The next bargaining sessions are October 24th and 25th. Sign up to observe here.

Contract Negotiations Progress
 

Articles Tentatively Agreed To as of 9/28/2023:

REASONABLE SEATING

Nothing in this article shall be construed to prohibit employees who prefer to work standing from doing so, or to prohibit the Employer from assigning tasks to employees that cannot reasonably be performed while seated.

Section 1.
Cashiers and others assigned to perform cashiering duties shall be allowed to perform cashiering duties seated insofar as it does not seriously impede their own duties or the ability of others to complete their duties nor create a safety risk for other employees in their designated work area. The Employer will endeavor to have further discussions with NSLU about providing seating for employees performing other jobs or duties that can be safely performed while seated.

Section 2.
The Employer will provide up to eight (8) reasonable seats for cashiers and others assigned to perform cashiering duties to use. "Reasonable seat'' is defined as a seat that permits the safe performance of a task from a seated position. If a cashier or others assigned to perform cashiering duties wishes to use seating during their cashiering shift, the cashier shall notify their immediate supervisor of their need for seating at the start of their shift.

FORCE MAJEURE

Section 1. Definition. A Force Majeure Event, as used in this Agreement, shall encompass any circumstance that is beyond the control of both the Employer and the Union, and may include, but is not limited to, acts of God, extreme weather, fires, floods, wars, acts of terrorism, strikes and other labor disturbances, technological failures or attacks, natural disasters, public utility failures, governmental actions, civil unrest, supply chain disruptions, pandemics, or any other unexpected emergency condition, as reasonably determined by the Employer.

Section 2. Scope. Neither party shall be liable in damages or otherwise responsible , or be deemed to have breached or otherwise defaulted on its obligations under the CBA, for any failure or delay in performing or otherwise complying with its obligations where that failure or delay is caused by or results from a Force Majeure Event. The obligations that cannot be performed because of the Force Majeure Event shall be suspended only to the extent affected by the Force Majeure Event, and for a reasonable period of time required to restore operations as they were immediately prior to the event.

LABOR-MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Section 1. Scope. In order to uphold a mutually beneficial relationship and encourage transparent communication, a single Labor Management Committee (LMC) shall be established to represent all bargaining units throughout the duration of this Agreement. The LMC may be convened by either the Union or the employer to discuss mutually agreed-upon subjects on an as-needed basis. It is explicitly stated that the committee lacks authority to bargain, alter, remove, or amend any provisions within the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), or to establish any new agreements that would legally bind either the union or the employer. The contents of the meeting will be limited to agenda items. 

Section 2. Composition. The LMC shall be composed of a maximum of one (1) employee per bargaining unit and one (1) employee who is an officer of the union or a designee, the Director of Labor Relations or equivalent and a minimum of three (3) members of management. Each party shall select or appoint their own members at their discretion. 

The Employer or the Union may request the participation of additional non-committee members in a meeting, subject to mutual agreement.

Section 3. Meeting Schedule. Meetings will take place upon the request of the Union or Employer, but will be held no more than once per quarter. Meetings shall last a maximum of two (2) hours, unless extended by mutual agreement of the parties. Meetings shall be held at New Seasons Market Store Support offices. 

Section 4. Pay Status. Bargaining unit employee time spent attending the LMC on behalf of the Union shall be unpaid. Provided, however, that if the meeting takes place upon the request of the Employer, time spent in the meeting shall be paid. 

Section 5. Advance Notice. The party requesting the meeting shall share a written agenda, which may simply be discussion topics, at the time the request is made. The other party may add to the agenda before the meeting is held. As long as the agenda falls within the purpose outlined in Section 1, the Employer and the Union will select a meeting date and time within fourteen days of the request. 
Section 6. Union members shall not be unreasonably denied time off to attend a labor management committee meeting, provided appropriate request-off protocols are followed. Employees shall have the ability to use PTO to cover any lost time. 

UNION SECURITY

1.0 Union Dues; Union Security.

1.1 It shall be a condition of employment that all employees of the Employer covered by this Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), who are members of the Union in good standing and those who are not members on the effective date of this CBA, shall within thirty-one (31) days following the effective date of this CBA, become and remain members in good standing in the Union or as a condition of continued employment shall pay a fee in the amount equal to the periodic dues uniformly required as a condition of acquiring and retaining membership. It shall also be a condition of employment that all employees covered by this CBA and hired on or after its effective date, shall within thirty-one (31) days following the beginning of such employment become and remain members in good standing in the Union through regular payment of dues to the Union or as a condition of continued employment shall pay a fee in the amount equal to the periodic dues uniformly required as a condition of acquiring and retaining membership. For the purpose of this Paragraph, the execution date of this CBA shall be considered as its effective date. 

