Union Demand Dropped in Nordstrom Contract

The union that represents 1,700 Nordstrom workers in the Seattle area has given up on a key demand and signed a labor contract with the department store chain 17 months after the last contract expired.

Leaders of Local 1001 of the United Food & Commercial Workers union--which as part of its negotiation effort had run an effective negative-publicity campaign against the Nordstrom chain during the past year--said they dropped their insistence on maintaining a “union shop.”

Under the previous contract, which expired in July, 1989, all sales employees and office workers in the six stores covered by the contract were obligated to become union members. Nordstrom had demanded that the new contract be modified to make union membership optional.

James Webster, an attorney representing the local, said the union decided to stop fighting Nordstrom on the union shop issue in order to devote more financial and staff resources to a class-action lawsuit in Seattle that accuses the upscale fashion retailer of various abuses.

The lawsuit seeks more than $300 million in back pay for Nordstrom employees nationwide, claiming that the chain failed to pay some workers for attending company meetings, writing thank-you notes to customers, making deliveries and performing other functions on their own time.

The union originally raised the allegations to gain leverage in its contract fight. While the tactic did not persuade Nordstrom to change its negotiating position, the union’s negative-publicity campaign generated significant adverse publicity in a variety of newspaper stories, which largely affirmed the union’s claims. The Washington state Department of Labor and Industries found that Nordstrom had violated minimum wage laws, but the company is appealing that decision.

The new contract’s pay increases, ranging from 4% to 8% depending on job classification, were implemented by the company in early 1990. But employees could not pursue job grievances while they worked without a contract, Webster said. The new contract runs only through next July.

Nordstrom employs more than 30,000 people at 62 stores in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Utah, California, Virginia and New Jersey.