Ben & Jerry’s scoopers take key step to form company’s first union
Ben & Jerry’s workers at the company’s flagship ice cream shop in Burlington, Vt., filed for a union election Monday, adding momentum to a string of service-industry campaigns at high-profile companies such as Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, and Apple.
If the workers vote to unionize, they will be the first among Ben & Jerry’s US locations to do so. The company, started by two former hippies, has built a reputation on serving up zany ice cream flavors like Half Baked and Cherry Garcia while unapologetically supporting social justice causes.
The union drive serves as a test of the company’s values, workers said.
Scoopers in Burlington said cofounder Jerry Greenfield showed up briefly at the store Sunday — an unusual occurrence — but he skipped a meeting where workers announced to management their intent to unionize.
“Collectively, we have come to embody Ben and Jerry’s slogan of ‘peace, love, and ice cream,’” workers wrote in a letter addressed to Greenfield and cofounder Ben Cohen and delivered to management Sunday. “Forming a union will ensure that present and future scoopers have irrefutable rights.”
The Burlington workers are seeking to join Workers United, a scrappy union affiliated with the powerhouse Service Employees International United (SEIU). Workers United recently rose to prominence for winning union elections at about 300 Starbucks coffee shops across 36 states in a year-and-ahalf.
Ben & Jerry’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The workers’ push to unionize began around April 3, the annual Free Cone Day, when the company gives away free scoops of ice cream. According to union organizers, management took away the tip jar that day.
Ben & Jerry’s later returned it after workers protested, the organizers said. But the move to unionize quickly caught on throughout the store. In Burlington, organizers said all 37 scoopers have pledged their support. That’s well above the typical threshold in the United States, where at least 30 percent of eligible employees must sign on to qualify for a federally recognized union election.
Union leaders said their primary motivation is to have a seat at the table with management. Also at issue is management’s handling of multiple instances of drug use in the store bathroom, including an overdose last summer, as well as adding job duties without increasing pay, workers say.
“I think our workplace operates on the idea that you give 110 percent and that goes out to the community and the people we service,” said Rebeka Mendelsohn, 22, a shift manager and caterer. “I just wish we were allowed to feel like we were part of business and the decision-making process.”
According to union organizers, most of the employees at the Burlington store are students at the University of Vermont (UVM).