Our current contract is set to expire on April 7, 2025, and negotiations for the next agreement are approaching. Bargaining surveys will be sent out by email within the week - please make sure to check your emails and give feedback about your priorities! This is our opportunity to meet at the bargaining table and fight for the wages, benefits, and working conditions that you want to see at Crossroads. Our bargaining team is also looking for passionate and dedicated coworkers to join the committee. If you’re interested in joining or want to learn more about the process, please call your union rep Allison Hanley at (206) 436-6586.

Labor Management Committee Meeting Update

Your Labor Management Committee met with management on Monday, January 27, to discuss workplace concerns about safety, scheduling, and store maintenance. Updates on these issues are included below.

Hours Agreement

The Employer heard concerns from the members about the impact of reduction of hours below the hours agreement. The expectation is to have advanced notice for any changes beyond what was communicated. The Employer was agreeable to elaborate on the impact of winter sales on labor hours for future provided hours agreements. The Employer will consider additional methods to keep staff informed, like a publicly posted notice or check-in during team meetings.

Vent Maintenance

The Employer acknowledges that even with proper upkeep, dust seems to collect quickly due to the building and the product being sold. They have already purchased some air purifiers to help with the issue and have agreed to get additional air purifiers for the register and POS area. The Union and the Employer agreed to follow up later about previous duct maintenance to see when the next cleaning would be in order.

Alias Name Tags

The Employer heard that general safety around name tags and gender identifiers was a concern for staff. They maintain that some form of identification is necessary to verify possible transaction issues. Employees are free to change their work alias as often as they want, as long as the Employer can verify whose alias belongs to whom. The Employer encouraged any staff with safety concerns about being identified to meet with Melissa to work out alternate solutions.

The Employer maintained that members could display or omit pronouns on name tags. They were open to posting signage similar to HotCakes’, which encourages customers to use gender-neutral pronouns for all staff members.

Fitting Room Policy

The Employer heard feedback about the bag check policy and whether it was helpful to create a safe environment in the fitting rooms area. The Employer agreed to discuss this in upcoming staff meetings to decide if this policy works for everyone moving forward.

Lighting

The Employer heard concerns about the bright fluorescent lights causing headaches in the darker winter months. Since changing the warmth settings of the lights would require a technician, the Employer was willing to cycle through the other settings and assess them if a technician should be scheduled for maintenance.