Macy’s South Coast Plaza Stores Target of Union Bid

Hoping to seize on worker discontent at stores owned by Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores Inc., the Teamsters union on Sunday launched a second organizing drive in Orange County, this one aimed at Macy’s South Coast Plaza stores.

Employees circulated cards authorizing Teamsters Local 848 of El Monte to represent them in collective bargaining, and by day’s end had collected 31 signatures.

To qualify for an election under federal labor laws, 30% of the employees must sign authorization cards. Macy’s employs about 900 people at South Coast Plaza, meaning that about 270 workers would need to sign up to force an election.

The effort “is still very new, and it was a slow Sunday because of the Super Bowl, but we’re off to a good start,” said Karen Moeller, a cosmetics sales consultant at Macy’s main store at the mall.

Macy’s operates two stores at the mall. One carries women’s and children’s fashions and housewares; the other, men’s fashions and accessories. The two stores are run as one unit. Macy’s also has a store at Crystal Court across the street, but the union is not attempting to organize workers there.

As with the Federated-owned Bloomingdale’s stores at Fashion Island Newport Beach, whose workers began organizing in mid-December, many Macy’s employees are concerned about what they say are unrealistically high sales quotas, Moeller said.

Moeller, who has worked at the South Coast Plaza store for nine years, said she must sell $17,000 worth of cosmetics this month, nearly double the $9,900 monthly quota of a year ago.

“And if I don’t meet my goal, I’m gone,” she said. “I’m worried about losing my job.”

A spokeswoman for Macy’s West in San Francisco said the “vast majority” of sales associates at the South Coast Plaza stores earn a commission on every transaction. “So if the union is raising some quota issue, it is meaningless,” she said. “The union issue is not about money for our associates. We believe it is more about money for the union, because if the Teamsters is successful in unionizing our store, they can collect about $300,000 in dues year after year.”

Only 25 of Federated’s 550 stores nationwide are unionized, including Macy’s San Francisco store. Like many retailers, the company had a rough holiday season, with sales at established stores rising 1.3% in November and December. But analysts expect the company’s profits will more than double in the fiscal year that ends Saturday to a record $539 million.

Employees involved in the organizing effort at Bloomingdale’s had gathered 62 authorization cards through last Thursday, needing about 25 more to qualify for an election. The workers said they obtained more signatures over the weekend but declined to say how many.

The Teamsters plan to conduct a second informational meeting Sunday for Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s employees.