I’d prefer to keep my name anonymous but I worked for MOM’s Organic Market for several years. If you shopped at the Hampden store within the past few years, I’m sure you’d recognize me. I’ve been gone over a year now, but when I shop there now I still have regular customers approach me thinking that I still work there.
The Rotunda Hampden location is, and was during my whole time working there, the top store for the company in terms of sales dollars and overall volume. The high foot traffic means that the store stays busy day and night. Of the three locations where I worked (the other two being Timonium and Jessup), the work at the Hampden location was the most non-stop and the most physically taxing. There’s simply more to do at that location than any other, and only hard work gets it done.
Our store organized with help from the Teamsters (Local 570) and went public with our intent to unionize in mid-summer of 2021, with our election to unionize happening in the late summer. We began contract negotiations with MOM’s beginning that September. These negotiations would last until about the following September. The primary motivation in unionizing was the low pay (at the time starting wage was $15/hour, less than a living wage) and the massive disparity in how employees were treated in scheduling, work assignments, and discipline, with simple favoritism being the driving force behind all of these. There were also safety and health concerns, with sharp and rusty shelving, and pregnant women being told they were not allowed to have a chair while working the cash registers.
As soon as we informed the company of our intent to unionize (months before negotiations actually began) the company began an extensive spying and intimidation campaign. Almost immediately, employees of the company’s central office began arriving to, “Help out with the truck.” These employees were anywhere from office workers to senior upper management and C-suite members. They would act friendly but would overtly press team members for information about “Those union people.”
At the same time the company brought in a couple of slick union busting experts, who called themselves “Union educators.” Groups of employees would be taken to what we began calling “captive audience meetings” where these two men would tell us they wanted to make sure that we, “Knew all the facts.” These supposed facts would usually be thinly veiled threats that we would make less money and that the company would be more harsh on discipline if we voted to unionize.
Despite these intimidation tactics, the store voted to unionize with 4 votes against, and 57 in favor. As soon as the vote was cast in favor of unionizing, the above mentioned “educators” and central office employees all vanished.
Over the next year, we engaged in a prolonged negotiation process with MOM’s. During this time, MOM’s cried that they are a small regional company that can’t afford to have a unionized workforce, but at the same time had as many as three lawyers at once arguing in favor of the company. One of these lawyers was local, but the other two were from Ohio and Oklahoma, both flown into Baltimore at considerable expense. Their head lawyer was a veteran nationwide union buster who also participated in some of Trump’s 2020 voter suppression efforts.
During these negotiations, MOM’s counter proposals to our own proposed contract were to generally slash nearly everything we had proposed, while inserting their own draconian language that allowed the company to do as they please whenever they wanted, and to whomever they wanted. MOM’s was seemingly willing to throw an unlimited amount of money at the problem while deliberately keeping us underpaid so that we would eventually get tired and give up.
The resulting contract was a far cry from anything we proposed, but still represents a considerable step in the right direction for the employees at MOM’s Hampden. We were able to gain some protections for employees, as well as a pay differential of $2/hour for weekends and 5$/hour for five holidays. However the company has since offered other stores a $4/hour weekend pay bonus, and increased the number of holidays to nine. These benefits were not passed on to the Hampden store. During this time, the starting wages at other, less lucrative stores has risen to as high as $18/hour, while Hampden remains with a starting wage of $17/hour.
One of the items the company fought tooth and nail to exclude from our contract is known as a “Me Too” Clause. This “Me Too” clause would mean something quite different from how the phrase is normally used these days, and would instead obligate MOM’s Organic Market to offer any additional benefits given to other stores to the Hampden location as well. Part of the reason we allowed this to be excluded from the contract was negotiations were reaching an impasse over this topic.
The other reason, however, is that our negotiators were simple grocery store workers facing down seasoned lawyers who knew how to manipulate language better than any of us ever will. Their intent was to throw so much paper our way that we would get confused, and unfortunately it worked. We simply didn’t understand what were giving up. Because this language was excluded from the final contract, this effectively prevents the employees from demanding the same benefits that the company is currently offering to every other store in the company.
