Home Depot Philadelphia Store to Vote on Unionizing in First for Chain

(Bloomberg) -- Home Depot Inc. employees in Philadelphia will vote Nov. 2 and 5 on whether to make theirs the company’s first unionized US store.

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The election will be held in person on the company’s premises, under the supervision of the National Labor Relations Board, agency spokesperson Kayla Blado said.

Workers will vote on whether to join a new labor group calling itself Home Depot Workers United, which petitioned to represent a proposed bargaining unit of around 274 employees at the store. If a majority of voters support the union, and the NLRB certifies the results, the Atlanta-based home-improvement giant would be legally required to negotiate over working conditions at the store.

The union has said it aims to address issues with compensation, staffing and workplace respect. Representatives couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.

“Our open-door policy is designed to assure all associates that they can bring concerns directly to leadership, and we have a track record of working successfully with our associates to resolve those concerns,” a Home Depot spokesperson said via email. “While we will of course work through the NLRB process, we do not believe unionization is the best solution for our associates.”

A wave of organizing is happening at longtime non-union retail firms. Over the past year, unions have won landmark elections at companies including Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Trader Joe’s, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. and Starbucks Corp., where around 250 cafes across the country have voted to unionize following an initial victory last December.

A group of 60 Home Depot delivery drivers joined a union in San Diego in 2019. At the time, the Teamsters said they were the company’s first employees to join a union of any kind.

(Updates with union aims in fourth paragraph, Home Depot comment in fifth paragraph.)

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