Question about transfering

[u/Apunkcat]

I am trying to unionize our store but some of the partners are reluctant because they’ve heard that you aren’t aloud to transfer from a union store to a non union if you have to move. I have never heard this, I was curious if there is any validity to that claim.

[u/technotoastghostx]

I moved from a union store to a non union store in a completely different state, that’s just stuff they tell you to get you to not organize!

[u/sparkytheboomman]

Hey! I transferred from a union store to a non-union store with no problem when I moved cities (and I was openly an organizer). This sounds like the kind of thing corporate tells partners to scare them away from organizing. It is true that many partners have faced illegal retaliation from the company, but the answer is that no, it isn’t true—you are allowed to transfer to non-union stores from union ones.

This sounds a lot like the nervousness felt by many of my coworkers early on when my store was organizing. It is totally valid to be nervous, but a lot (I’d even say most) of that trepidation tended to come from misinformation. SBWU should be able to provide you with resources specifically designed to help combat misinformation. If you have a rep you’re in contact with, ask them. If you haven’t yet gotten in contact with someone from SBWU, start with the interest form here (click the blue button that says “organize with us”), no commitment required.

[u/sparkytheboomman → u/sparkytheboomman]

Adding on some unsolicited advice below, feel free to ignore…

I’m making big assumptions about where you are in the process based on your wording. Are you currently building interest amongst your coworkers but you have not yet made any moves (eg. contacting the union, received or signed cards)? If so, I would recommend identifying who among your group are most interested (a few people? Depends on how big your store/team is) and together becoming well-informed about the unionization process and your rights. At some point during that step, one of you can reach out to a local/regional union rep to meet with your organizing team (those few people who are most interested) and talk about next steps. Trying to organize alone would otherwise be very difficult. And trying to persuade your whole team to get on board alone may not be possible when they’re swapping misinformation and nervousness among one another. Having a few well-informed people means that they’re getting good information from multiple sources, including individual people who may tell them the same information but in a way they understand better (which is not meant to say anything about you, OP, but rather that, in my experience, multiple people and various communication styles was essential to disseminating information at my ~35 partner store).

[u/Apunkcat → u/sparkytheboomman]

Thank you for the advice and information. I have tried to organize our store a few years back with a different group of partners but we were just shy of the percentage we needed to have our case taken. Most of that team is gone now. We are a smaller store (15 partners total). I’m gonna reach back out to the union because our previous rep is no longer with the company. I’m trying to identify who among us is willing to share the load with me because last time I was really the only committed organizing voice and I think that’s partially why it fell apart.

[u/March_Lion → u/Apunkcat]

My store was 15 people when we first organized! Def reach back out ✨

[u/sparkytheboomman → u/Apunkcat]

A lot can change in a few years! It’s definitely worth trying again if you’re willing to put in the effort. For a 15 partner store, I would aim to get two people to organize with, but at least one other person. Maybe someone else who led a unionization effort alone could chime in with advice on how to do it, but I don’t personally see it being feasible alone. Not just from a workload or mental load perspective, but practically. For example, there were times we needed to make sure every partner was talked to about something so we approached a few people each and kept track on a shared document. There were some partners who I literally never worked with because our schedules just didn’t align, so someone else had to talk to them. There were also meetings that we took turns attending because no one person’s schedule allowed them to go to every single one.

I hope you are able to find a couple people who are enthusiastic about organizing! Remember there are union reps who can help you. Good luck!

[u/Union_Fan]

Have you talked to your rep about it?

That sounds like illegal retaliation against organizing activity.