In an age where union busting is the status quo, Fang! and Salty’s workers and their boss suggest another alternative.
Though the Department of Labor says voluntary recognition — when employers choose to recognize a union rather than force it to a vote through the National Labor Relations Board — is on the rise, it’s still a rare outcome for a campaign.
Fang! and Salty’s workers know this themselves, as their first union campaign in 2022 was forced to a vote by their then-employer.
“It was pretty hard those first few days after we came to announce our intention to unionize and have her saying ‘Yes, I'm pro-union, but I want to make you guys vote on it first,’” Kendra Helm, a Fang! employee said.
The 13 workers between the Fang! location on North Lombard Street and Salty’s on North Mississippi Avenue unanimously voted to join International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 5 on July 19, 2022.
Six months into bargaining, the owner told employees she planned to close both stores on Feb. 19, effectively dissolving the union.
“Going through all the bargaining with her, just to have her decide to give up was like running into a wall,” Helm said. “It was so depressing.”
Employees discussed buying the stores from the owner, but Helm said the owner was reluctant to price the business. When she finally did, they “wouldn't have had enough time to get a loan anyways, and the cost was way more than we had imagined,” Helm said.
Then another buyer entered the picture — Sarah Horton, a longtime customer of Fang! and Salty’s. Horton, like the former owner, described herself as supportive of the labor movement. Unlike the former owner, Horton didn’t ask the workers to vote for recognition.
‘Stabilizing factor’
When a buyer purchases a unionized business, they become responsible for all of the previous owner’s obligations, including the union.
ILWU Local 5 organizer Ryan Takas said the union was concerned Horton or any future owners could refute their obligation because the prior owner had dissolved her LLC, Salty’s Dog and Cat Shop, and the union hadn’t ratified a contract that would carry over to Horton.
“... I think it's cool to see how organized labor functions in a small, independently owned store. It can be really healthy, and I think it can actually be a stabilizing factor for both the business and its workforce.”
— Sarah Horton, owner of Fang! and Salty's
“We wanted to make sure that there was no question as to whether or not there was a union there,” Takas said.
Workers had to restart from ground zero. They would have to “walk the boss” — deliver their intent to unionize to Horton — all over again, vote and bargain all over again.
Helm said employees were tired and anxious; support for a new campaign had potentially dwindled.
“There was trust lost,” Helm said because of the prior owner’s abandonment of the business.
But when Takas, at the request of workers, approached Horton about voluntarily recognizing, she said she would.
“I came to the conclusion pretty quickly, as I was doing my due diligence, that this was an inevitability,” Horton said. “Clearly, the workforce felt very strongly about it. And in principle, it's an idea that I'm supportive of, so I took a little leap of faith.”
Horton said unions at small independent businesses like Fang! and Salty’s indicate the current social feeling towards labor.
“It's a little easier to get your head around when it's Amazon or even Powell’s … but I think it's cool to see how organized labor functions in a small independently owned store,” she said. “It can be really healthy, and I think it can actually be a stabilizing factor for both the business and its workforce.”
Fang! and Salty’s are the fourth voluntary recognition Local 5 has secured in the past year.
‘Collaboration’
Even with the best approach, an employer may force workers to petition the NLRB for an election. Takas doesn’t claim to have the “secret sauce,” but he does have a few ideas about how to get employers to be amenable to the idea.
“I would say one of our approaches that we have, we have tried to create space for employers to decide without feeling pressure,” he said.
While some campaigns choose to go public and file for an election immediately when they walk the boss or even set a deadline on when the employer needs to recognize voluntarily, Takas said ILWU Local 5 takes a different approach.
Takas said that keeping the campaign private can minimize union busting and misinformation about unions.
“When you file, all the anti-union consultants, they're just trawling those listings,” he said.
Since most small or independent businesses don’t have a labor lawyer, they are susceptible to consultants who reach out to “help with their problem,” Takas said.
Alternatively, ILWU Local 5 offers the employer options — labor attorneys Takas has worked with in the past, contact information for other employers that voluntarily recognized and an opportunity to go public with a joint announcement.
“There’s a collaboration,” Takas said, eliminating the dynamic of animosity and feigned betrayal from bosses when their workers come to them with a union petition.
Smoother bargaining
Voluntary recognition removes significant barriers to unionizing, as election processes can be long and provide ample time for companies to employ union-busting techniques that whittle down union support.
Research shows voluntary recognition can also ease the bargaining process.
A 2023 examination of NLRB elections found that 63% of unions won through elections don’t reach a first contract agreement in a year, and 43% are still without a contract after two years.
On Aug. 28, ILWU Local 5 and Horton announced the two parties had ratified a first-year contract a little over four months after Horton recognized the union.
Fang! and Salty’s contract includes a range of new policies, including new safety protocols for AQI, indoor and outdoor temperatures and infectious diseases; wage increases to $19.02 starting in December; pet bereavement leave; and increased paid time off and added holidays.
“Our union is an example for other smaller shops that they can do that too, and they don't have to put up with their bosses pushing them around,” Helm said. “You can use your collective power and make your workplace better for you and the people that are going to be there working in the future.”
To other bosses facing voluntary recognition as an option, Horton encourages them to consider it before going the status quo union-busting route.
“I think if it's something you're philosophically cool with and if it's something that is, at a minimum, not threatening to the business and potentially really a positive, then go for it and maybe just explore a little bit before you shut it down as a possibility,” she said.
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