Panera Bread union and owners to sit down at bargaining table -- 19 months after vote

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2013/11/after_19_months_panera_bread_u.html



Panera Bread bakers from Southwest Michigan, who formed a union last year, protested outside the Panera Bread on West Main on June 21, 2013.

Ursula Zerilli | [e-mail]


KALAMAZOO, MI – Almost 20 months after Panera Bread bakers in Southwest Michigan voted to form the chain's first union in the United States, they are expected to sit down with their employer at the bargaining table Thursday.

The journey to the first round of negotiations has been a drawn out, often-acrimonious one for the fledgling union and Bread of Life, owner of 63 Paneras in West Michigan and southern California.

The bakers, most of whom make $11 or less an hour, said they have faced wrongful discipline, intimidation and, at one store, surveillance. For its part, the company said the bargaining unit was inappropriate and has appealed the decision certifying the union.

"Twenty months later and we're still here," said Kathleen Von Eitzen, a baker at the Battle Creek Panera and one of two union stewards. "We've been recognized, certified and now we have provisional bargaining. They're baby steps, but they're steps."

FULL story at link.