Milestone Vote Will Decide If Macy’s Employees Unionize

Employees at Macy’s stores in South Coast Plaza will vote this weekend on whether they want to be represented by a union, marking the first time in at least a decade that an effort to organize department store workers in Southern California has reached this point, union officials said Tuesday.

The vote was scheduled by the National Labor Relations Board after at least 30% of the stores’ 800 employees signed cards expressing interest in organizing.

The organizing drive, launched almost a year ago, involves two Macy’s stores at South Coast Plaza and one across the street at Crystal Court.

Winning union representation will require the approval of more than half of the employees who cast ballots.

The pro-union drive was spearheaded by Karen Moeller, a Macy’s cosmetics saleswoman who said both employee benefits and job security have dwindled in the last three years.

“My thing was, we can make this a better place to work,” said Moeller, who said she has not had a raise in three years.

Federated Department Stores Inc., which owns Macy’s, declined to comment Tuesday.

An antiunion movement also has surfaced at the stores, led by a Macy’s salesman who said he has gathered 200 signatures from workers opposed to the organizing effort.

“It’s actually pulled our store apart . . . those for and against,” said Gerardo Quijano, a Buena Park resident who has worked for Macy’s men’s store for two years. “We don’t know who’s who anymore.”

Employees will vote Friday and Saturday and the results will be tallied Saturday night by the NLRB.

If a majority favors union representation, union leaders would begin working with an employee committee to write a contract. That contract would require majority approval before workers would become union members.

If workers do join a union, it would be the first such move for a department store in Southern California, union officials said.

Moeller said she thinks the pro-union forces have enough votes to win representation.

But some employees were balking at the prospect Tuesday.

“The co-workers in my immediate area are totally against it,” said Loren Ragsdale, who works in Macy’s bridal registry department. “There’s no guarantee I’m going to end up with more than I have now. I may end up with less.”

The rare election is being closely watched by Bloomingdale’s workers at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, where some employees also are eyeing the possibility of gaining union representation.

“We’re just waiting to see what happens with the Macy’s stores,” said Michael Paul, a luggage salesman at Bloomingdale’s, which also is owned by Federated. “If this goes through, it’s going to make it a lot easier for us.”

If Macy’s workers ultimately approve a union contract, employees in shipping and receiving would be represented by Teamsters Local 848 in El Monte.

The stores’ sales and support staff would become members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324 in Buena Park, said Rick Eiden, the local’s director of organizing.