ERGs and the NLRA, Grocery Labor Strife, No Business is Safe: LRI INK

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Subject: ERGs and the NLRA, Grocery Labor Strife, No Business is Safe: LRI INK

June 19, 2025

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When ERGs Start Acting Like Unions

by Michael VanDervort

Based on insights from Phil Wilson on the ERG Homegirl Show

In a must-watch episode of the ERG Homegirl Show on LinkedIn, Phil Wilson, President of LRI Consulting Services, lays out a warning many employers desperately need to hear: your ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) could unintentionally land you in hot water with the NLRB.

Let’s break it down—Phil-style.

“It’s Just an ERG” … Until It’s Not

ERGs are designed to build inclusion, community, and employee engagement. But according to Phil, you've crossed a legal line when those same groups start proposing workplace changes—like benefits tweaks, pay equity demands, or scheduling fixes.

That line? You may now be dealing with a company-dominated labor organization, violating the National Labor Relations Act.

“It’s not that the ERG is bad—it’s that once you give it authority to represent people on working conditions, you’ve changed the legal relationship.” – Phil Wilson

Employer-Sponsored ≠ Employer-Controlled

Phil emphasized that the moment leadership starts entertaining proposals from ERGs on issues that fall under the umbrella of “terms and conditions of employment,” you’re on “thin ice”—especially during a union campaign.

It’s not about the intent of the ERG.
It’s about the function it appears to serve.

And if you’re a union-free employer trying to stay that way, this could be Exhibit A in an unfair labor practice charge.

Where DEI, HR, and Labor Law Collide

Here’s the kicker: Most ERGs are supported by well-meaning HR or DEI teams with zero background in labor law. Phil points out that without proper guardrails, you might be unintentionally creating a bargaining unit inside your own company.

This isn’t hypothetical. The NLRB has already ruled that safety committees and similar groups crossed the line when they started acting like union surrogates.

“You could end up having to disband the ERG. Or worse, you create a playbook for how a union should organize your employees.” – Phil Wilson

What Employers Should Be Doing Now

Phil doesn’t say, “Kill the ERGs.” But he does lay out a few non-negotiables:

Set Clear Boundaries

Define the scope of your ERGs in writing. Be explicit that they don’t have the authority to bargain or represent employees on workplace conditions.

Train the Sponsors

Don’t assume your leaders “get it.” Give ERG executive sponsors and DEI leaders a crash course in labor law basics.

Review the Playbook

Audit how ERGs interact with management. Are proposals about cultural events, or compensation? If it’s the latter, pump the brakes and reassess.

Keep Legal Close

Involve labor counsel from the start. A short review now can prevent a massive (and public) compliance nightmare later.

Final Word: ERGs Are Worth Protecting

Phil’s bottom line is simple: ERGs can be powerful and positive, but only if they’re designed to stay within the legal limits.

Fail to draw those lines, and your inclusion initiative might just become your newest labor relations problem.

📺 Watch the full episode here

📚 And for more on leadership, check out The LeaderShift Playbook by Phil Wilson.

Blog Post

The UFCW Takes A Cue From The UAW: Grocery Store Strikes Are Heating Up

by Kimberley Ricci

We recently discussed how the NLRB’s current lack of quorum has led to grey legal territory for employers and how that could contribute to upheaval within the grocery industry, which is already feeling plenty of union pressure. That latter source of turbulence is alive and well across the U.S, and as those disputes add up, it’s worth noting that the UAW’s 2023 antics against the Big Three automakers have been influential.

Colorado: This week, a UFCW strike put Safeway workers on the picket lines in Pueblo, Fountain, and Estes Park. Additionally, workers will walk out at a Denver distribution center that supplies meat for area Safeway stores, which means that the butcher, deli, and seafood sections will not receive fresh or frozen meat products for the duration of this open-ended strike. In other words, customers will be heading to other stores.

The overall strike of Safeway workers could grow, too. A local UFCW president blustered that these stores “are the first wave” with more to be expected throughout the state. Yep, Big Labor leaders are drawing inspiration from UAW President Shawn Fain’s so-called “stand-up strike.” Will other union leaders toss contract offers into trash cans? Stay tuned.

Elsewhere in Colorado, King Soopers and UFCW’s 100-day “period of labor peace” came to an end with bargaining sessions resuming in hopes of avoiding a sequel to February’s five-city strike at 70+ stores.

