Furtick had never punched out for meal breaks, and had never been told this was necessary. He did not suspect his job was in jeopardy.

Harvest Manager of Operations Marc Cutler used to be Jamaica Plain store manager. There he had personally signed off on employees’ hours every week. So he would have noticed that Furtick did not punch out on his breaks.

In practice, the policy of not paying for meal breaks was inconsistent. It largely depended on the department for which the employee worked.

Other employees in similar situations are simply spoken to by a supervisor, or given a written warning. Deon Furtick was terminated without warning.

Furtick suspects that management was retaliating because he had been talking with co-workers about organizing a union with Industrial Workers of the World, (IWW, IU 460). He is not the only one.

Eight community members attended Harvest's January 29 board of directors meeting to express concern over the termination of Deon Furtick. They asked that Furtick be reinstated with back pay, that management use progressive discipline before firing employees, and that the right to organize be respected.

Since then, community members have passed out hundreds of flyers at the Co-op's locations in Cambridge and Jamaica Plain. Dozens of phone calls have been made to management. Harvest management has refused to discuss the issue.

But the Harvest Board took notice when their February 23 “retreat” was canceled by their hosts, the Paulist Fathers. An informational picket had been planned outside the Paulist Center, one block from the State House.

In announcing that the retreat was canceled, Harvest Board President Jessie Myszka wrote, “The Harvest Board would be deeply concerned about any serious allegations of union busting at the co-operative. We have no evidence that anyone is union busting at Harvest.” Matthew Andrews, an employee who is acting as an organizer for IWW, thinks the pattern is clear.

At the January 29 Board meeting, he writes, “Jessie Myszka told us that management held meetings with supervisors about what they can and cannot say to employees. This must have been in response to the unfair labor practice charge I filed in September, when my supervisor told me not to discuss a potential raise with other employees.”

In late October, Furtick and three other employees in the J.P. store approached Marc Cutler. They were concerned that Furtick had not been given an interview after applying for an open promotion to deli supervisor. Cutler refused to discuss the situation, and did not return Furtick’s subsequent phone calls to set up a meeting.

In December, Furtick requested a meeting with Sandra Andrew of Human Resources to discuss possible racial discrimination in the workplace. He was told he would have to speak with her at the Cambridge office on his own time.

As a father working two jobs, he could not travel to Cambridge immediately. Then Sandra Andrew went on vacation. A month after making his discrimination complaint, and two months after engaging in legally protected collective activity, after over four years of employment, Deon Furtick was fired.

The IWW is backing Deon Furtick, asking that Harvest return him to his job, follow fair and legal disciplinary policies, and that the Board be accountable to the concerns of co-op members.

The union is approaching community members and friends of labor to call the office of Marc Cutler, Harvest Manager of Operations, at 617-661-1580 to ask that Deon Furtick be reinstated with back pay. The union has established a website to discuss workplace, member and community concerns.

Harvest union-community site

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Chris Durkin, Harvest Director of Management and Community Relations, doesn’t think much of the IWW charges. “After a year and a half of aggressive recruiting practices, they have been unable to generate any interest among the Harvest associates,” he wrote us.

“The vast majority of Harvest associates feel respected, valued and well treated and want to stay here for a long time.”

Harvest management’s website

Harvest management to "associates": Remain calm

On March 14 the letter below was stapled to paycheck envelopes at Harvest.

Dear Harvest Associates:

As you may know, for the past year and a half, someone has been trying to bring the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) union into Harvest. Until now, management has chosen not to respond to these actions publicly for a few reasons:

• Since there seems to be no interest from Harvest associates in joining the Industrial Workers of the World, we have not wanted to bother all of you by responding to them.

• Dealing with all of the allegations, the disruptions and the legal filings has already made some of your jobs more difficult (and cost Harvest a lot of time, energy and money). We have tried not to let the situation make everybody's jobs more difficult, too. You are working very hard each day to make the Co-op a better place without the need for added distractions.

• There are so many positive things happening these days at Harvest that we have tried to stay focused on moving the business forward.

Unfortunately, recent activity has annoyed many of us and our customers. So we want to respond now to set the record straight.

We work hard to treat all of our employees fairly and equally. You should know that we consider you, our employees, our most valuable asset. You are the face of the Co-op to our members. You ensure that our customers get what they want and will come back. We're especially proud of the great diversity among our employees. That diversity helps us meet our members' diverse needs. So we're very happy that Harvest has more long-term employees than most of our competition because that seems to say you feel valued here. And you are.

Unfortunately, some union organizers with a specific agenda will say whatever they want without concern for whether or not it is true or for whomever they might hurt in the process. Harvest management cannot say whatever we want. We are constrained by what is true and by what is legal and appropriate for us to say publicly. However, there are some allegations that are especially offensive and upsetting that we want to respond to:

• It is alleged that employees have been terminated for engaging in union activities. This, of course, is simply false. Terminating a valued employee because he/she is exploring a union would be wrong and it would be illegal. To be clear, while it is not appropriate or legal to publicly discuss specific personnel decisions, all terminations are due to legitimate reasons and not because of any alleged union activity.

• It has been claimed that your recent well-deserved pay raise was a cynical attempt at union busting. This is insulting to all of our associates and, frankly, ridiculous. Last year, for the first time in 10 years, we turned a profit. Thank you for helping make that possible! Harvest management felt very strongly that since you helped make that possible, you deserved a meaningful recognition of your hard work and commitment. That is why we implemented the pay raise for all employees with at least one year at Harvest. Any suggestion that it was given for any other reason is offensive.

• It was also alleged that the opportunity for applying for a supervisory position was not available for everyone. This is, again, not true. It is our policy to interview every single internal applicant regardless of their skills, experience or seniority. Anyone who has ever applied for a position here at Harvest knows this to be the case.

• There is an allegation that a claim of racism was filed with Human Resources and was somehow used as a pretext for termination. This charge is especially egregious. We consider our rich ethnic diversity at Harvest as our greatest asset. Any claims of racism, discrimination, harassment or other improper behavior in our Co-op is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. We follow a strict policy and the State of Massachusetts requirements for employers to investigate harassment and discrimination claims against any protected class. Our record on these matters is clear, consistent and beyond reproach.

Some who are advocating for this union want "the workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of the means of production, abolish the wage system" (Preamble to IWW Constitution). Even if we're sympathetic to some of their ideas, we resent them using our Co-op to further their goals. Our mission is different:

"Harvest co-operative Markets is committed to building a vibrant community and healthier world by selling natural and organic food and bringing the benefits of cooperatives to our members."

We are committed to making Harvest stronger, so we can continue to bring quality products to our consumers and members, support local, organic, cooperative and fair labor suppliers while celebrating our diversity as a community. We strongly believe that it is not in the best interest of you, our employees, Harvest, or our members to bring the Industrial Workers of the World into the Co-op.

Sincerely, The Management Team of Harvest Co-op Markets