At the Brattleboro Food Co-op’s annual meeting on November 4, several members of the co-op asked the co-op’s board of directors to fire an anti-union law firm that the board hired to fight an effort by the co-op’s 160 or so workers to form a union. The board rejected the members’ request.
The majority of the workers at the co-op recently signed a petition informing the board that they had formed a union, and asking the board to recognize their union. The board rejected the workers’ request and hired a union busting law firm. On November 14, the federal government will conduct a vote by the co-op workers. The workers will vote for or against the union. The union that they said they want to join has a web site at www.ufcw1459.com.
Also at the November 4 meeting, a member asked the board to disclose the salary of the co-op’s chief executive. This request was also rejected.
Next year’s Brattleboro co-op board elections will be held in November. The deadline for a co-op member to get on the ballot will probably be in August; that’s when it was this year.
More information about co-ops and unions in the Valley is at:
It's not a Co-op anymore.
Time for the community to recognize that the co-op has been co-opted by non-cooperatives.
Change the name to something more appropriate.
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