Blue Hill Grow Store Workers Win First Union Contract

PHOTO: Gravelwood Farm Grow Store employees celebrate their first union contract.

Nine employees of Gravelwood Farm Grow Store in Blue Hill have unionized with the International Association Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District Lodge 4. They voted unanimously to ratify their first contract with the company on Thursday, May 15. Gravelwood Farm Grow Store sells an array of gardening and indoor growing supplies, seedlings, animal feed and more.

"We are proud to announce the formation of our new union and our first contract with Gravelwood Farms,” said employee and Machinists Union member Christopher Ambrose.“This is a great opportunity for us to have a stronger voice in the workplace about wages, benefits and other conditions impacting employment. We want to thank the owner Dan Brown for voluntarily recognizing our new union and working collaboratively with us to hammer out an agreement that works for both parties."

The new Gravelwood union contract includes cost of living adjustments, a 401k retirement plan, paid holidays and 40 hours of paid leave. As a business with less than ten full-time workers, employees at the company are exempt from Maine’s new earned paid leave law, but the new contract allows them to take advantage of this benefit.

“As a small business owner, I am very proud that our employees were able to organize and join a union to have a stronger collective voice in the workplace," said store owner Dan Brown. "It gives them additional opportunities like a 401k and insurances that are not normally available to other workers in this industry. We are the first grow/feed store that I am aware of to have a union sticker on the business' window. We hope this new contract helps raise the bar for the rest of the industry to follow and provides an example for other workers and small businesses to follow."

“It was great to see how excited the workers were in finally getting a union. Their enthusiasm and energy makes this all worth it,” said IAM District Lodge 4 Business Agent Jay Wadleigh. “They’re excited to be part of the union and we’re excited to have them.”