Interview with Back Makers United
US Team wants a Union, Management says no.
A vote will take place in January to force BM to recognize BMU.
US Back Makers John and Kate tell us why they are forming a union.
Read the full interview.
Welcome! Could you introduce yourselves?
John: I’m John, a Seller Lifecycle Manager living in Brooklyn!
Kate: I’m Kate, an Advanced Internal Care and eReputation agent. I also live in Brooklyn!
What’s your favorite thing at BM?
John: The people! I’ve made so many true lifelong friends working here, it’s a really supportive and friendly culture.
Kate: Definitely the people. Our mission and culture attract kind people who want to make things better. That’s rare!
If you could change one thing?
John: In the US, I would want us to step away from “At Will” employment, meaning your employer can terminate you at any time for any reason. I’d prefer “Just cause”, with a formal arbitration process and protections against unjustified firings.
Kate: Additionally, we really need compensation tied to cost of living in NYC, especially if we’re mandating in-office work.
How did you come to talk about a union?
John: This year, we saw several firings, alongside raises that didn’t keep up with the cost of living in NYC. We realized that we had to band together and stand up for one another.
Kate: We felt our futures were not secure, even as we worked so hard to deliver remarkable growth. Promotions are often the path to a raise but many are told there is no way to grow here.
Did you talk with management?
John: Quite a bit actually! The answer was essentially “if this isn’t good enough for you, I’ll be your reference for your next job”.
Kate: We were heard on some things. But just as often our concerns have been dismissed or deferred. We reached a point where it simply couldn’t wait any longer.
Are you dangerous?
Kate: Not even a little bit. We love BM and what it stands for. We want to make it possible to build a future here. We’d really love for management to work with us to make that happen.
Read the full interview.
Why is management paying an anti-union law firm?
BM has hired BSK, a US law firm called out in the media for unethical practices. Even against firefighters.
Their laywyer, Peter Jones, has suggested universities should lock students and professors out to “intimidate” them for daring to unionize.
Management had the opportunity to prove they really value social dialogue by voluntarily recognizing the union. There is proof already that a huge majority of US Back Makers support it.
But they decided to pay BSK’s expensive fees rather than to give their employees a seat at the table.
Real company resources are now being siphoned away from the fight against new. BSK is known for drawing out these processes unnecessarily, which means more billable hours for them.
Salaries: BM doesn’t keep up with the market
Our survey shows the salary increase policy at BM doesn’t allow us to keep up. The end of bonuses won’t change that.
We are told yearly increases aim to put each of us between “entry” and “high” in a secret salary range. We are told those ranges are defined for each level and should reflect market standards. Promotions move us to a higher level but lower in the salary range of our new level.
The survey we conducted earlier this year shows that, after 2+ years at the same level, 36% of respondents still sit between “below” or “entry” level withing their range. After 3+ years, only 14.3% reach “high” or “above”.
This creates massive dissatisfaction (44% overall), especially among senior employees (49%) and generalists (82%).
We ask management to disclose the ranges, share transparent data on range positions vs. seniority, and adjust compensation to reflect BM’s results.
About our survey: since July, we got 73 answers. Respondents were 75% BoT and 25 generalists, 34% female and 62% male. Big thanks to them!
Sick Pay
Alan, our health insurance in France, pushed to increase contributions or reduce our coverage. At the national level, same story: to supposedly save costs, the French government wanted to increase out-of-pocket costs for medications and consultations. That is perverse.
Reducing coverage and increasing costs doesn’t improve health, it degrades it. People get less care, skip prevention, consult too late, when care costs more.
Instead, let’s look at the causes. For instance at work.
We all know people victims of burnout at work. Yet it’s almost never recognized as a workplace injury, which would make the employer pay. Toxic management continues, and we pay the price.
At BM, the Office Policy pushes us to come even when we shouldn’t. Result: we contaminate others, we get contaminated, at the office or in public transport.
The Office Policy Joke
Breaking news woo woo 💥
Because we worked hard hard hard 🥵 we are allowed to be remote during holiday season and new year, we’re so lucky lucky lucky 🥰
Pro-tip: Last 2 weeks of December start on the 22nd not the 15th, don’t get confused 🤪
Wait what? You saved your Flexidays and remote week for the holiday season?
Well that’s sad for you 🥺
Maybe you should have planned with the benevolence of our beloved execs in mind 🫶🏻
Anyway you can be proud! Money is flowing 💰💰 and you can spend the 26th working from home 👩🏻💻👩🏻💻
One team one time 😘😘
Subscribe to our newsletters
We are not allowed to post on Slack. Subscribe to stay informed!
For privacy reasons, Back Market email addresses are not accepted. Some corporate spam filters may detect and report the list of employees who are recipients of the messages. That is why we invite you to use a personal address.
🇫🇷 If you are in France, subscribe here:
🇪🇸 If you are based in Spain, we invite you to subscribe to the mailing list of our sister union, the Spanish CGT.