Macy's races to the bottom with takeaways and federal labor law violations
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After 2 days of “so called” bargaining with Macy’s on January 4 and 9, Macy’s Management violated federal labor law yet again. It has become clear that Macy’s has no problem blatantly violating workers’ rights.
Macy’s once again refused to bargain in good faith over proposals to keep our co-workers and customers safe. This reckless disregard for basic respect and dignity at work is apparently the new Macy’s Management Plan. Macy’s entered these negotiations attempting to take away many secured benefits such as the attendance point system, MLK day, a guarantee above minimum wage, and a wage scale to address wage compression. In a chase to fix bad management, Macy’s seeks to gut its workers' wages, benefits, and safety to save a few dollars.
Yesterday, Macy’s sent another Last Best and Final offer after regressively bargaining between January 4 and January 9. Regressive bargaining is an illegal bargaining tactic when an Employer offers workers a worse proposal than what was previously on the table. We believe this is somewhere between the 3rd and 5th Last Best and Final offer from the employer, but who is counting?
In this Last Best and Final offer, the employer went backwards and put an offer on the table that is WORSE than what workers already rejected on October 7, 2023.
This newest version of the Last Best and Final includes:
A lower ratification bonus than the previously offered $1000 ratification bonus, now only a $300 ratification bonus for part time workers and $600 for full time workers.
Only $.50 per year General Wage Increases for the thereafter rate.
Eliminating our guarantee of $0.20 above minimum wage for all workers and only offering modest protection to keep our wages above minimum wages going forward and only for New Hires
A proposal which would result in an immediate pay cut for almost every Macy’s worker at South Center
Eliminating our wage scales all together
Eliminating MLK day
Rejecting our proposal to call Security or the Police when confronted with violence or an emergency at work.
It looks like to us Macy’s believes that their own workers are only worth minimum wage (although would likely pay less if legally possible), do not deserve basic safety protections, do not deserve a meaningful wage scale, and should take major cuts with the elimination of our wage scale, MLK day, and lowering a guaranteed above minim wage starting rate.
Our bargaining Committee is meeting Friday, January 12, 2024, to discuss next steps and what our response to the employer should be.
Help continue to prepare for a ULP strike and keep the pressure on Macy’s by signing up for your strike schedule, get picket captain trained and make sure you and your coworkers have completed a W9 form to receive strike pay.
