Your Macy’s bargaining committee met on October 10^th with representatives of Macy’s with the intention of working mutually in good faith to reach an agreement that can be recommended to the membership for approval.

Unfortunately, after 6 months of negotiations, many of our important bargaining goals and objectives remain unresolved as Macy’s continues to refuse to inadequately address them. These include affordable health care, job security, improved sick leave provisions and, most importantly, decent and fair wage increases.

WAGES: Macy’s wage proposal stands at forty cents an hour per year over a three-year agreement – only for top-tiered hourly employees. The company has not offered any compensation increases for any other employees.

HEALTH CARE: Health care coverage at Macy’s is flat-out unaffordable. Those who have enrolled in Macy’s health care coverage are well aware that the employee share for plan coverage has increased significantly this year, in some cases over 40%. Health plan deductibles and out of pocket expenses have also risen dramatically. The company has refused to consider union demands to remedy these issues.

JOB SECURITY: Macy’s has proposed to weaken job security provisions by excluding employees in leased departments from layoff. Current proposals would allow the company to lease substantial space, even a floor, to a vendor. As a result, long-term tenured employees, who as a result of store closures now have an average of 15 years of seniority, could be laid off while the vendor’s short-term hand-picked specialists remain working. Macy’s has also proposed language that would allow the company to reduce the hours of full-time support associates.

MULTI-TASKING: Macy’s has proposals on the table for cross-training employees to perform any work within the store with some limited exceptions. Many employees have become successful, efficient and comfortable with the job tasks they currently perform.

SICK LEAVE: Macy’s sick leave policy is insufficient and inadequate. Current sick leave policy does not provide a reasonable number of sick days for employee illnesses. The sick leave policy also requires employees wait up to 4 days before payments begin. Once payments begin, they only equal 75% of a day’s wages. Union proposals would address this issue.

Clearly, Macy’s is not committed to fairly rewarding employees for their hard work that has translated into increased profits for the company. Macy’s employees have performed above expectations even though they have endured gut wrenching store closures, consolidations and layoffs. It is time to fight back! Dates and times for strike authorization votes will be announced soon.