Threatening labor strike in Lunds & Byerlys may affect the holiday trade
The union representing more than 2,500 Lunds & Byerlys workers plans to strike this week during the holiday shopping window.
After voting last week to authorize a walkout, members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 663 said Monday they will strike Thursday through Saturday ahead of next week’s July 4 holiday.
The same union represents employees at many Cub stores in the Twin Cities who planned to strike ahead of the Easter holiday before the parties reached an 11th-hour deal. The union subsequently dropped the accusations of unfair labor practices, allegations which also fuel the looming Lunds & Byerlys strike.
The union said Lunds & Byerlys workers have been without a contract since March 7 and are seeking industry-leading wages and equity. The members also want the continuation of a worker-run health plan instead of employer-sponsored coverage.
“It makes a lot of us nervous because it gives away control over our health care,”[ads1]; Marshall Everhart, a deli manager at the Eden Prairie store, said before an information drive this month.
Health care has been a challenging issue since the company has been trying to engage with the union to improve those benefits since 2017, said Casey Enevoldsen, Lund & Byerly’s vice president of employee experience and the company’s lead negotiator.
No more calls are scheduled this week.
– This is quite abnormal for our company, said Enevoldsen. “We have a long history of being able to work with various unions that are recognized in our company and come to a mutual agreement.”
Enevoldsen said Lunds & Byerlys offers industry-leading wages and has proposed a joint committee to assess pay equality. Part-timers earn $14.50 to $18 an hour, according to the union’s website; traditional full-time workers earn $27.13 an hour. The company has proposed hourly wages of $2 to $4.50 over two years, depending on the position.
Local 663 filed unfair labor practice charges against the company, alleging that it made coercive statements to employees exercising their rights to engage in protected concerted activity and questioned workers about union activity. The local also said Lunds illegally monitored union activity and bargained in bad faith.
– We deny that unfair working practices have been committed, said Enevoldsen.
If workers strike, Lunds & Byerlys will put in place contingency plans to operate the 22 out of 28 affected stores.
The unionized stores are: downtown Minneapolis; Northeast in Minneapolis; Bloomington; Burnsville; Chanhassen; Eagan; Eden Prairie; Edina’s location at the France Avenue and 50th Street store; Glen Lake Minnetonka; Highway 7 Minnetonka; Golden Valley; Maple Grove; Navarre; Nokomis; Plymouth; Prior Lake; Richfield; Ridgedale; St. Louis Park; Uptown and Wayzata.
