How are the working conditions there?

Also, from what I have heard about the UFCW both in this forum and elsewhere, is this much of a victory? Isn't that the union that people consider to be just a dues-collecting organization, or have I got it mixed up with another one? Do you think they'll actually help the staff with their health care premiums and the like, or just introduce one more deduction to be taken off their paycheque?

[ 28 July 2004: Message edited by: Michelle ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by josh:
I don't know whether it was on here, but someone mentioned that the working conditions are much better at Costco. I'm not sure if that includes unionization.

---

About 1/5 of Costco's employees are unionized - Teamsters. And they have positive things to say too. See here for a recent comparison of Costco and Walmart.

[ 28 July 2004: Message edited by: Slim ]

quote:

---

The Home Depot Culture: Orange-Blooded.

HD describes its own corporate culture as "definitely a feeling--it is commitment, belief and faith." Employees at HD have been described as "orange-blooded", and it is clearly important to the company to make its workers true-believers in the culture.

Home Depot's corporate culture appears modeled on Wal-Mart. In fact, HD has been described as "Wal-Mart with a hammer". Here are some examples of how the corporate culture in Atlanta and Bentonville are similar:

Their founders are given revered, messianic status: Sam, Bernie, Arthur.

- Customer Service Hype: Sam Walton's 10 foot rule (if you come within 10 feet of a customer, greet him) is expressed at HD as : "we never walk by a customer without speaking."

- Everyday low prices (ELF) vs. day-in day-out pricing (DIDO).

- Calling employees "associates" & being strongly anti-union.

- Wal-Mart says the customer is the boss. Home Depot says "only a Store Manager may ever say 'no' to a customer."

- Both companies are pursing a saturation strategy: locating stores as close as 7 miles apart. Both companies have an ambitious projection of new store openings.

---

http://www.sprawl-busters.com/hometown.html

There is a lot more fascinating stuff about Home Depot's employment practices later on in the article, including lack of job security, employment discrimination lawsuits, cashiers trapped at their work stations, and forced employee "volunteerism" for a narrow set of corporately chosen causes.

Something not mentioned, though, which I thought I would add was the following: One of Home Depot's early employee loyalty strategies was a share ownership program. As the company grew rapidly, the early employees' shares skyrocketed in price, giving many of them a comfortable retirement sum. This also helped lead them to think of themselves as "owners" rather than "workers."

These days, however, those skyrocketing share prices are gone. One of the consequences of being successful is that the company no longer has the same growth potential. Particularly as its "saturation" strategy reaches fruition. Once the company controls major markets, it will have to actually start downsizing stores. And the last round of recession hit Home Depot just as it did a lot of other retailers, sending share prices down and making many employees who were counting the days to their own retirement very unhappy. Looks like HD's orange glow may be fading a bit.

As for the workers' choice of union, I have always wondered why none the building trades didn't take more of an interest in Home Depot. There are a lot of skilled tradesmen who have gone to work for the store. And, the whole DIY movement that Home Depot represents, does compete with traditional hired construction labour. In my opinion, it would be better for the unions to try and extend their coverage into new jurisdictions like this, as market conditions may dictate. Needless to say, that doesn't seem to be happening.

The UFCW is a union with a lot of problems. However, it is also the only major union in the US right now that is organizing in retail. So there are definitely still reasons to join it. I think workers who choose it should do so with their eyes open, and be prepared to fight for their rights within the union as well as in relation to their employer. It can be done, but it is challenging.

[ 28 July 2004: Message edited by: robbie_dee ]

quote:

---

Both companies are pursing a saturation strategy: locating stores as close as 7 miles apart. Both companies have an ambitious projection of new store openings.

---

I find myself torn; much as I disapprove of Home Depot's labour policies, I do find it much preferrable in terms of customer service.

What to do, what to do ?

Costco CEO Jim Sinegal, 68, is a Democrat who says Bush's $1.7 trillion in tax cuts unfairly benefit the wealthy. He opposed the Iraq war and supports Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts for president. And he's the only chief executive of a company in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to donate money to independent political groups formed to oust Bush, Internal Revenue Service records show.

quote:

---

I find myself torn; much as I disapprove of Home Depot's labour policies, I do find it much preferrable in terms of customer service.

What to do, what to do ?

---

There are at least two Home Depot outlets in BC that I know of which are organized with the Teamsters.

One is a commercial construction supply and regional warehousing division (can't remember where), and at least one other outlet.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Melsky:
[QB]

Costco CEO Jim Sinegal, 68, is a Democrat who says Bush's $1.7 trillion in tax cuts unfairly benefit the wealthy. He opposed the Iraq war and supports Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts for president. And he's the only chief executive of a company in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to donate money to independent political groups formed to oust Bush, Internal Revenue Service records show.