Minnesota: UFCW has warned that almost 3,000 grocery store workers could strike soon throughout the Minneapolis area. Those employees hail from Knowlan’s Festival, Haug’s, and UNFI/Cub Foods, the latter of which also happens to be the largest grocery chain in the area.

Washington: More UFCW pressure arrived with a strike authorization on several grocery store chains – Fred Meyer, Haggen, Saars, and QFC among them – across the Puget Sound area. The union called the issue “60,000 problems” for the company, although it’s not clear how much of that number is bluster. In a late-breaking update, a tentative contract has been reached with voting scheduled for late June.

California: A whopping 45,000 grocery workers have authorized a strike against four grocery chains throughout Southern California. Those contract negotiations will resume later this month.

And earlier this year, Costco closed a contract deal with the Teamsters in California. The company also raised non-union workers’ pay, which of course irritated the Teamsters, who wanted credit for those raises. That deep-pocketed union only represents 8% of Costco workers, by the way.

Several states: This potential walkout is further up the supply chain but could cause additional snags for grocers who depend upon Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), North America’s biggest dairy co-op, for delivery. That is to say, 1,000+ DFA workers authorized a Teamsters strike that could stretch across California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.

Takeaways: These grocery store walkouts have the potential to involve tens of thousands of workers and shutter locations for the duration of the strikes. Although Costco managed to shrug off a Teamsters strike, the wholesaler is already known for offering top-tier wages to workers. Most other grocers operate as straight-up retailers with the financial constraints to match, but naturally, unions won’t live in the real world while they overpromise results to members.

Blog Post

Where You Least Expect It? Recent Union Wins Reinforce How No Industry Is Immune

by Kimberly Ricci

The Starbucks Workers United saga has left many lessons in its ongoing wake. These include workers discovering how a union claiming as many as 600 election “wins” still can't close the deal on a contract framework. That hasn’t deterred the SWU from unionizing baristas at five more Starbucks cafes this month. The coffeehouse fever also keeps spreading, with Anodyne Coffee workers unanimously voting to join the Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Union last week.

More importantly, for our purposes today, the SWU mess has also reinforced how no industry is safe from unions since baristas were an organizing outlier a few years ago. This roundup further points toward multiple former outliers that are now part of the Big Labor agenda:

Board-game cafes are a relatively new union “get,” with a first contract materializing this month between Hex & Co. and Tabletop Workers United. That cafe is part of a trio of Workers United victories in NYC, including The Brooklyn Strategist and The Uncommons.

Cannabis growers and dispensaries are still fertile ground, with unions racking up recent wins. These include UFCW’s victories at New Jersey’s Fresh Eatontown LLC and Illinois’ Mystic Greenz dispensaries. The Teamsters are also bragging about a new contract deal for Garden Society, a maker of “craft” edibles in California.

As we’ve discussed previously, this industry also carries unique concerns for employers. A new twist has arrived in Oregon, where a federal judge blocked the labor neutrality law voters passed last November. As a result, this state’s cannabis industry employers no longer have to enter into labor peace agreements to be licensed.

The art world has been aggressively targeted recently. Non-profit center The Kitchen has unionized under a UAW offshoot union. D.C.’s Kennedy Center workers are gearing up for a union vote after layoffs began in March. Around 100 Toledo Art Museum workers also announced their intent to unionize with the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees. The same goes for 70 workers at the Chicago History Museum and about 300 workers at two Los Angeles art institutions, the La Brea Tar Pits and the Natural History Museum.

The next few entries involve industries that are not “new” as union targets, but for sheer numbers’ sake, these organizing campaigns are worth mentioning:

The UFCW’s grip on Hormel Foods plants continued this month, with 600+ Bacon processing workers voting to unionize at the Dold Foods plant in Wichita, KS. This union win adds to UFCW’s total claimed representation of 8,000 Hormel workers throughout the United States, including 4,000+ workers in Austin, MN.

College faculty members are still hopping on the UAW bandwagon. About 1,200 adjunct instructors at NYC’s School of Visual Arts voted to form SVA Faculty United–UAW after a two-year organizing campaign. Additionally, 1,600 postdoctoral researchers and fellows at Johns Hopkins University have joined the UAW.

As always, these organizing roundups serve as a reminder that unions are perpetually looking to push their feet into workplaces’ doors. No industry should rest easy on this subject, which makes it all the more important for employers to connect with their workers and listen to any concerns before unions offer to do so.

