Note: Natural Grocers reached out with a response to this story. It has been attached to the end of this article.
Last week, about two dozen people picketed in front of the Natural Grocers on Main Street in Norman. They weren’t workers on strike — they were former employees, customers, and other supporters of the workers’ unionization efforts.
Former employees allege mistreatment of pregnant and nursing workers, dismissal of safety concerns
For former employee Willow McCartney, protecting pregnant workers is a key reason for supporting the push to unionize. She said she experienced multiple instances of mistreatment toward her pregnant coworkers — and she didn’t receive adequate support during or after her own pregnancy.
“At Natural Grocers, there’s just no policies in place or anything,” McCartney said. “They just treated me like I was the first nursing mother to come back from maternity leave. They were like, ‘well, you can use this room to pump in.’ And it was, like, this small storage closet.”
Recently, McCartney put in her two week’s notice at the store as she and her family are moving to Tulsa. On her second to last day, she said she was asked to resign and told she was not rehireable due to issues with her attendance.
“I've worked with the company for four years, and I've not had one single write up or warning or any kind of written warning or issues with my attendance or anything. I think they were just looking for a reason to tell me why I'm not rehireable, and I think it's because I am pro-union,” she said.
Another former employee at the picket, Cecily Rodriguez, said she and several other workers put together statements about a customer who had been forcibly hugging, harassing and eventually threatening them over a course of a few years. When they went to management, she said they were met with dismissal.
“We're citing all these examples of harassment, bringing up concerns for our safety because of the information that we were made aware of, and they ultimately said that he had every right to shop at the store,” Rodriguez said.
Despite no longer working for the company, she says she wants to see better working conditions for her former coworkers, whom she said felt like family to her.
“Everyone is very community-minded and just all very unique, wonderful people. And they’ve done a lot for the company,” she said. “No matter how hard people have worked, no matter what they do within the community, they are just disregarded. It was frustrating when it happened to me, but it’s also frustrating to watch it happen to other people.”
Current employees note changing atmosphere, union-busting tactics
Workers at Natural Grocers have been organizing to join United Food and Commercial Workers since 2021. Current employee Bridget Burns said the sudden firing of a coworker for a minor infraction was just one of several concerning events that led her to wanting union representation.
“I'd seen it kind of become more corporate and less personal over the years,” Burns said. “But seeing that happen to someone who was so committed to the company, was so committed to the mission, was so committed to the community at the store, just be discarded like that really made me very upset.”
When Burns and her coworkers started organizing, Natural Grocers hired labor relations consultants to hold mandatory meetings in the store meant to discourage the workers from unionizing.
One of the consultants who has held meetings at the store is Miko Penn, who works for the Crossroads Group. A clip of a captive audience meeting she held at Columbia Sportswear in 2019 was featured on a Last Week Tonight with John Oliver episode about union busting.
“I’ve seen the worst of it. Doesn’t always end up going so badly, but I mean, I’ve seen people, you know, just completely bankrupted. Marriages lost. Homes lost,” Penn said.
A contract between Natural Grocers and the Crossroads Group shows Penn was paid $450 an hour plus expenses to hold captive audience meetings at the Norman store in February. But Burns said regular store managers have also been steering workers away from the union.
“We were notified that the UFCW had filed for an election. And the managers who were talking to us about that, said that they had to provide our phone numbers and addresses to the union — so don't be surprised if they come to our house. Implying that they are just gonna, like, show up at our house without consent,” she said.
Customers, community members voice support for Natural Grocers workers
Natural Grocers customer Carrie Leslie said she shops for her groceries at the store almost exclusively — partly for the organic produce and vitamins, but also for the environment and the employees.
“I like the smallness of it, because you can get to know the employees and feel more at ease, less anxiety shopping, and just more at home there. I really love all the employees that I’ve interacted with, mainly because they’re so friendly,” Leslie said.
When she noticed the shift in the energy at the store — and that some of her favorite employees had been fired — she said she was disappointed.
“The thing I love about Natural Grocers is that it is a small store. But it seems like the company is growing, and not really taking care of its workers in the same way that a small business would,” she said.
Longtime customer Paul McFarland thinks Natural Grocers’ attempts to suppress union efforts go against their stated values, which include commitment to the community and their crew.
“Commitment to the community and the commitment to the crew go hand in hand. They're interlocked. If they're committed to the community, they need to improve the working conditions for their employees,” McFarland said.
McFarland’s and Leslie’s desire for the workers to be treated fairly led them to sign on to a petition calling on Natural Grocers to stop engaging in union busting tactics and to join the picket to show his support. If things don’t change, McFarland said he’ll start shopping elsewhere.
“If they push back and they just will not allow it and start firing people, then I'll stop shopping and I'm going to encourage my friends to do the same. And they will notice that because I spend a lot of money there, my friends spend a lot of money there, and you get enough of that going and their bottom line will definitely be affected,” he said.
The workers will vote on whether to join the United Food and Commercial Workers on Thursday.
Natural Grocers' Response
On May 7, Natural Grocers Director of Public Relations, Katie Macarelli, sent the following statement:
Natural Grocers received a demand that we recognize a union at our Norman, Oklahoma store. The union subsequently filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to commence an election process at this store. Natural Grocers has a long proven, well-known commitment to its Good4uCrew. Natural Grocers provides an environment that empowers crew through regular engagement, nutrition education training, and opportunities for advancement. Natural Grocers’ compensation and benefits package is world class and Natural Grocers believes its low turnover rates and commitment to promotion from within are a testament to its strong workplace culture. We also foster a culture of open communication and mutual respect in our stores.
The NPR article contains false allegations, including that Natural Grocers mistreats pregnant and nursing mothers. Nothing could be further from the truth. Natural Grocers not only complies with the law of Oklahoma, but it is also more generous in its leave and accommodation policies. Further, Natural Grocers ensures that nursing mothers are accommodated in the workplace and provides access to multiple private spaces to do so- a reasonable person would not describe these spaces as a “closet.” We also have an open-door policy and encourage crew members to communicate any workplace concerns directly to our leadership, we address those concerns, and openly support collaboration with our crew members.
Natural Grocers cannot respond to particulars of any person’s particular employment circumstances given privacy concerns, but Natural Grocers unequivocally denies that it disregards its employees. In fact, Natural Grocers is known for its more generous pay and benefits when compared to competitors in the area. In the end, Natural Grocers takes its obligations under the law very seriously and does not retaliate against crew members who support or engage in protected activity and supports employees’ rights to engage in concerted activities.
Natural Grocers also believes strongly in supporting crew education and believes that crew have the right to make informed decisions. Educating an employee to make an informed decision regarding whether to unionize is not “union busting”, it is upholding the nation’s long history of supporting the right to freely choose.
Natural Grocers simply believes that having a direct working relationship with its crew members better serves the crew member’s interests, without an intermediary union in the middle.
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