Union Workers Win Contract and End Strike, Redmond Homegrown Reopens
The Homegrown sandwich shopfront at the corner of Leary Way and Cleveland St. in Redmond, WA. Photo by Jason Miller.
BY: Madeline Virginia
REDMOND, WA
The Homegrown Workers Union has ratified their contract with Homegrown, marking the end of a 119-day strike for the Redmond Homegrown employees. The strike started with the workers at the Redmond location and eventually spread to nine other locations around Seattle.
Screenshot from the @OurUnionIsHG X account.
On March 14th, the union posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) saying “It's official. We have ratified a first contract at Homegrown! AND, we got Syd reinstated with back pay! Strike is over, everyone is back at work. Huge thanks to everyone for all the support to get here!”
Sydney Lankford was a union leader at the Redmond Homegrown that was unfairly fired earlier this year. Her firing would inspire the workers to start the strike, a hopeful final push to get Homegrown to finalize the union contract negotiations which started in late 2022.
The Redmond Homegrown location, which was previously closed during the duration of the strike, has now re-opened on Cleveland Street. Lankford and the other employees return to work and celebrate “union-made sandwiches”. One of the biggest priorities of negotiation for the Homegrown Workers Union was access to good, affordable healthcare. This was awarded in their new contract, as well as wage increases, tips with online orders, paid breaks, heat pay, and more.