QB]

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Klingon:
K'pla! The union makes us strong!

There are at least two Home Depot outlets in BC that I know of which are organized with the Teamsters.

One is a commercial construction supply and regional warehousing division (can't remember where), and at least one other outlet.

I don't know about any of the others.

---

It is great to hear that some Canadian HD workers are organizing with the Teamsters. There is also an active online community of HD workers on the IWW-run Retailworker.com website, among other places.

The UFCW local that the Michigan HD workers are trying to join doesn't have any other HDs yet, of course. But they do represent one of the only two unionized Borders book stores in the USA in Ann Arbor, MI, as well as having narrowly lost a vote to unionize the first Sears department store in the US last year.

[ 28 July 2004: Message edited by: robbie_dee ]

I can say with certainty that neither Rona nor HD have any decent customer service. On Monday night we spent an hour circling for an employee that could help us with a purchase. Many walked by, and some deliberately avoided eye contact. Others begged off, saying they had no expertise.

This was with about $650 of goods in our cart already, and the desire to buy a $300 item once I had my 30 second question answered.

After an hour, I was ready to unload the cart and leave, and would have if we weren't under a serious deadline for finishing the project. Desperately understaffed, Home Depot still got our money because there were no other choices.

They almost lost $1000 in sales that evening. They have definitely lost what will likely be several thousand in future sales. All that, for the lack of a few more underpaid employees to wander their labyrinths.

I wish I could say that Rona was better, but I find it even harder to get the attention of an employee.

As far as I'm concerned, they can all drop off a cliff. It pisses me off that they are outcompeting the locals (who were invariably helpful, knowledgeable and attentive when they had the items I was looking for).

quote:

---

Originally posted by Klingon:
K'pla! The union makes us strong!

There are at least two Home Depot outlets in BC that I know of which are organized with the Teamsters.

One is a commercial construction supply and regional warehousing division (can't remember where), and at least one other outlet.

I don't know about any of the others.

---

quote:

---

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Home Depot Inc. workers at a suburban Detroit store rejected a bid to be represented by a labor union, a National Labor Relations Board official said on Saturday.

In a two-day secret ballot election, Home Depot employees in Harper Woods, Michigan, voted 115 to 42 against joining the United Food and Commercial Workers, said Stephen Glasser, regional director of the Detroit office of the NLRB.

If the union had won, the Michigan store would have been the first Home Depot ever to have union representation. (robbie_dee's note: looks like this reporter has to check his facts, if Klingon's post above is correct then HD has at least a couple of unionized locations in B.C.) The retailer has more than 1,700 stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Glasser told Reuters that the preliminary election results would not be certified until after both the union and the company had been given time to file objections. He said there were 173 eligible voters.

To win, the union had to receive a majority of valid ballots cast from the hourly nonmanagement employees.

In a statement, Atlanta-based Home Depot said the results represent "a vote of confidence" from its workers, and added that its job package "consistently ranks in the top tier" among retailers.

Home Depot store workers contacted the union earlier this year showing interest in unionizing, according to union official Mark Charrette.

The workers expressed concerns about job security, pay and staffing levels and higher employee health-care costs, he said.

Efforts to unionize have picked up steam at a host of large retailers in recent years, including Wal-Mart Stores, the nation's largest retailer with more than a million workers.

The union has said it is looking to win representation at other Home Depots in Michigan, including a store in Flint, which is about 60 miles northwest of Detroit.

---

[ 01 August 2004: Message edited by: robbie_dee ]

[ 01 August 2004: Message edited by: robbie_dee ]

quote:

---

The failure of a weekend vote to unionize the Home Depot store in Harper Woods illustrates the huge challenges facing any union that wants to organize workers at the nation's multibillion-dollar retailers.

While United Food and Commercial Workers Local 876 in Madison Heights went in with high hopes of getting a majority of the 172 workers to vote with it, fewer than 30 percent did, though more than that number petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to conduct the election.

Voting on Friday and Saturday netted 115 votes against the union and 42 for representation. The union has until Aug. 9 to object to the way the vote was conducted, said Stephen Glasser, regional director for the National Labor Relations Board in Detroit. UFCW officials did not return phone calls seeking comment Sunday.

"I expected it to be closer. I'm disappointed, but the majority rules, and the majority said no," said Alicia Franklin, a 36-year-old Detroit resident who works as a cashier at the store and served on the organizing committee.

Organizing the store would have been a coup for the UFCW, which tried unsuccessfully to organize other national retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The union's Local 876 in Madison Heights represents 22,000 workers at Farmer Jack, Kroger and other retailers.

Home Depot, the nation's largest home improvement retailer with $58.2 billion in annual sales, opened its first metro Detroit store 10 years ago. The Atlanta-based retailer now has 64 stores and 9,400 employees in Michigan.

---