discussed in March. He said the effort is about democratizing the Co-op and reinvigorating the community.

According to its website, the People's Food Co-op started in 1971 and was originally a University of Michigan graduate student project. It opened a kitchen, a hot food and salad bar and the fair-trade coffee bar Cafe Verde and has expanded to more than 6,500 members.

It is located at 216 N. Fourth Ave. in the Kerrytown shopping district.

Bianco is part of an organizing committee of 15 people, which he describes as "the core people who make decisions about how to respond to management."

The group supporting the unionizing effort has grown in the past nine months, he said, and culminated in an election held Friday, Dec. 9.

That election resulted in the approval of a collective bargaining unit for Co-op employees, with a vote 24 to 7. There were 12 challenged votes, Bianco said, meaning some employees voted who may not be included in the union or could be considered ineligible by the National Labor Relations Board.

Employees of the People's Food Co-op can now move forward in a process that would join them with the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 876, based in Madison Heights. Both the Co-op and Local 876 have the ability to issue objections or challenges to the decision to unionize.

Bianco said he felt the board of directors worked against the unionization effort.

Ann Sprunger, president of the Board of Directors, emailed the following statement to The Ann Arbor News about the election:

"The PFC Board of Directors and Management welcome the union as a new partner in our workplace. We look forward to working together to continue making the Co-Op the best it can be for member-owners, staff, and the community at large. Following the election, all parties will move on to the next phase of implementation, which will involve negotiating a union contract and defining the bargaining unit."

In the statement, the Board of Directors acknowledged that "things can get heated" in an election and that they hope to build "an environment of greater trust."

"We would like to clarify at least two general concerns for our member-owners, the staff, and the community.

1. At no time were any activities undertaken nor discussions conducted by the Board, the General Manager, the Human Resources Manager, or other managers, to prevent or interfere with the union. In order to promote a fair and democratic outcome we have remained neutral at all times in all ways.

2. Several claims were made about actions by our General Manager Lesley Perkins. Due to privacy concerns, management action on personnel issues often goes unseen by the staff."

The road to unionizing was not an easy journey, according to Bianco. Some employees were inspired to seek a stronger voice within the Co-op after a board election and later, through conversation and research, decided to form a union.

On Nov. 16, with 55 percent of Co-op employee signatures in hand, the organizing committee filed with the National Labor Relations Board to host an election. The Board of Directors was also notified.

"We were organized from the beginning," Bianco said. "We wanted to get the message across that we weren't there to fight with the board, we were there to work with them."

A representative from the National Labor Relations Board oversaw the election, in which 43 out of 63 eligible people voted.

The next step in the process is to simply wait. The National Labor Relations Board has to certify the election, Bianco said, and then the negotiating process starts. In the meantime, the organizing committee is looking to talk to as many employees as possible to understand what they want from the union.

It is still unclear what departments and employees are to be part of the union; that would be established through future surveys and meetings, Bianco said.

"We really put the emphasis on having a voice and say in the operations of the Co-op, of our jobs and really just having in that sense a truly democratic workplace," Bianco said.

Based on the reaction he has heard from people and from those who signed the petition, he believes that the public is in support of this move to unionize and see it as a natural fit for the Co-op.

Bianco himself sees the process as beneficial for the Co-op in general, and said he is confident it is the right choice.

"I think it will really solidify the workers sense of ownership of their jobs. When workers have ownership of something, they will do a better job," Bianco said. "This going to be a better workplace."

He has already heard from the local labor movement and thinks more people will start shopping at the Co-op and bring in more memberships. In the meantime, it's just another day at the People's Food Co-op.

"Everyone's going to work, doing their thing," Bianco said. "Nothing's really different at this point except people are excited about what this will be like going forward, and eager to learn."