The company also included extensive no-strike sections into the contract. These articles effectively bar any current employees from saying anything that might harm the company or its image. As such, the employees at MOM’s rely on former employees to get the word out for them. If current employees say anything negative about the company, they are effectively writing their own termination form.
The main reason that we as a store decided to ratify the final contract was to protect the workers who supported the union, as well as to have ground to start on for our next negotiation session. We were unlikely to survive intact through a second round of negotiations and MOM’s knew this, and so tried to force us with a contract they thought we wouldn’t vote for. By ratifying this contract, we were able to protect everyone with the hopes that we could get something better the next time around. And despite its shortcomings, we were left with significantly better protections after ratification than we had before.
I still keep in touch with my former coworkers. In the past few months I have heard some disturbing news of the company’s declining safety standards and of alleged bad-faith dealings with union employees. One particular incident involved the company painting a section of the store with hazardous aerosol paints while the store was open, with both employees and customers alike exposed to highly toxic fumes. I have also heard several reports of the company refusing to allow union stewards into disciplinary meetings, violating those employees Weingarten rights and Federal labor law.
For those unfamiliar, Weingarten rights are similar to a citizen’s right to not speak to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning. They guarantee an employee’s right to have a union steward present during a disciplinary meeting, and that employee’s right to not speak without representation. This set of rights is quite simply one of the cornerstones of the American labor union and one of the whole reasons unions exist: To protect employees from unfair treatment or retribution from management.
Since the language in the contract is so restrictive in speaking to the public and the press, we are relying on the support from the local community to put pressure on MOM’s. The neighborhoods of Hampden, Roland Park, Remington, Charles Village, and Waverly, to name a few, were instrumental in putting pressure on the company to act in good faith during our negotiations. Those of us who were there remain incredibly grateful for your support. The process was very draining for us, and we were helped greatly by the kind words you gave us during the process. Your support truly did help us through a difficult time.
Now with negotiations approaching MOM’s employees need your help even more than before. This negotiation process will determine the future of the Teamsters Union at MOM’s Hampden and whether we can secure better pay and working conditions for my former coworkers. Please let the company know how you feel about the poor treatment of its employees. Thank you for reading this, and I wish you all the best.
As a former employee of MOM’s Organic Market in Hampden, I would like to offer my perspective on how the company has created a hostile work environment for its employees, who unionized with Teamsters Local 570 in 2021. I first began to feel that our store was being targeted for a disadvantage when I became aware in 2025 that weekend pay increases for other stores had gone up while keeping ours at two dollars less per hour. Starting pay at that time was also lower for our store, in addition to other stores being granted more holiday pay increases.
I also noticed that the company was not investing in maintenance of facilities, including broken phones at the registers that are used for the intercom, roof leaks that would be unaddressed for weeks, damaged cambro containers for storing food in the café, a severely dented ramp to the freezer where heavy u-boats of cases would need to be moved in and out of, black mold in the freezers on the sales floor, shading for the large south-facing windows at the front end removed and never replaced, and a mouse infestation which never seemed to be properly addressed. While not investing in our store, one of the top-selling MOM’s locations, we learned that the company was focused on expansion with a new store planned for opening in Chicago.
Poor oversight of contracted work that has occurred to repair or update the store has resulted in several incidents that have put customers and employees at risk. One incident where overhead pipes were being repaired would result in a freon leak, dropping down and pooling onto the floor of the cooler aisle. A barrier of shopping carts was put around the freon puddle, around which customers were moving, until it was finally decided to evacuate the store. Another incident occurred when the unhygienic rough concrete and pebble floor in the kitchen of the café was to be replaced. The store was kept open with work again being done during business hours, with no plastic put up around the area where the floor was being replaced, resulting in a proliferation of dust and fumes. On the first day, a number of employees reported headaches and respiratory issues. On the second day, one of our employees took a picture of the chemical being used for the new floor, and it turned out to be carcinogenic and dangerous to pregnancy. It took a call the health department to finally have the store closed for the day. The produce on the shelves continued to be sold as organic.
