150 workers are now laid off in Washington after painful closures struck a total of 10 locations, initiating protests in the state.
On July 25th, workers from Homegrown sandwich shops across the Seattle area held a press conference to protest the company’s decision to shutter 10 locations statewide.
This move was expected to result in approximately 150 layoffs starting on September 15th, according to reporting from the South Seattle Emerald.
The announcement of these closures and terminations came shortly after a July 18th email from Homegrown’s CEO, Brad Gillis, informing employees of the company’s plans.
Homegrown is a Seattle-based sandwich and salad chain known for using locally sourced ingredients.
However, the company’s actions have sparked significant backlash from workers, who have voiced concerns about how management has handled the layoffs and their broader treatment of employees.
The workers gathering for the press conference appear to be protesting what they view as unfair or mishandled terminations by the company.
Their public demonstration suggests a growing labor dispute between Homegrown’s leadership and its frontline workforce across the impacted locations.
The situation escalated after a 119-day strike in October 2023, during which union workers demanded the rehire of Sydney Lankford, their union leader from the Redmond location, per the outlet.
“I was one of the labor organizers when we went on a three-day strike for lack of health care provisions,” Lankford said during the press conference.
“I got my write-up after this, and many more, where management considered my presence at the union delegation as a reason to fire me.”
Lankford worked at the Redmond location for two years before being laid off, and she criticized management for failing to provide adequate health care, air conditioning, and fair wages, the outlet reported.
In response to Lankford’s termination, the union filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, prompting an investigation.
The union and Homegrown Partners LLC eventually agreed on provisions for better store temperature control, particularly during the hot summer months.
At the July 25 protest, workers from the Redmond and Southcenter outlets shared their experiences and the impact of the layoffs on their lives, according to the outlet.
Lankford and her co-workers expressed their frustration with the sudden notice of closures, revealing that they had initially learned about the layoffs through external sources rather than management.
“We are calling on democratic officials to publicly condemn ‘union busting,’ because we know that the company is shutting down these stores to earn additional profits,” said Homegrown worker Clio Jensen, per the South Seattle Emerald.
“It is not fair that they’re throwing 150 workers under the bus, and we’re fighting for severance and to ensure that communities in Seattle understand the unjust practices against unions.”
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Other Economy News Today
Applications for unemployment benefits now surge to new highs, a sign that the white-hot labor market is starting to cool off.
First-time applications for unemployment benefits rose last week to 231,000, the highest level since August, per CNN.
Thursday’s data also showed that the number of continuing claims, or applications from people who have filed for unemployment for at least one week, was 1.78 million.
That’s an increase of 17,000 from the prior week, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The latest numbers come less than a week after the monthly jobs report showed the US economy added just 175,000 positions in April, less than economists expected and a steep drop-off from prior months.
US employers have now added an average of 245,500 jobs per month, versus 2023’s 251,000-per-month average.
Still, hiring remains strong. Although the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9% last month, it’s the 27th consecutive month that the jobless rate has held under 4%, matching a streak last seen in the late 1960s.
Weekly jobless claims data tends to be volatile but, while one week’s worth of data “does not a trend make,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at Fwdbonds.
“We can no longer be sure that calm seas lie ahead for the US economy if today’s weekly jobless claims are any indication.”
“Company layoffs are picking up, hinting at caution on the part of companies as they weigh the outlook for the second half of the year,” he wrote in a note Thursday.
The Federal Reserve has been battling inflation by raising its key lending rate in the hopes of slowing the economy.
While the labor market has so far resisted those efforts, remaining white hot for the past 18 months despite 11 rate hikes from the central bank, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week that demand has “cooled from its extremely high level of a couple of years ago.”
Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Economics said in a note Thursday: “We’d need to see at least a month of elevated readings to convince us that the trend really has turned.”
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