Employees at Healthy Living markets and the South Burlington Barnes Noble bookstore have voted to join unions.  Workers at three Healthy Living locations — South Burlington, Williston and Saratoga Springs, N.Y. — voted 105-69 on April 30 to join Workers United, an international union that represents more than 86,000 people across multiple industries. Employees interviewed by Seven Days ahead of the vote said they were concerned about inadequate wages and a lack of communication from higher-ups when big business changes were made.  Healthy Living employees are now in the process of electing a bargaining committee and looking ahead to their first contract negotiation with management. The stores employ about 300 people, and a fourth location is expected to open soon in Halfmoon, N.Y.  “Now that we have voted to unionize, we’re excited and hopeful the negotiation process will be swift and in good faith,” said Nessa Coit, a member of the union organization committee and an employee at the South Burlington store. “We’re excited about making our workplace better and hoping to better align it with Healthy Living’s stated values.” Healthy Living has built its retail identity around community connection and nutritious food. Katy Lesser opened the first Healthy Living store in 1986 and now operates the business with her children, Eli and Nina Lesser-Goldsmith. Neither Eli nor Nina responded to requests for comment.  In an internal communication to employees following the union vote, Eli expressed his appreciation for Healthy Living employees and his gratitude for those who “worked hard to remain positive, respectful, and dedicated to our mission over the past several weeks.” In the message, obtained by Seven Days, Lesser-Goldsmith said his family had received “a great deal of feedback” and said many staff members had “questions” about the election process and that “concerns” had been raised.  “In light of the feedback we’ve received and our commitment to every member of our staff, we will be taking the next few days to carefully consider next steps,” he wrote. Meanwhile, the employees at the South Burlington Barnes Noble voted 13-5 to join the United Food and Commercial Workers union. They’re the eighth location of the chain bookseller to unionize. Barnes Noble CEO James Daunt paid a visit to South Burlington to address workers ahead of the union vote, the bookseller confirmed. His pitch against unionization mostly revolved around money, according to Sebastian Ryder, a Barnes Noble South Burlington employee who supported the unionization effort, but failed to address employee concerns around mental and physical safety that helped spark the interest in forming a union. A Barnes Noble spokesperson said in a statement that the corporate bookseller “prides itself for encouraging close relationships between each store and the home office management” and that the company is not “anti-union.” The post Workers at Healthy Living, Barnes Noble Vote to Unionize  appeared first on Seven Days. ...read more read less