*** PLEASE NOTE: This event was originally scheduled for September 23, but has been rescheduled to September 30 due to weather.***
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (September 18, 2023) – Union workers at MOM’s Organic Market in College Park will be joined by elected officials and community leaders for a rally on Saturday, September 30*** to protest the company’s unlawful discrimination against union members.
| What: | Rally to Protest Discrimination at MOM’s Organic Market |
| When: | 11:00am – Noon, Saturday, September 30, 2023 *Please note new date due to weather* |
| Where: | MOM’s Organic Market College Park 9801 Rhode Island Ave, College Park, MD 20740 |
The workers are protesting management’s efforts to dissuade other workers from unionizing by discriminating against workers who are active in the union. The unlawful and discriminatory practices include:
- Withholding raises and benefits from union workers – Only two weeks after workers at the College Park location overwhelmingly voted to unionize, MOM’s Organic Market sent a company-wide email announcing pay raises and other improvements for all employees except those at the newly unionized stores, in violation of federal law prohibiting such discrimination. The union filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company that is under review by the National Labor Relations Board, which issued a complaint against Starbucks just last year over the same discriminatory activity.
- Unlawfully disciplining and firing workers for supporting the union – The union has also filed charges against MOM’s Organic Market for discriminatory discipline against union supporters. In one case, a worker was fired for discussing the union at work, which is protected activity under federal labor law. In another case, only weeks after receiving a stellar performance review, a worker was written up after management learned she had leafleted customers about the union on her day off.
“I went to work believing MOM’s to be a progressive employer that shared my values,” said Laura Jackson, who goes by LJ and has worked at MOM’s in College Park for just a year and a half. “But sadly they’re no better than Starbucks or Walmart when it comes to respecting my rights as a worker.”
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United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 is led by President Mark Federici and represents 35,000 members working in the grocery, retail, health care, food processing, service and other industries in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. www.ufcw400.org