If:: General Manager's Desk

By Richord Kotz
against the Co-op. An

Vl"n" owners have I lexpressed a destre

to knowmore about the union organizing at the Co-op, especially those

article appeared in the Tidings about this that

you may have read.

October 17th: The

Board of Directors released a Fact Finding

who were unable to attendour Owner Forum

last November. Much ofthe information in this article comes from that meeting.A far as I know, union visits and organizing meetings began early last
May, although management did not become

aware of this activiry until June 25th. Ar that time there was a flood of rumors about management mistreatment of employees, employees losing benefits, and policies not being followed. I was surprised to hear about all this as we thought that for the most part employee relations were good and I hadnt heard about any of these issues. Here's a brief chronology of events since

vestigation of policy violations voiced to them by employees. This report, posted in the employee log, indicated that there was no policy violation discovered in the complaints that they received from employees.

Sales Flyer Goes Digital in January

you know that the Co-opt largest advertising expense is printing and inserting our Sales Flyer in the Ashland

November 3rd: Ve received word from the NLRB that UFCV 555 was seeking to represent employees through an election. tWe also soon learned that because of the pending ULP charges, the NLRB would
block the election. As we now understand the issue, UFC\7 555 canaskthat the block be removed, but until they do, there will be no action on the vote request. November 18th: UFC\7 555 withdrewthe original charges and issued revised charges. At the time of this writing we expected an NLRB investigator in Ahland the second week in December to begin investigating the new ULP charges.

nid lJ

Daily Tidings newspaper? Not only is it expensive in doliars, it is expensive environmentally. Thatt a lot of paper and
ink to let you know what's on
sale.

Since the Sales Flyer is always available

then: June 30th: Ve held the first of a series of facilitated open forums for employees to share their fioughts and feelings about the union organizing. Several Board members also attended. Comments and questions
were recorded on flip charts, transcribed, and posted at the employee log soon after
each meeting.

on our website and paper copies are in

the store, we explored discontinuing the insertion into the newspaper. Two surveys
last spring and summer showed that a large majority of respondents never even use the

newspaper insert. The next iargest group looked at it on line or picked up a copy in the store. The smallest group always used the flyer in the newspaper.
Based on these surveys, we have decided to advertise our sales digitally and have a few paper copies printed in-house for shoppers to use in the store. Ifyou are a smart phone user, there will also be a QR code near the paper copies for you to use to download the fyer to your phone. This will all happen in mid-January when we launch a new and improved website. Besides our website, the link to the Sales Flyer will be advertised

Throughout the summer, log notes, flyers, and comments from employees discussed both sides of the union issue. I heard from employees that many of them
were becoming weary of the polarization in the workplace.

As this process moves forward, management will receive "due process" and have an opportunity to know and respond to the
evidence behind all charges. The NLRB investigator is not likely to issue any findings until sometime in January. Co-op management firmly supports the right of our employees to make an

September 5th, Labor Day: Despite differences, our annual Labor Day Employee
Picnic showed that we could still enjoy some time together.

informed decision about whether or not to have Local 555 at the Co-op. tWe look forward to the decision of employees in a
secret ballot election.

September 29tthz The NLRB received a petition generated from a co-op employee
group signed by 78 individuals, constituting 53o/o of non-management employees. The petition said: We the below signed

on the home pages of the Medford Mail Tlibune and the fuhland DailyTidings.
We're excited about moving to
a

"greener"

manage r
@ as h

Richard Katz,
lan dfo o d.
co

form of advertising and hope you too will

appreciate the more modern approach.

op

staff.

..

DO NOT \fANT UFC\7

555

AS REPRESENTMIVE and are asking UFC\f to end its disruptive, divisive

campaign at our workplace.

i--f UpdateYour Email Address

i nr we move to more digital communications,your correct email address i will ensure that you receive up to the minute information from us. Fill out an I O*n"r Data Change Form at the lnfo Desk next time you shop!
:.... "
I

l2th UFC\7 555 filed Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
October
.FOOPE ffi fk
RATIVE
E

......

. r................................

NTE RPRI

(q pU LD A

'*' l\

SETTE R

WORL&.&

'%

PAGE

{\