Anti-hunger advocates at Metro Caring are the latest Denver nonprofit workers to try to start a union.
But it’s a different story from unionization efforts at other local organizations.
Most unions form when things are unstable in an organization. Organizer Eve Hemingway, Metro Caring’s urban agriculture coordinator, told Denverite the unionization effort comes at a time when many workers are fairly happy.
The nonprofit offers strong benefits, including a four-day workweek. Metro Caring didn’t cut pay to make that happen. Since the change, retention has improved.
Leadership’s salaries aren’t obscenely high. Generally, management treats workers well.
So, why unionize?
The union organizers want their benefits, including the four-day workweek, to be permanent. They would like to close the gap between the highest and lowest-paid employees. They also want to have a seat at the table when decisions are made.
They believe a union could be a way to defend against changes if there is ever a shift in leadership.
Graye Miller, a food access assistant at Metro Caring, thinks having the support of a union will also help employees navigate potential federal changes to workers’ rights under President-elect Donald Trump’s new administration.
Trump has suggested workers on strike should be fired, claimed U.S. workers’ wages are too high and opposed overtime pay.
“Many of the rights which people have become accustomed to in their workplace will be reduced and stripped, so to have a body like a union that has more practice, knowledge and experience dealing with these potential changes is a huge benefit," Miller said.
Forming a union comes with its own costs. Workers typically pay a portion of their wages as dues to the union. They spend time in meetings. And some fear they’ll lose their ability to negotiate individually for better pay and benefits.
Colorado is a modified right-to-work state, so if 75 percent of eligible employees vote to unionize and employers and employees agree on a contract that requires union participation as a condition of employment, all workers have to pay representation fees — but only union members have to pay full union dues.
Many workers wait until a crisis to inspire a unionization effort, Hemingway said. Metro Caring workers want a situation that’s good for both staff and the leadership team and that provides stability in case things do go bad.
“If you see the signs of potential issues, you should begin addressing them as quickly as possible,” Miller said. “If you put the work in now, you're so much more likely to see the desired results with less strife.”
The Metro Caring Workers United effort started in August.
Organizers began informal conversations about whether they’d support joining a union. Most people, Hemingway said, were quick to say yes.
As energy behind the effort mobilized, they contacted the Denver News Guild — the Communication Workers of America union that notably represents Denver Post staff as well as non-journalist workers.
While the Metro Caring workers have support from a union organizer, Hemingway says the push has come from inside the nonprofit.
Of the eligible staff members, 20 of 24 have signed union authorization cards, legal documents that allow the union to organize on their behalf. Only one employee has been a firm “no,” according to the organizers. Another 15 Metro Caring staff members are managers with hire-and-fire power that prevents them from joining.
Organizers hope the nonprofit’s CEOs and board of directors recognize the union voluntarily. Leadership has expressed pro-union sentiment in the past, even emblazoning a print shop’s union logo on merch.
What are the next steps for the Metro Caring union?
If the CEOs do not recognize the union, the workers could either strike or ask the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election.
Once a union is recognized, workers can bargain for a contract.
Staff in the union told their bosses about their plans at a Thursday afternoon staff meeting — on National AFL-CIO Day. The organization’s board of directors is scheduled to meet on Friday and could discuss the union’s proposals there.
The group aims to secure union recognition before Jan. 20, 2025, when Trump retakes the presidency. Some advocates and experts expect him to make it harder to unionize.
Metro Caring co-CEO Teva Sienicki told Denverite that the nonprofit’s leadership was meeting about the issue immediately after learning about the unionization efforts.
“This is brand new information to us,” she wrote in a text message. “We believe in labor organizing, and we value our team. We look forward to co-creating how we’ll move forward with the team and community as we have more time to process.”
Other Denver workers have been unionizing, too. That inspired the Metro Caring workers.
The Metro Caring effort was inspired by the unionization of the nonprofit Denver Urban Gardens, Hemingway said.
Workers at Urban Peak, the Denver Art Museum and the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless have all also formed or are working to organize unions.
Denver Public Library employees have launched a unionization drive. Denver voters recently gave city workers the right to join unions and engage in collective bargaining.
Employees of Meow Wolf, Casa Bonita, Mercury Cafe, Green Dragon and Starbucks have also had local unionization efforts.
Nationally, the number of union petitions to the National Labor Relations Board has been growing rapidly. And public support for unions has been on the rise over the past decade.
Back in 1983, the first year Bureau of Labor Statistics data was available, 20 percent of workers in the United States were unionized. Now, it’s only 10 percent. And that number hasn’t changed in recent years.
In Colorado, just under 7 percent of people belong to a union,
But Denver’s nonprofit, government and arts sectors are all trending toward unionization.
“We've started to see a lot more workers groups unite and advocate for their rights together,” Hemingway said. “It almost feels like we’re in a time loop, and we’re experiencing the ‘20s to ‘40s all over again.”
Hemingway says the common theme is that workers want an equal say with leadership in their organizations.
“I'm sure that that is true of other historical labor movements,” Hemingway said. “But it's notable now because it almost feels like we are fed up with hierarchical structures.”
Editor's note: This note was updated on Dec. 9, 2024, at 2 p.m. to clarify the rules of Colorado's modified right-to-work laws.
