Sales workers at a Central Florida H&M store have kicked off an organizing campaign and have asked their employer to voluntarily recognize their union, according to a petition filed with the National Labor Relations Board earlier this month.
According to the petition, 19 hourly sales and visual associates at the retail clothing store would be eligible to join the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), a labor union which currently represents H&M workers at 15 store locations in New York, along with other H&M stores unionized in Canada and Europe.
The petition filed for the clothing store on Florida's Space Coast paves the way for a union election, where workers can vote on whether they want to join the union or reject union representation.
If a simple majority of workers vote to unionize, this would be the first recognized union of H&M retail workers in Florida, where less than 6% of workers are represented by a labor union.
The UFCW, one of the largest private sector unions in the country, represents more than 1.2 million workers in the United States, including workers in retail, cannabis, grocery and other industries.
Notably, the petition for a union election, known as a RM petition, was filed by H&M, not by the union.
This means that workers gathered signed cards from a majority of employees of the Melbourne store in support of forming a union, and asked their employer to simply recognize their union.
The fact of the company filing this petition indicates that their request was denied. Ed Chambers, president of the UFCW Local 1625, based in Lakeland, confirmed as much to Orlando Weekly when reached by phone.
According to the National Labor Relations Board, the filing of such RM petitions has been on the rise, following a landmark ruling by the Board last year.
That decision (Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC) sets a new standard, directing an employer to either voluntarily recognize a union or file a petition for a union election if the employer is presented with evidence (like signed union cards) that a majority of workers want to form or join a union.
H&M has voluntarily recognized unions at U.S. stores in the past.
Back in 2011, Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB recognized the unions at six H&M stores in New York, representing over 200 retail workers collectively.
“We worked diligently with the Union to ensure that the entire organizing process was fair and democratic,” an H&M spokesperson said at the time. “H&M enjoys good relations with unions worldwide and we will continue to build upon our new relationship and partnership with the UFCW.”
Fast-fashion giant H&M, which is reportedly facing growing pressure to compete with retailers such as Zara (higher-end fast fashion) and Shein (even cheaper, even faster fashion), did not respond to Orlando Weekly's request for comment on why they did not grant the Melbourne workers’ request for voluntary recognition.
According to the petition filed, however, workers will get an opportunity to vote on whether to join the union next month, on May 3.
Chambers, the union president, said workers at the Melbourne store reached out to the UFCW international several weeks ago, and were directed to his local in Lakeland, which represents roughly 8,100 workers across the state of Florida.
The primary issues workers hope to address as a union are their employer's low wages for retail workers - with some making as little as $12.50 an hour - and more full-time opportunities.
According to Chambers, workers who vie for full-time hours have said they're being scheduled for closer to 30 or so hours a week, just barely under the number of hours they would need to earn full-time employee benefits from their employer.
The petition filing at the Melbourne store rapidly follows a victory for the union up north, where retail workers at another New York City H&M store joined the union in March.
According to RWDSU/UFCW Local 1102, those workers have already approved their first union contract, guaranteeing health care coverage, paid time off and sick days, among other provisions.
According to the National Labor Relations Board, the U.S. has seen a 35 percent increase in petitions filed for union elections in the first half of the 2024 fiscal year compared to the first half of the 2023 fiscal year — indicating an uptick in new organizing activity. Public support for unions in the United States is also high.
Retail workers for other companies — including REI (accused of union busting), Patagonia (union-neutral) and Barnes & Noble bookstores (umm...) — have similarly launched organizing drives in recent years, unionizing to have a greater say in workplace issues and to advocate for better pay and working conditions.
In Central Florida, bank workers at Wells Fargo branches in Apopka and Daytona Beach recently voted to unionize with Wells Fargo Workers United, affiliated with the Communications Workers of America.
Dining workers at Rollins College in Winter Park, employed by contractor Sodexo, will also be voting later this year in their own rerun election (after a federal labor official agreed with an objection filed by the union to the employer's conduct during the first one).
This post has been updated with comment from UFCW Local 1625 president Ed Chambers.
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