Cohost Union News

The unionization process at ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's has been pretty painless for its union, Scoopers United, and I'm pleased to report that both parties have just ratified their first contract! This makes the Burlington, VT Scoop Shop the first unionized Ben & Jerry's location in the US.

As a brief catch up: Scoopers United formed last April at the flagship Burlington, VT Scoop Shop of Ben & Jerry's and was quickly recognized voluntarily by the company. All 39 employees of the shop supported the union, and were asking for pay increases and crisis training (in response to several overdoses at the store). Workers at the store also had no benefits—technically, they were employed by a third party and not by Unilever (the parent company of Ben & Jerry's) directly.

Under the new one-year contract, reports working-class publication The Rake VT:

The agreement includes substantial wage increases. For example, starting wages increase from $14 to $20.75 per hour. Tipping is no longer a core part of compensation, and tips are no longer solicited. Workers also now earn paid time off, sick leave, leave of absence rights, and seven new holidays.

Workers were also, outside of the contract, brought into Unilever. Congratulations!

After a card-check today, Ben & Jerry's has voluntarily recognized the unionization of workers at its Burlington, VT Scoop Shop. They're the first corporate-owned shop of the chain to do so.

Talks of unionization at the store apparently began last summer in response to two overdoses at the store—workers had neither Narcan nor the training to handle these situations and several workers quit over them. These details were profiled in a Restaurant Dive piece last month. Comparatively low pay was another factor: workers are paid $14/hr, but that's only one dollar above minimum wage in Vermont.

The 39 workers at the store—all of whom reportedly signed union cards—then went public with their intent to unionize earlier this year on April 17, 2023, at which point things moved quickly. Their union received support from around the area up to and including Senator Bernie Sanders, who urged the corporation to agree to the union's demands. Approximately a week later, Ben & Jerry's signed the union's Fair Election Principles—it is likely they are the first multinational corporation to do so. That document included a provision to voluntarily recognize the union via card-check, which Ben & Jerry's decided to take here.

Congratulations!

After 28 days on the picket lines (beginning March 24), staff at Vermont's tiny Goddard College are returning to work having tentatively won their strike. The Goddard College Staff Union, affiliated with the United Auto Workers (UAW), covers about 30 non-faculty employees and had been in talks with the university for about a year before going on strike.

Points of dispute are easy to find on both sides of negotiations in this case thanks to the coverage of VTDigger. The university's president apparently insisted the union agree to a management rights clause–apparently on the grounds that this is fairly standard–and the union rejected this. Conversely, the university was unwilling to immediately agree to a cost-of-living adjustment without the union surrendering rights to negotiate in other areas.

Ultimately: the union got basically everything it wanted that's been publicly reported. The management rights clause was rejected and most staff will now be making close to or over $20/hr. According to the union, the tentative agreement includes "a 3 percent raise for every staff member making more than $20 an hour, and a 5.75 percent raise for those making less". You can read their statement on the win here.