1.2 Upon failure of any employee to comply with the provision of Article Paragraph 1.1 of this Article, the Union may then notify the Employer in writing of such failure, and the employee shall be terminated from their bargaining unit position thirty-one (31) days after the Employer receives the Union's notice and not rehired until such employee is in good standing in the Union as defined by the National Labor Relations Act, as amended. The Union will follow the federal labor law guidelines for duty of fair representation for all members, including any non- supporter of the union. To ensure that the dues policy is fairly enforced, the Union will, before seeking the termination of any employee for failing to tender dues: 
 

• Send a written notice to the employee's email or mailing address provided by the Employer that the employee is not a member in good standing, due to nonpayment of dues, with directions on how to satisfy their obligation to the Union so the employee is not terminated and, 
• Make a reasonable attempt to talk to the employee via phone or in person to resolve the issue. 

The Union's notification to the Employer shall be submitted to the Store Manager, Assistant Store Manager, Human Resources Manager, or the Director of Labor Relations or designee and include documentation of the Union's written notice to the employee as outlined above. 

1.3 The Employer agrees to provide a link to an electronic copy of the collective bargaining agreement hosted on the employer's intranet to each newly hired bargaining unit employee. No more than once a month, the Employer, upon request, shall provide the Union's designated Representative with a list of the name or preferred name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, work location, manager, job title, hourly wage rate, pay grade, and the number of newly hired bargaining unit employees. Upon request, the Employer shall also provide the Union with names of bargaining unit employees terminating employment and bargaining unit employee changes in classification and status. 

1.4 The Employer shall deduct from each employee's wages that amount of Union dues, as specified by the Union, of all employees covered by this CBA who have provided the Employer with a written assignment authorizing such deductions. The Employer will provide written assignment authorization forms to all new hires in new hire paperwork. In the event of an overcharge to an employee in the aforementioned deductions by the Employer and such overcharge has been remitted to the Union, the Union shall be responsible for the adjustment of such claims with the employee involved. In the event of an undercharge by the Employer, the Employer shall make the additional necessary deductions in the next succeeding month and remit the amount of such undercharge to the Union. The Union agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Employer against any and all suits, claims, demands, and liabilities that may arise out of or because of any action taken by the Employer for the purposes of complying with any of the provisions of this Article

SEVERABILITY

Section 1.
Nothing contained in this Agreement is intended to violate any Federal or State laws, rules or regulations made pursuant thereto. If any part of this Agreement is found invalid by a court, government agency, or is invalidated by federal, state, or local laws or regulations, the remaining parts of the Agreement will still be valid and enforceable.

Section 2.
Both Parties agree to immediately renegotiate any part of this Agreement found to be in violation pursuant to Section 1 and to bring it into conformance within sixty (60) days after notification, unless the time limit is extended by mutual agreement. 
The parties agree to interpret the invalidated provision based on its original intended purpose and strive to reach a revised provision that closely aligns with that purpose.

Bargaining Team Note: This is another standard contract agreement in which both parties agree to renegotiate any article that is found to violate the law, without invalidating the rest of the contract.

NON-DISCRIMINATION AND HARASSMENT

Neither the Employer or the Union will engage in discrimination or harassment based on race, color, religion, ethnicity, genetic information, native language, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, marital status, disability, veteran or military status, age, union membership, or any other status protected under all applicable federal, state or local equal opportunity laws. Both the Employer and Union will comply with all equal employment opportunity laws. The Employer and the Union will work to the best of their abilities to jointly prevent and effectively address allegations of discrimination and/or harassment in the workplace.
The Employer’s policies on non-discrimination and harassment in its Employee Handbook will continue to apply to bargaining unit employees covered by this Agreement.

Bargaining Team Note: This is a standard contract agreement in which the Employer and the Union agree to not engage in discrimination or harassment based on any type of protected status (race, color, religion, ethnicity, native language, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, etc.). NSLU sought to expand the types of status included in the agreement to go beyond federal definitions and sought to include housing/economic as a protected status, but New Seasons disagreed and redlined this out. Despite NSLU insisting on this protection, in discussions it became clear that NSM had no interest in contractually agreeing to not discriminate against employees experiencing housing insecurity or financial hardship. NSLU ultimately agreed to leave this protection out of this article and we plan to address the issue in other parts of the contract.

Important Notes

• Articles which are tentatively agreed to by the Union bargaining team and the company must still be approved by NSLU membership before going into effect. 
• Articles here are in no particular order. Article numbers are omitted and will be worked out at the end of negotiations. This is a non-authoritative transcription.
• Notes are to help the members interpret the contract language, but are not part of the contract.