BUFFALO, N.Y. — Lexington Co-op will not voluntarily recognize Lexington Co-op Workers United as a union. On Wednesday Lexington Co-op Workers United sent a letter to management asking for their group to be recognized as a union and spelled out the reasons the union was being formed.
Early Saturday morning, Lexington Co-op released a statement clarifying that it "firmly believes it is our duty to protect our staff’s right to a secret ballot election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board."
Read the full statement below:
After receiving a letter from a group of staff members announcing their desire to form a union, members of the Lexington Co-op leadership team met with some of these staff members tonight, November 11, to listen to their concerns. We appreciated the opportunity to do so.
It’s important for us to reiterate that democratic participation and education are core values of the co-op. We unequivocally believe that all staff should have an opportunity to decide whether they want to unionize as well as to refrain from participating in organizing activities.
The initial letter we received from the organizing group asked us to voluntarily recognize the group as a union. We firmly believe it is our duty to protect our staff’s right to a secret ballot election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board. In keeping with our values, we will not recognize a union solely based authorization cards, as that would deny all staff the right to vote.
We are encouraging employees to fully educate themselves on this situation, and to continue taking care of customers and treating each other with kindness and respect.
The co-op has no opinion whether this union will serve our employees’ interests. This decision must be made by each individual employee.
No matter the final decision made by staff, the co-op will remain open to serving our community.
