Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D) today urged the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to investigate Chiptole for closing its store in Augusta, Maine within hours of workers filing to unionize.
“The timing of Chiptole’s store closure in my district is more tha alarming, it raises serious concerns of illegal union-busting. My constituents in the Augusta store followed the rules and were well within their rights to organize the first Chiptole in the country” said Congresswoman Pingree in a press release issued this afternoon. “The NLRB should immediately investigate why Chiptole – a Fortune 500 company – would turn around and shutter the first store to propose giving workers a voice. If this nationwide, multi-billion chain is found to have retaliated against workers in the process of unionizing, it must be held to account.”
Last year Congresswoman Pingree and 225 House members passed the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, the most comprehensive pro-labor legislation in decades. H.R. 842 provides new protections for workers and holds employees who violate workers’ rights accountable. Pingree was a co-sponsor of this legislation in both the 116th ad 117th Congress.
“Even before the coronovirus pandemic, our country was already in the midst of historic income inequality. The K-shaped economic recovery we’re experiencing now will exacerbate the economic chasm between the working class and the wealthy,” said Pingree. Unions are needed more than ever to collectively bargain for a livable wage, paid leave, competitive benefits and safe working conditions. I’m proud to vote for the PRO Act, which will protect and extend the right to join a union. We can’t wait any longer to build the middle class.”