At 7 a.m. on the first day of school, employees of the Homegrown Mercer Island location — many of whom are high school students — took to the streets with coffee in hand to strike over growing concerns relating to work conditions.
“Good luck working on your own! Good morning, Homegrown!” was a chant that kicked off the strike Aug. 31.
Russel Concha works as a driver for the Mercer Island location’s catering department. While he was striking alongside his colleagues over the lack of air conditioning, Concha was also striking over unfair pay.
“All my coworkers, sandwich partners, shift leads and drivers, we’re just kind of making like the minimum, and other places of the same company, they pay more than what we get paid for — and they don’t recognize us as a union,” said Concha.
According to Concha, catering drivers who work at the Homegrown Mercer Island location earn $15.75 per hour, while drivers in Renton earn $20 per hour. Concha brought up how Homegrown employees who are people of color (POC) and those who identify as female are making less money than they should be paid.
On the morning of Aug. 31, Homegrown Mercer Island workers participate in a strike over safety concerns and pay. Employees voted on Aug. 17 to authorize the strike. Photo by Hannah Saunders/Sound Publishing
Concha said corporate leadership doesn’t communicate with the employees at all, and when he asked for a raise, he came across a price cap barrier, which has prevented him from increasing his earnings with the company.
“Assertations of deliberate gender-based wage gaps are false,” said Brad Gillis, Homegrown CEO. “We are currently transitioning from a merit-based system, which created different pay rates based on employee performance, to a 100% tenure-based pay model.”
About 25 Homegrown employees were protesting outside of the Mercer Island location, and employees from Redmond and Renton came out to strike in support. The strike was voted on by employees on Aug. 17.
Starley Bell works as a packer for Homegrown in Renton, and highlighted the surveillance camera issue for drivers.
“There were surveillance cameras in front of the drivers’ faces inside the vans,” said Bell, adding how the cameras are invasive and make the drivers uncomfortable.
Bell marched in support of Homegrown employees, but thinks corporate is trying to delay recognizing the union in order to save money.
“I just hope we inspire more people to collectively, to cooperate with each other and just give working people more power,” said Bell.
Photo by Hannah Saunders/Sound Publishing
When it’s too hot to keep the store open
On their first day of senior year of high school, Max Carlson and Greyson Stypulkoski waved signs saying “Homegrown on strike for a cooler workplace” as they marched throughout the parking lot entrance.
“The main problem I have is that Homegrown keeps telling us that we have air conditioning and then it’s constantly 90 degrees in the store,” said Carlson. “You pair that with standing next to a hot oven all day, and it’s not ideal.”
According to Carlson, employees have measured the heat readings inside Mercer Island Homegrown, which is usually at or above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, said Carlson.
“They got us a special thermometer, it’s called like a wet globe, and so it always says it’s like 10 degrees colder, which seems a little dirty to me,” said Carlson.
Although a nurse practitioner has come out to Homegrown Mercer Island to address the employees’ symptoms of heat stress, Stypulkoski brought up how the air conditioning concerns remain unaddressed by corporate. Furthermore, when the store becomes too hot, employees sometimes have to close the store early — without pay compensation.
“A lot of the high school students are closers, so then we lose out on hours,” said Carlson.
According to Carlson, there was a week this past summer where the location closed every day at 3 p.m. due to the heat, and he lost five hours on each closing shift. The same goes for Stypulkoski. Carlson and Stypulkoski hope corporate acknowledges their voices and accepts the union without delay, but they believe that their current goal is to get air conditioning installed for next summer’s workers as this year’s summer comes to an end.
“Like every business in the region, we have struggled with how to keep our employees cool and comfortable as our region is hit with record heat waves and we see more and more 90+ degree days each year,” said Gillis. “We do have AC at Mercer Island.”
Photo by Hannah Saunders/Sound Publishing
A company that prides itself on sustainability
Employees projected their voices down 78th Avenue Southeast.
“What do we want? Fair pay! When do we want it? Now!” chanted Homegrown employees, as a Recology truck laid on the horn while driving past.
Kai Oritz works as a keyholder at Homegrown Mercer Island, and finds the heat exhaustion of the employees worrisome, particularly during rushes.
“What we’re asking is so minimal,” said Ortiz. “We have to show them we’re the ones making sandwiches. Without us, you’re not going to have any sandwiches. All we want is respect.”
Ortiz described how during hot summer days, numerous employees had to be sent home, including himself. Ortiz said that symptoms of heat exhaustion at the Mercer Island location are constant. Ortiz mentioned how all the employees want to work for a locally owned and sustainable sandwich shop, but under different, safer working conditions.
“We’re selling really fancy sandwiches and they can’t provide us with A/C to keep us working here,” said Ortiz.
Homegrown prides itself on sustainably sourced food from local sources. Their most expensive sandwich is the grass-fed steak and blue sandwich, which costs $15.95 before tax. At the same time, employees make $17 per hour.
“The union’s activity is impacting our business. Many of our employees want nothing to do with the union,” said Gillis. “Its activity is impacting both our business and these employees’ ability to speak and provide for themselves.”
