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After four months of trying to organize a union, Berkeley Bowl employees and community supporters will take their campaign to the streets Sunday with a rally in front of the store to demand that management agree to begin negotiations. 

Employee organizers say a large majority of their coworkers have signed union authorization cards and they’re calling for a card check agreement which would allow a third party to verify that a majority of the roughly 250 employees have asked the Oakland-based United Food and Commercial Workers Butchers’ Union (UFCW) Local 120 to represent them. 

“We have a strong majority and the workers are ready to begin negotiating,” said Jeremy Plague, one of the UFCW organizers working on the campaign.  

UFCW Local 120 has demanded a card check rather than a traditional union election because they say that there a number of ways that an election can be delayed and drawn out. A card check agreement would grant the union immediate recognition. 

“If we filed for an election it could be nine months to a year before we even sat down to start bargaining,” said Plague. “We want them to recognize the union now.” 

Store management has resisted the move, supporting instead a union election. “A card check would not give an accurate appraisal of how the employees feel,” said store manager Larry Evans. 

Plague disagrees. “I personally believe almost everyone is in favor of the union. Those who aren’t just haven’t been educated.” 

The drive originally started because employees had complaints about a number of issues including low wages, the inability to obtain health insurance and a management system they say is rife with favoritism. 

“People get overlooked for raises all the time,” said Eric Feezell, a produce clerk. “I’m on a long list of people who didn’t get a raise for months, as opposed to other employees who have gotten several raises in just the past couple of months.” 

Berkeley Bowl management has opposed the union by distributing flyers, holding anti-union meetings, and retaining Jackson Lewis, one of the largest and best-known law firms that represents management in labor disputes. 

Store officials have recently been caught twice in violation of federal labor law on anti-union activities. Berkeley Bowl General Manager Dan Kataoka posted a memo to all store employees stating the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that the Berkeley Bowl violated federal labor law by producing illegal statements from managers and by illegally spying on union activity. 

The unionization drive has won the support of many in the community and from public officials such as Mayor Tom Bates and City Councilmembers Margaret Breland and Kriss Worthington.  

Worthington, always a keen supporter of labor, stresses how important it is for community involvement during union campaigns.  

“It’s not a question of being for or against the owners,” said Worthington. “But when a company grows you develop different dynamics, you develop reasons why people want a union.” 

Several employees participating in the drive said they feel the same. “Berkeley Bowl has outgrown itself,” said Eric Feezell. “If it were the old store where everyone knew each other you could solve things without a union. But when you have 200 plus employees it’s a different story.” 

Cory Abshear, a checker at the store, says Berkeley Bowl still has the mom and pop reputation but that it’s not run that way. “They pretend to know all of our names but they don’t,” she said. 

Everyone involved in the organizing drive stresses that they haven’t called for a boycott and they encourage residents to continue shopping at the Berkeley Bowl, saying that they want the store to continue to be successful while demanding that the store respect the work they do to ensure that success. 

“They make so much money,” said Abshear. “They can afford to give their employees good health care and wages.”