Lowe’s workers in New Orleans have filed a petition to unionize, seeking to become the first unionized location of the home improvement company’s 1,723 U.S. stores.
According to the filingThe National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) posted the union. It would cover 172 employees at the store, including sales associates, fulfillment, merchandising, and receiving duties.
Workers are unionizing under the name Lowe’s Workers United, according to the filing. It’s unclear if this is an independent unionOr if it is affiliated with an established labor union. If it is independent, the Lowe’s workers will join a growing number of workers who have successfully unionized at companies like Amazon or Trader Joe’sUnder an independent effort.
The company already appears to have hired union-busting lawyers from law firm Barnes & Thornburg, who are listed as legal counsel for the company on the union filing.
Indeed, company hasHad a historyof opposing unions; a training clip made by the company has circulated the internet for a number of years contains multiple anti-union talking points and encourages managers to call an internal “labor hotline” if there is unionizing activity among the employees.
If the company doesn’t voluntarily recognize the union, which it is reasonable to assume it will not, at least 30 percent of eligible workers must sign a union card in order to qualify for a union election conducted through the NLRB.
Data shows that workers at Lowe’s Home Improvement stores are often paid low wages. According to the Economic Policy Institute, about half of Lowe’s workers are paid less than $15 an hour. Another study has shown that in 2020, the average hourly wage for Lowe’s workers will be $15. the median salaryThe hourly rate for full-time retail workers was $24,000 or $11.50 per hour.
New Orleans’ minimum wage for an hour is $13.25 A living wage for New Orleans — even for a single adult with no children — is $16.32 an hour, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculator.
The salaries of the unionizing Lowe’s workers are unclear. However, Lowe’s was amongThe 2021 list of companies that spent more money on stock buybacks than worker raises. spending $13 billionBuybacks
This filing follows a union drive recently announced at another home-improvement equipment store. Last month, workers Home Depot in Philadelphiafiled to unionize in accordance with an independent union namedHome Depot Workers United. Workers will be elected to their union if they are successful. slated for November 2 and 5They will be the first to form a union within their company.
Vince Quiles, one the organizers of the Home Depot effort, expressed solidarity with the Lowe’s workers in a tweet on Thursday.
