Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, a 1st District Democrat, has called on the National Labor Relations Board to investigate the recent closure of the Augusta Chipotle location.
The Chipotle on Stephen King Drive closed effective Tuesday, and has been closed to the public since Sunday, according to members of the store’s recently-formed union and chain representatives.
The workers accused the chain of union busting, as the store’s closure came on the same day as the National Labor Relations Board was set to hold a hearing to determine the union election process, Maine AFL-CIO spokesperson Andy O’Brien said.
“The timing of Chipotle’s store closure in my district is more than alarming, it raises serious concerns of illegal union-busting. My constituents at the Augusta store followed the rules and were well within their rights to organize the first unionized Chipotle in the country,” Pingree said. “The NLRB should immediately investigate why Chipotle— a Fortune 500 company— would turn around and shutter the first store to propose giving workers a voice.
“If this nationwide, multi-billion-dollar chain is found to have retaliated against workers in the process of unionizing, it must be held to account,” Pingree said.
Chipotle workers at the location voted to form an independent union late last month. That came just a week after the Chipotle workers staged a two-day walkout in protest of what they called unsafe working conditions and low staffing.