Blog Post

Stories You May Have Missed:

Anodyne Coffee Parent Company Challenges Workers’ Union Vote, Delays Certification
Read the full story

What happened:
Employees at four Milwaukee-area Anodyne Coffee locations voted unanimously—37 to 0—to join the MASH union on June 4. That result is now on hold. Anodyne’s parent company, FairWave Holdings, filed objections with the NLRB claiming that some voters were actually supervisors and that a union representative engaged in intimidation and surveillance during the campaign. A formal hearing is set for later this month to determine whether the objections are valid and if a new election will be required.

What you need to know:
A unanimous vote is rare and may signal more intense organizing tactics behind the scenes—something FairWave is clearly pushing back on. For business leaders, this underscores the importance of getting ahead of supervisory classifications, having clear documentation of job duties, and understanding how to respond legally when organizing efforts gain traction.

Two Prominent Union Leaders Exit DNC Amid Tensions With Chair Ken Martin
Read the full story

What happened:
Randi Weingarten—the president of the American Federation of Teachers—and Lee Saunders, who leads AFSCME, recently declined to continue as at-large members of the Democratic National Committee. Both had supported Ben Wikler in the chair race and were removed from the DNC's powerful Rules and Bylaws Committee after Ken Martin won in February. Weingarten explicitly cited feeling “out of step” with Martin’s leadership and warned that the party is failing to expand its tent. Saunders emphasized that Democrats need "new strategies, new thinking" to meet the moment. Their exits follow the high-profile departure of Vice Chair David Hogg earlier this month, after his attempt to influence primary races caused friction.

What you need to know:
This isn’t just internal politicking—it’s a red flag that the DNC’s leadership dynamics are shifting at a critical time. Losing two leaders who command a combined membership of over 3 million workers signals potential fallout among labor-aligned donors and grassroots organizers. For party strategists and business leaders alike, it illustrates the growing divide between the push for pragmatic unity geared toward broad-based appeal and the push for bold progressive change from labor and Gen Z factions. As chair Ken Martin refocuses on rebuilding infrastructure and fundraising, these departures could complicate outreach to core Democratic constituencies. Stakeholders should watch for how the DNC integrates these voices back into strategy, and whether this results in a rebalancing toward technocratic versus activist priorities.

UAW Prez Threatened to “Slit the Throats” of Critics as He Pushed No-Bid Contracts with D.C. Firms
Read the full story

What happened:
A federal monitor’s 94-page report reveals that in late 2023, UAW President Shawn Fain, addressing over 300 staffers, made a chilling threat: “If anyone ever messes with them, I will slit their throats”—referring to his senior aides—per sworn testimony. The report also documents how Fain, backed by his chief of staff and communications director, pressured against the union’s consent decree by trying to award no-bid contracts to politically connected consulting firms in D.C.—including one for $500,000—often overrode vetoes from Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock. The monitor accuses Fain and his inner circle of creating a “culture of fear,” orchestrating “show trials” to oust internal dissenters, and misleading staff about decisions and processes.

What you need to know:
This isn’t just a labor scandal. It’s a governance and compliance crisis with serious oversight implications. The report underscores the danger of top-heavy leadership models in heavily regulated organizations like unions under court supervision. Fain’s threatening language and bypassing of procurement rules jeopardize regulatory credibility and risk legal consequences. For boardrooms and exec teams, the lesson is twofold: first, maintain transparent, accountable chains of command especially under contractual or legal stipulations; second, unethical pressure from leaders—regardless of goal—can severely erode internal morale and external trust.

C-suite takeaway: dominance-based leadership can backfire spectacularly—arm your compliance and internal governance teams with real authority, not just window dressing. And never ignore what your monitor (or audit) team is flagging. This episode sends a hyper-clear message: unchecked power = existential risk.

About Labor Relations INK

Labor Relations INK is published weekly and is edited by LRI Consulting Services, Inc. Feel free to pass this newsletter on to anyone you think might enjoy it. New subscribers can sign up by visiting here.

If you use content from this newsletter, please attribute it to Labor Relations Institute and include our website: http://www.LRIonline.com

Contributing editors for this issue: Greg Kittinger, Michael VanDervort, and Kimberly Ricci.

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About LRI Consulting Services, Inc.

LRI Consulting Services, Inc. exists to help our clients thrive and become extraordinary workplaces. We improve the lives of working people by strengthening relationships with their leaders and each other. For over 41 years, LRI Consulting Services, Inc. has led the labor and employee relations industry, driven by our core values and our proven process, the LRI Way.

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Subject: ERGs and the NLRA, Grocery Labor Strife, No Business is Safe: LRI INK