PCC Workers Take to the Picket Line

Anonymous PCC Worker

Drums, bullhorns, and chanting voices echoed off the glossy windows of six Puget Community Cooperative grocery stores from Edmonds to Burien as dozens of frustrated workers marched and chanted outside with picket signs on April 15th. Despite the environmental and community-focused branding, the local co-operative grocery chain has been under scrutiny by many of their workers and longtime customers after a series of unpopular decisions by PCC Leadership.

Employees hear from their store directors that sales numbers have been excellent. The corner store downtown is doing well and they’re preparing to open a new Madison Valley location within the year. The CEO, Krish Srinivasan, received a salary of over $500,000 last year and up to half that number in performance bonuses. Meanwhile, many of the workers who clock in daily to make those profits were offered just 25 cents more the minimum wage in the latest proposal from management. To add insult to injury, workers are being told the new wages won’t be applied retroactively to the day of the previous contracts expiration unless they settle urgently. Because the last contract ended in January and included a retro-pay agreement, workers feel disrespected by management's insistence on profiting from the drawn-out negotiations as they all continue to be paid on last year's wage scale.

So what are the union's demands? A modest wage increase of about $3/hour over the next two years that prioritizes the lowest paid job classes has been a central demand even since the previous negotiations three years ago. They're also seeking a comprehensive commitment to protect their employees' against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.), including a commitment to maintain healthcare and retirement benefits for anyone who is detained. Additionally, many workers who have already seen staffing cuts in their department want a commitment from PCC leadership to stop outsourcing labor currently done by union workers or at least clearly label such products so shoppers can see how pervasive the practice has become. 

These are just some of the issues workers care most about, and while their actions so far haven't directly impacted PCC’s profits, a strong picketing turnout from employees and community members alike have already shown they're willing to fight. The long bargaining session that followed their first round of pickets saw promising gains and a tentative agreement regarding healthcare, but the lack of movement on wage proposals has workers preparing for strike authorization votes. Even though it didn't pertain to any proposals in the contract, a worker reprimanded for wearing a watermelon pin to express support for suffering Palestinians wasted no time to assert their response. Coworkers donned watermelon pins of their own in solidarity and community members rallied to the store, vowing to make it a regular occurrence. With each day pressure continues to build and PCCs very corporate-minded leadership stumbles into renewed resistance from workers and shoppers galvanized by an opportunity to “Reclaim Our Co-op.”

If you shop at PCC and want to express your support for the demands of the workers please do so in their customer feedback form or their co-op offices number, both of which can be found at: https://www.pccmarkets.com/contact-us/.