When Rowan Garrigan aged out of her mother’s health insurance, she joined her sister working for the local grocery co-op, which she knew offered benefits.
“I always liked organic food, I always liked co-ops,” she said. She has worked at the West Seventh Street location of Mississippi Market Co-op for the past three and a half years, first in the deli. She says she enjoys her work now as a cheese buyer, cutting slices and researching products.
On October 9, 101 workers from across Mississippi Market Co-op’s three locations in the Twin Cities voted in a union election, and 82 workers voted yes to union representation. Around 158 employees will be represented by United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Local 1189, which also represents thousands of health care, food processing, cannabis, and other retail workers in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, including workers at the Wedge Co-op in Minneapolis, the River Market Co-op in Stillwater, Minn., and the Whole Foods Co-op in Duluth, Minn.
The other Mississippi Market locations are on East Seventh Street and Selby Avenue in St. Paul, Minn. According to a press release from UFCW Local 1189, workers at all three stores have cited unpredictable schedules, unrealistic attendance policies, and inconsistent management as reasons for forming a union.
“I’m filled with thankfulness and joy about finally getting to have our concerns addressed,” said Erik Zakis, who works at the Selby Avenue location, in the press release.
Read the rest at Workday Magazine
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