Federal Appeals Court Backs Bargaining Rights of Macy's Cosmetics and Fragrance Employees

On June 2, 2016, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the right of the fragrance and cosmetics employees at the Macy's store in Saugus, Massachusetts, to form their own bargaining unit to negotiate their terms of employment. The case was argued by Attorney Al Gordon O'Connell.

The matter arose in October 2012, when UFCW, Local 1445 filed a petition to represent the workers. Macy's opposed the petition, arguing that the unit was too small and should include all of the sales employees in the store. The Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board ruled in the Union's favor, and Macy's appealed to the Board in Washington. There the matter sat until July 2014, when the Board, citing its recent decision in Specialty Healthcare, ruled that the petitioned-for employees had a community of interest all their own and that there wasn't such an "overwhelming community of interest" with the rest of the sales employees that the smaller unit was inappropriate. The Board thus counted the ballots, which supported the Union, and certified Local 1445 as the employees' representative.

Despite a string of appeals court cases confirming the Board's Specialty Healthcare standard, Macy's appealed to the federal appeals court in New Orleans, hoping that the traditionally anti-labor court would overrule the Board. With briefing supported by the AFL-CIO, Attorney Gordon O'Connell argued the matter alongside lawyers for the NLRB in October 2015. With its ruling today in favor of the Union, the appeals court issued the latest in an unbroken string of cases supporting workers' right to organize in smaller bargaining units of employees who share concerns different from their colleagues in a larger workplace.

With this victory in hand, Local 1445 will now go to the bargaining table to negotiate with Macy's to focus on improving the working conditions of this specialized workforce in the Saugus store.