- Employees at a Ben & Jerry's shop in Vermont are seeking to form a union.
- If the effort is successful the union would be the company's first at a store.
Ben & Jerry's flagship store in Vermont has become the latest retail shop to move towards unionizing.
Workers at the store in Burlington, Vermont, have asked the ice cream brand to recognize their right to unionize, the Washington Post first reported on Monday. It's the first step that employees at the store have taken toward unionizing.
"When will the activism and social mission our company empower come to reflect its own scoopers, the ones who work every day to keep their lines moooving?" the organizing committee behind the union wrote in a letter to the company's management on Monday.
"Despite record-breaking profits, incredible bounce-backs post-pandemic, and unwavering smiles, our staff is exploited within our work environment," the committee added. Workers at the store call their organization "Scoopers United."
A Ben & Jerry's spokeswoman told Insider that "we recognize and support the rights of all workers to unionize and collectively bargain."
"Ben & Jerry's is committed to the goal of operating our company in a way that is fair, inclusive, and equitable, while being a dynamic and fun place for all workers," the spokeswoman said. "We welcome the steps taken by the workers at our company-owned Scoop Shop in our hometown of Burlington, VT."
Under federal law, employees can ask their employer to recognize their union voluntarily. If the employer declines, workers can hold an election to formalize their union.
Ben & Jerry's workers told the Washington Post that they decided to pursue a union after management took away the store's tip jar for the company's annual Free Cone Day. Workers said the jar was later returned, but its removal left them without tips on one of the store's busiest days.
All 37 scoopers at the Burlington store have pledged support for the union, according to Scoopers United. The group plans to tackle issues including drug use among store patrons, according to the Post.
The union effort is the latest test for Ben & Jerry's, which has cast itself as a socially conscious brand for decades.
In 2021, the company said that it would halt sales of its ice cream in Palestinian territory occupied by Israel. That decision prompted a legal dispute between Unilever, which acquired Ben & Jerry's in 2000, and the ice cream brand's board, which had pressed the company to take positions on social and political issues for years.
The dispute was resolved in late 2022, and the details are still unclear, Bloomberg reported in February.
Employees at other retail chains, including stores that are regarded as progressive, have also been unionizing. Employees at Starbucks stores have unionized since late 2021. Workers United said that 300 Starbucks stores had unionized since then. Workers also unionized last year at an Amazon warehouse in New York. Workers at Trader Joe's and REI have also chosen to unionize.