Workers at DeLaurenti in Seattle Say: We're Forming Our Union!
The workers of DeLaurenti Food & Wine, a specialty food and wine store in the historic Pike Place Market, announce today that we are joining the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 21. We request that the owners of DeLaurenti voluntarily recognize our union. We seek to begin collective bargaining immediately.
DeLaurenti has been serving Seattle for more than 75 years, including as a pick-up and delivery grocer throughout the COVID pandemic. The shop attracts highly skilled employees with specialized knowledge of the products that we sell and prepare. Our staff includes baristas; wine, cheese, and charcuterie experts; those who cook and serve the prepared food in our deli; and more. Over the last year and a half, we have kept the legacy of this local institution alive during a worldwide pandemic, delivering groceries and specialty items to customers across the city and country and serving the market community through a very difficult season.
We seek to unionize out of a sense of pride and respect, both for the work we have put in over the past year and for the special place that DeLaurenti holds in the Pike Place Market community. For us to create the best version of DeLaurenti, we know that the people who prepare, handle, and sell the beautiful food it carries should be protected, respected, and have a say in our working conditions.
We want our expertise to be recognized—both in the form of higher wages and benefits, and in our involvement in decision-making processes. With more comprehensive training, a safer work environment, and more employee input into store decisions, we hope to make DeLaurenti even better for our customers and our community as well as for each other.
DeLaurenti Food & Wine can be found on the southwest corner of First Avenue & Pike Street in Seattle.