Dive Brief:
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In a three to one decision, the National Labor Relations Board July 22 ruled that a group of 41 Macy’s cosmetics workers at a Saugus, MA store can unionize.
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The issue was in part whether a subset of workers can unionize, and the NLRB said the fragrance and cosmetics workers were a large enough group to do so, agreeing with arguments made by United Food and Commercial Workers Union.
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Macy’s said it was disappointed and is considering an appeal.
Dive Insight:
Subsets of workers within a company unionizing are known as “micro units,” and this ruling by the National Labor Relations Board does have precedent. The National Retail Federation has said that unionizing micro units is a concern for retailers because it can fragment customer service and other aspects of operations.
While unions are hardly on the rise after suffering setbacks for years, several employment issues (including and in some ways especially in retail), regarding pay, hours, flexibility, and more, may lead more groups and sub-groups of retail workers to consider unionization.