Open Harvest Employees Statement

I stand in support of Open Harvest employees.

I read through the 15 pages of comments and an hired HR representative would be a great addition to better mitigate the daily stressors of life at Open Harvest.

Do better OH

I am extremely disappointed Open Harvest continues to ignore employees’ demands. You should be embarrassed that employees are the only staff members holding the store accountable to its principles!

Essential workers deserve to feel safe, respected, and heard!!!

I and many others didn’t know anything about this until the petition was released. Only certain people were contacted and asked to share their experiences to participate, it was not open to all employees. Saying there is an email at the bottom of this petition to add statements after the fact, isn’t how it works. People adding to the supporting document AFTER the petition has been released and people have already signed it???? Also, none of the rest of the employees got an opportunity to have any input on how we move forward, what we want OUR Coop to look And feel like, only the selected people were given that opportunity. All voices not some voices!

They left an email at the bottom you could probably email a statement to, Carrie. That's probably how others who haven't had direct contact with the group did it.

I am in total support of all OH employees - past and present. Their demands absolutely must be met.

I love my Coop and I want it to be better. I advocate 100% for ALL employees of Open Harvest. What I cannot advocate for and find concerning about this petition is that not every employee was given an opportunity to have their voice heard. In the creation of the supporting document containing statements for this petition, only certain employees were approached and asked to give their statements. Nor were all employees allowed to have input on changes they want to see going forward as an employee of Open Harvest. The supporting document was edited after the petition had been released and signed by many to include more statements, but still was not opened up to all employees. I understand that this petition is a call to action and I’m ready. Action IS needed. Many employees have not felt heard by management and those employees are not limited to just the people making statements for this petition. Change is needed. I just happen to think that we all deserve to have our voices heard. Every employee deserves to have input on the changes they want to see going forward. All voices not just some voices.

Please listen to the employees and enact actual positive change.

Please listen to the employees!

Open Harvest needs to be better to its employees if it wants to regain its trust from the community.

You’ve been put in notice

Steven Cohn

all power to the worker

During my two year employment at OH I saw a lot of great people leave due to the lack of management listening to their needs and felt the spirit drift into a toxic controlling environment. I support the employees that have created this list of demands. I hope that the needs are met to keep OH alive and become the place that I know it can be, however there is a lot of work to do in the mean time. I believe that this could have been avoided if management listened to the concerns of the employees years ago.

Please take steps to address the issues outlined in this petition, it’s completely fair and reasonable for your employees to expect this from you.

As the only place in Lincoln that allegedly promotes the ideals I believe in, I am disheartened by the lack of action coming from Open Harvest to make some real and significant change. I view Open Harvest as a community place, where everyone should feel safe, where everyone has a voice. That is clearly not the case, and I sincerely hope that Open Harvest is willing to hold themselves accountable for their lack of action, and apologize to all employees they have made feel unsafe. Compassion means you listen! Open Harvest, I urge you to uphold compassion and meet your employee's demands.

LISTEN TO YOUR EMPLOYEES, THEY ARE WHAT MAKES OPEN HARVEST GREAT.

I’ve been a customer at the co-op for years because I think it is one of the best places to get produce in Lincoln outside of growing it yourself. I am saddened and disappointed to see such malfunctioning in its organization, inclusiveness, and equity that I previously perceived to be just fine. OH has a lot of work to do and they need to listen to their employees on how to do it.