Macy’s and the union representing thousands of its workers in the New York City area reached a tentative deal for a new labor contract on Thursday, avoiding what would have been the first strike at the nation’s largest department store in more than 40 years.þþThe agreement came after hours of late-night negotiations between Macy’s and union leaders, who had until midnight Wednesday to agree on a new contract for workers at four locations in New York State, including the retailer’s flagship location in Manhattan.þþThe price of health care coverage was one of the most important issues to labor organizers, said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, in an interview on Wednesday. He said more than three-quarters of Macy’s employees could not afford the retailer’s health insurance.þþ“The premiums are just too high for people,” said Mr. Appelbaum, who added that the deductible was $3,000 for an individual worker and $6,000 for a family.þþThe union had also pushed for higher wages and changes to the Macy’s commissions policy. In particular, union leaders wanted Macy’s to shrink the window during which returns of merchandise could lower an employee’s paycheck. Under the current policy, any merchandise returned within six months can count against a worker’s sales, which are used to calculate commissions. A spike in returns over the last few years has made the issue more urgent, labor officials say.þþþþþþDetails of the deal were not immediately available on Thursday morning. The union said it expected its workers to ratify the deal within a week.þþ“We are pleased with the outcome of our overnight negotiations and happy to report that a tentative agreement between Macy’s and Local 1-S for our workers has been reached, therefore averting a possible strike today,” a Macy’s spokeswoman, Elina Kazan, said in an email, referring to the chapter of the retail union that represents Macy’s workers.þþThe previous labor contract — covering nearly 5,000 employees, including salespeople, cleaning staff and stock room workers — expired on May 1. Within weeks, workers at Macy’s stores in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens and White Plains voted to authorize a strike if a new deal could not be reached by Wednesday.þþMacy’s workers have not gone on strike since 1972, according to Mr. Appelbaum.þþWhile labor negotiations often come down to the final hours, Macy’s had shown signs that it took the threat of a strike seriously. The retailer placed ads for new employees, which Mr. Appelbaum saw as a strategy to scare workers into thinking they could lose their jobs.þþMs. Kazan had said in a previous email that the company had taken out similar ads during contract talks in the past and that it was a “practical solution.”þþTraditional department stores have struggled more than the rest of the retail industry to recover from the 2008 financial collapse.þþMacy’s, Nordstrom, Kohl’s and J. C. Penney all reported weak sales last quarter. Department stores as a whole employed 1.3 million workers as of May, the smallest number in a decade and 10 percent fewer than in 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Discount department stores like T. J. Maxx, Marshalls and Ross, on the other hand, have been thriving.þþThe retail industry as a whole employed 15.9 million people as of May, up more than 9 percent since 2009þ
Source: NY Times
