A Lansing Chipotle is losing its union representation. The West Saginaw Highway restaurant was the only location for the chain in the country to be unionized but failed to secure a contract during the more than three years it was organized.
Bloomberg senior reporter Josh Eidelson broke the story. He says the unionization effort in Lansing came out of nationwide trend.
"This was happening amid a wave of landmark first-time union wins coming out of the depths of the pandemic with workers at Amazon, Starbucks, Apple and other prominent companies, for the first time, securing formal legal union recognition at major U.S. brands," he said.
He reports the Teamsters have said the failure to obtain a contract is a symptom of greater problems within U.S. labor law where there is no specific deadline for negotiations and no requirements to move towards arbitration if progress is not being made. That's something union is hoping to change with federal legislation.
"We have seen in many of these prominent union victories over the past half decade that the story has turned more sour for union organizers and workers over time," Eidelson explained.
"Workers who were leaders in the campaign told me that there were deep disagreements that emerged between the workers in the store and the union officials about how to deal with the alleged union busting by Chipotle and over time, workers in the store lost faith that the union had a viable plan to overcome the company's resistance."
Chipotle has maintained it followed the law with good faith negotiations without.
The Teamsters news comes amid a settlement between Chipotle and the National Labor Relations Board about the Lansing restaurant.
"The government alleged that because workers unionized, Chipotle froze their pay and excluded them from raises that other workers got and they otherwise would have gotten," he said.
"Chipotle denied wrongdoing, but it agreed, as part of the settlement, to pay some workers for the money that they didn't get in raises and to post a notice that says some workers are being made whole for what it called 'our failure' to provide regular wage increases in the years that followed that union election."
Interview Highlights
On why the union formed
Workers were hoping to secure changes around pay, scheduling and safety and a say in their working conditions. And this was happening amid a wave of landmark first-time union wins coming out of the depths of the pandemic with workers at Amazon, Starbucks, Apple and other prominent companies, for the first time, securing formal legal union recognition at major U.S. brands. The Chipotle workers voted 11-3 to unionize with the Teamsters, creating a foothold that had never existed before at that company for organized labor.
On why things broke down
Workers who were leaders in the campaign told me that there were deep disagreements that emerged between the workers in the store and the union officials about how to deal with the alleged union busting by Chipotle and over time, workers in the store lost faith that the union had a viable plan to overcome the company's resistance. The company says that it has followed the law throughout.
On the changes the Teamsters are pushing for in federal law
Federal labor law, which goes back to the New Deal, requires that companies negotiate in good faith if workers vote to unionize. It doesn't impose any specific deadline, and it doesn't require specific concessions from a company. And so, we have seen in many of these prominent union victories over the past half decade that the story has turned more sour for union organizers and workers over time, as either they struggled to expand beyond their initial footholds, or stores that had organized were closed, or negotiations dragged on, or time dragged on without negotiations, without reaching a contract. And the Teamsters union argues this shows why there's a need for a legal change like the one they're pushing in Congress now, where there would be a requirement to reach a contract more quickly or move towards arbitration.
Interview Transcript
Sophia Saliby: A Lansing Chipotle is losing its union representation. The West Saginaw Highway restaurant was the only location for the chain in the country to be unionized but failed to secure a contract for the more than three years it was organized.
Reporter Josh Eidelson broke the story for Bloomberg, and he joins me now. Thank you for being here.
Josh Eidelson: Thanks for having me.
Saliby: Can you go back and break down this original unionization effort in 2022? What were the workers looking for?
Eidelson: Workers were hoping to secure changes around pay, scheduling and safety and a say in their working conditions. And this was happening amid a wave of landmark first-time union wins coming out of the depths of the pandemic with workers at Amazon, Starbucks, Apple and other prominent companies, for the first time, securing formal legal union recognition at major U.S. brands.
The Chipotle workers voted 11-3 to unionize with the Teamsters, creating a foothold that had never existed before at that company for organized labor.
Saliby: And why are the Teamsters backing out now?
Eidelson: The Teamsters union says that this shows larger problems with the U.S. labor law system that companies like Chipotle, they say, can take advantage of the weaknesses in U.S. labor law and the opportunities to drag things out and frustrate the patience of workers and prevent actual contracts from being reached. Even though, on paper, there is a legal requirement that companies negotiate in good faith where workers have voted to unionize.
Workers who were leaders in the campaign told me that there were deep disagreements that emerged between the workers in the store and the union officials about how to deal with the alleged union busting by Chipotle and over time, workers in the store lost faith that the union had a viable plan to overcome the company's resistance. The company says that it has followed the law throughout.
Saliby: Does the law allow for a company to not negotiate a contract for multiple years? Because I think most people assume, well, you vote to unionize, then you get the contract. But this didn't happen here.
Eidelson: Federal labor law, which goes back to the New Deal, requires that companies negotiate in good faith if workers vote to unionize. It doesn't impose any specific deadline, and it doesn't require specific concessions from a company. And so, we have seen in many of these prominent union victories over the past half decade that the story has turned more sour for union organizers and workers over time, as either they struggled to expand beyond their initial footholds, or stores that had organized were closed, or negotiations dragged on, or time dragged on without negotiations, without reaching a contract.
And the Teamsters union argues this shows why there's a need for a legal change like the one they're pushing in Congress now, where there would be a requirement to reach a contract more quickly or move towards arbitration.
Saliby: You mentioned there were some allegations of union busting or labor violations by the company. What happened there? And Chipotle is actually settling, so what are the details?
Eidelson: The U.S. Labor Board had accused Chipotle of violating employees' rights, including by freezing workers pay and not paying them the money that they otherwise would have received in raises. The government alleged that because workers unionized, Chipotle froze their pay and excluded them from raises that other workers got and they otherwise would have gotten.
It also alleged that Chipotle illegally punished a pro-union employee in order to discourage labor activism. Chipotle denied wrongdoing, but it agreed, as part of the settlement, to pay some workers for the money that they didn't get in raises and to post a notice that says some workers are being made whole for what it called "our failure" to provide regular wage increases in the years that followed that union election. This also follows another Chipotle settlement at the Labor Board in 2023 about a store where workers had petitioned to unionize and Chipotle then permanently shut down the store.
Saliby: You cover these issues nationwide. How does what happened in Lansing fit into the bigger conversation about the state of organized labor in the country?
Eidelson: So, in the past half decade, there have been prominent companies where workers unionized and got contracts, like Volkswagen and Microsoft, but we have seen now, just over the past month, Apple announcing that it was closing one of the two stores to unionize, Amazon going into federal appeals court to fight an order to negotiate with workers at a Staten Island warehouse who unionized four years ago now, and have gone those four years without any negotiations over a collective bargaining agreement.
And also in the past month, we've seen the latest round of talks at Starbucks, the union campaign there did successfully spread to around 600 of the company-owned U.S. stores, but there has not been any union contract reached there. And when the parties returned to negotiations, they ended up both filing NLRB cases accusing the other one of refusing to fairly negotiate.
Saliby: Josh Eidelson is a senior reporter for Bloomberg. Thank you for joining us.
Eidelson: Thank you.
