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Members of Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Local 1102 May 22 voted overwhelmingly to ratify a first labor contract with H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB covering about 1,000 retail employees at 11 stores in the Manhattan borough of New York City, the union announced.

 

The nearly three-year contract increases wages, expands eligibility for full-time employment status, establishes provisions for arbitration and just cause, and locks in posted schedules of the company's clothing store sales and service staff, Frank Bail, president of RWDSU Local 1102, told BNA May 26.

 

“At a time when retail workers are taking it on the chin, it's great to win an agreement that's going to mean higher wages and an even better working environment for H&M workers and their families,” Bail said.

 

After winning recognition by card check agreement in November 2007 ( 21 LRW 1693, 11/29/07 ), RWDSU, an affiliate of the United Food and Commercial Workers, negotiated more than one year with the Sweden-based retail company to reach a first contract, Bail said.

 

H&M employees on the payrolls as of Aug. 1, 2008, will receive a 3 percent wage increase effective June 29 with possible wage reopeners in the second and third years of the agreement. Currently, new hires earn a minimum hourly rate of $9.57, but rates vary considerably depending on job function, Bail said. For example, the minimum hourly wage rate for window trimmers is $14.91.

 

The contract changes a work rule that establishes worker eligibility for full-time status. Workers no longer are required to be available during all of the hours the store is open to be classified as full time. Also, full-time employees are guaranteed 32 hours or more of work.

 

Schedule Changes Limited

An important issue during negotiations was the company's practice of making employee schedule changes without prior notice, the union said. Under the new contract, schedules must be posted one week in advance and cannot be changed without the consent of the employee.

 

“Winning the right to know about planned schedule changes is critical for all workers but especially employees who are juggling family obligations,” Local 1102 Executive Vice President Gemma DeLeon said in a statement.

 

The new agreement also provides for a joint labor-management committee to meet every three months for communications purposes. The quarterly meetings are intended to open a line of communication about what is going on regarding the stores, not to function as a grievance session, Bail said. Union members on the committee will include RWDSU shop stewards and staff and other members will be appointed by the company.

 

Certain provisions of the H&M employee handbook now are instituted in the RWDSU contract, including provisions for full-time and part-time employee health care benefits, 401(k) accounts, holidays, sick leave, vacation leave, and bereavement leave.

 

“Employees at H&M haven't only won a new contract and better pay, they won more control over their lives and the dignity and respect that comes from a strong union voice,” RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum said May 26 in a statement.

 

The contract expires March 5, 2012.

 

A company spokeswoman was not available for comment.

 

In 2004, workers at H&M distribution centers in Secaucus, N.J., and Cheshire, Conn., became the first U.S. employees of the Stockholm-based retailer to gain union representation by UNITE and by the card check process ( 18 LRW 547, 4/22/04 ).