Another Guitar Center Store Votes to Unionize

This material was published by the Daily Kos.

by Mark E Andersen Follow fo rDaily Kos Labor

Back in May a Guitar Center store in Manhattan voted to unionize. Last Friday employees of a Guitar Center in Chicago also voted to unionize through the same union, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).

With the unionization of the Chicago store the union hopes to raise wages and implement a commission structure that is fair and equitable. Of course Bain Capital, the owner of Guitar Center, is not pleased with this recent vote:

Ahead of the Chicago vote, Guitar Center – a $2-billion company owned by Bain Capital – engaged in a vigorous campaign to dissuade workers from union participation. "[Friday's] outcome won't be official until the Labor board has ratified the vote count, but what we do know is that so far, the union's campaign hasn't been very successful at all," says Dennis Haffeman, the chain's executive vice president of human resources. "We feel that's because once our associates learn all the facts, they're able to make that important decision for themselves."

I am not sure what Mr. Haffeman means when he states that the union's campaign hasn't been very successful when the the workers voted to join the union. The view out of the window in that ivory tower where his office is located must be somewhat distorted. What this vote does mean is that we will see more Guitar Centers attempting to unionize—which also leads to Bain pulling out all of the stops to block unionization.

RWDSU alleges that Guitar Center's management, in addition to frequently making anti-union statements during employee meetings, suggested to Chicago workers that winning a robust union contract could lead management to consider shuttering their entire store.

Of course Bain Capital denies any such threats.

While Guitar Center is not my preferred store to shop at for guitar related items, I do shop there. They are the closest music store to my house and when my son breaks a string just before lessons and we need a new pack, because he forgot to tell me he used the last pack, I will stop at Guitar Center as it is on the way.

I for one would love to see the Guitar Center here where I live become a union shop. It is the closest music store to where I live and I would feel a lot better purchasing a pack of strings from there if I knew that the employees were paid fairly.