40 workers at the Ben and Jerrys ice cream shop plan to form a union

About 40 workers at the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shop in Burlington where the company was founded announced Monday that they plan to form a union. The so-called scoopers at the Burlington, Vt.  The shop said they have formed an organizing committee and petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for an election. They said they have the support of the upstate New York & Vermont chapter of Workers United, the union that started the Starbucks unionization campaign in Buffalo, New York. Ben & Jerry’s, now owned by consumer goods giant Unilever, said organizers just presented the plan to the company Sunday night. The shop employees’ letter to management says they want a voice in key decisions over issues such as salaries and health care costs.