Mother’s Market suspends 15 Costa Mesa workers participating in union drive
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Mother’s Market & Kitchen has suspended more than a dozen workers months into a campaign to unionize the flagship store in Costa Mesa.
Dubbed the “Costa Mesa 15” by union supporters, the suspended employees work at the store on Newport Boulevard and 19th Street, though the wider organizing effort has spread to other stores in Orange County and in nearby Signal Hill.
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324, which seeks to represent Mother’s Market employees, claims the suspended workers have either signed union cards, supported a petition calling for scheduling changes or are featured on a “Hearts United” website.
“Since the beginning of the union drive, we’ve been able to gather a lot of support from both coworkers and customers alike,” said Dylan Olmos, one of the affected workers. “We’ve asked for a raise and for schedules to be set two weeks in advance.”
Mother’s Market employees in Costa Mesa made a unionization effort public at all of its Orange County stores. Wages, scheduling and staffing at the organic health food outlet are key issues that have fueled the campaign.
A Mother’s Market spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The effort went public in April with a “march on the boss” at the Costa Mesa store, which Olmos attended. Employees at other store locations followed suit.
A supervisor who has worked at Mother’s for two years, Olmos was driving to work when she received a call on Monday from manager who informed her of her suspension, pending an investigation for alleged workplace violations.
By Olmos’ count, the company suspended two other supervisors, 11 cashiers and a produce worker, all with pay. To compensate for the sudden staffing shortage, the company has given shifts to workers from other locations, she claimed.
“This could be a scare tactic,” Olmos said. “It is suspicious that all of us are strong supporters of the union. I find it ridiculous that they targeted all 15 of us at once, because it just makes it so obvious.”
Some workers, whether suspended or not, have seen their hours cut — sometimes drastically.
Jacob Ramos, a cashier in Costa Mesa, had his hours cut in half three days before he was suspended.
Olmos marched with coworkers and supporters in front of the grocer on Tuesday.
Costa Mesa Councilmember Manuel Chavez joined the action and called on chief executive Dorothy Carlow to reinstate the workers.
“I come to Mother’s — not for the produce, not for management, [but] for the workers,” Chavez said. “They’re not asking for anything other than respect and the right to be at the table. Give them their jobs back. They are why I shop here.”
Grocery workers across various locations Thursday distributed leaflets to customers about the suspensions, while a Friday afternoon picket capped off a week of rapid response actions.
UFCW Local 324 is ready to file labor charges alleging retaliation based on the outcome of the 15 investigations.
“We are very dedicated to this movement,” Olmos said. “We feel very passionately about letting people know about their rights — especially those who have been working here for a long time — so that they know they are worth more than the conditions they are given.”