Instead of improving working conditions and better pay for its employees, MOM’s has expended resources on surveillance of its employees while trying to squeeze more out of them. A new phone policy has been implemented which forbids employees for having a cell phone on their person while on the clock. Despite the fact that employees range from minors, who often need to coordinate rides in the event of an emergency, to parents with their own kids who may need to get in touch them, and a policy that already existed which didn’t allow phone use on the sales floor except when looking something up for a customer or calculating expiration dates. The company has been paying someone at the corporate office to watch the cameras on the front end, to make sure that nobody takes a phone out of their pocket, and has also sent representatives from corporate to surveil the employees in person. Less attention has been given to security concerns expressed by employees who have dealt with threats or harassment from problem customers, and have requested extended hours for having a security guard present, without any lasting changes.
A point system for infractions, put into place when the employees became unionized, has exemplified poor communication from management. Many employees have found themselves close to termination on account of points accrued for lateness or absence without any prior word from a manager before receiving a first or a final warning. The system allows no leeway for a store manager to take the particular circumstances of an employee’s life into account, when an absence or late clock-in may be unavoidable.
The circumstances at the MOM’s Hampden location worsened when the corporate office decided to replace the general manager who had been in place when the employees had unionized, and had an effective way of mediating between the needs of employees, what worked well at this high-sales location, and the dictates of the company. A new general manager was brought in, who had little understanding of how this store had previously operated, little ability to connect with his employees (impatience with vocal female employees in particular), zero empathy, and a preoccupation with instituting standard operating procedures from the company. A drive to increase the amount of backstock resulted in a period when u-boats of cases were piled dangerously high, filling the freezer with heavy cases and totes far above head level. Procedures for receiving a truck were changed without considering input from employees including other managers who had been doing this. A pair of pride flags which had been on the whiteboard at the entrance to the employees-only area, showing solidarity with the many queer team members, were taken down at the behest of the company.
Experiencing all of this while working full-time and yet not being paid enough to pay my BGE bill, auto insurance, feed my kids, help my friends, and also have enough money to eat regular meals until my next paycheck would hit, finally led me to leave the company. Knowing that we were making so much money for them, taking care of lines of customers that could often extend to the back of the store on busy days, and yet not being able to see a pay increase at least in line with what the non-union stores were making on weekends and a greater number of holidays than us, felt like an insult. Underscored by having to listen to the same playlist of “mid-tempo instrumental music” that would repeat at least 3 times a day, as part of the company’s intention of creating a “peaceful oasis.”
The slogans that MOM’s prints everywhere to define their brand, with core values such as: “We Rise By Lifting Others”, “Find Your Gratitude” (including their bullet point of “Being fortunate is a state of mind”), “Accept The Things You Cannot Change And Change The Things You Can”, all made begin to make me feel nauseated. MOM’s has the ability to pay Hampden workers better. Perhaps this could lift others in a better way than focusing on opening another store.
It doesn’t have to be this way. I have worked at another natural food store, and seen how one can operate with accountability to the community placed before profit:
Cooperative structure, with store policy led by an elected board with input from members of the community.
No goals of expansion beyond the stores that can be kept in sustainable operation.
Keeping money in the local economy, and focusing on local food sources as much as possible.
No mice.
Professional floor cleaning service every night.
Knives picked up to be professionally sharpened on a regular basis.
Closers done half an hour after closing, out by 9:30.
Phone use allowed within reason.
A variety of music playing in store, in different genres, not a set playlist.
No micromanaging of tasks: typically I’m given a rundown on what has to be done throughout the day, whether in produce or grocery, stocking and touching things up where I see fit through my 6.5 hr shift.
What goes on u-boats is generally all products that need to be stocked. Backstock goes on shelves, and is not extensive.
I am granted a half-hour break plus a *paid* 15 minute break.
Part-time employees can enroll in a healthcare plan.
I encourage the CEO of MOM’s Organic Market, Scott Nash, to consider how the company’s commitment to sustainability could extend to issues of affordability and a living wage for his workforce. Watch out for hypocrisy in how you market your brand. The culture that you create in your stores is going to depend greatly on how much your workers feel respected, whether they belong to a union or not.