Union supporters win big in Berkeley & lead SF count despite company’s anti-union effort
SAN FRANCISCO – Workers at the Bay Area’s famous Tartine bakery outlets held union elections yesterday
and today where they voted in favor of forming unions.
Yesterday’s vote at three San Francisco outlets has union supporters leading by 89 to 84. A total of 24
challenged ballots remain untallied. About half appear to involve employees who were not eligible, either
because they never worked a complete shift and were added at the last minute by management, or were
supervisors. Federal law prohibits either group from voting.
The National Labor Relations Board supervised both elections and NLRB officials will decide the outcome of
challenged ballots in San Francisco after considering facts and evidence in the coming weeks.
Workers at Tartine’s Bakery in Berkeley voted in a separate election held today. The results were tallied this
afternoon and show union supporters winning decisively, 18 for the union and 0 for management. When
yesterday’s San Francisco vote tally indicated union supporters were leading, Tartine management suddenly
ordered the Berkeley bakery to close on election day, and told employees they would not be paid. The move
was seen by workers as an effort to reduce turnout and suppress union support, but it appears to have backfired.
“Today we won big in Berkeley and sent the company a strong message that we’re united and committed to
improving conditions,” said Tartine employee Matthew Torres.
During the past month, Tartine management has been coordinating an aggressive and expensive anti-union
campaign against employees, hiring anti-union attorneys and five professional union-busters. Other employers
have spent $500,000 for similar campaigns. Tactics used by Tartine included numerous “captive audience”
meetings that forced workers to attend anti-union lectures and one-sided propaganda sessions.
“We just want a Tartine worker’s union, and a free and fair election,” said Emily Haddad who works at the
Tartine Manufactory in San Francisco’s Mission District.
In recent years, Tartine’s owners transformed their small corner bakery into a large corporation with new outlets
in Southern California and Korea. Workers at Tartine’s four Bay Area locations say they need a union in order
to negotiate with the corporation. Workers at Tartine’s Manufactory in San Francisco International Airport
terminal are already represented by a union.