[Marxism] FreshDirect: Union vote fails

[Greg McDonald <sabocat59@xxxxxxx>]

Pressure Mounts as FreshDirect Turmoil Rises; Union Vote Fails

By Sewell Chan

Updated, Dec. 23 | FreshDirect announced on Sunday afternoon that an  
effort to unionize hundreds of workers at its warehouse in Long  
Island City, Queens, had failed. Jim Moore, the company’s vice  
president for business affairs, said in a statement:

     FreshDirect announced the result of today’s unionization vote by  
its Plant Operations workers: by a wide margin, the employees of  
FreshDirect’s Plant Operations voted against joining a union. The  
secret balloting was conducted by the National Labor Relations Board  
on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Employees had ballot choices of  
the United Food & Commercial Workers, the Teamsters, and no union. 80  
percent of Plant Operations employees voted “no union.”

     FreshDirect has always recognized its employees’ rights to  
choose whether or not they wanted union representation. In the past,  
groups of our employees have made both decisions. Our delivery  
employees rejected union bids in 2004 and 2005 and then, last year,  
those approximately 500 employees voted to join a union. They are now  
working under a collective bargaining agreement.  With the vote  
behind us and our employees’ decision clear, we are looking forward  
to focusing on the busy holiday season and on the months and years  
ahead.

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