Why doesn’t Mud Bay want the UFCW in stores? Why do they want me to vote no?
UFCW 3000 doesn’t understand Mud Bay’s values or culture. Mud Bay and Muddies have worked together for decades to take care of our customers and their animals, to take care of each other and to take care of Mud Bay’s sustainability as a business.
UFCW cannot guarantee any of its promises. On the other hand, we know that the UFCW would make Muddies pay dues, cause Mud Bay to waste money on overhead and make stores more bureaucratic and less fun.
We are confident that Mud Bay will be a better place to work in the years to come without the extra rules, bureaucracy, costs and inflexibility that the UFCW would bring to our stores.
Why isn’t my manager asking me what I think Mud Bay could do better or why I think the UFCW would make things better at Mud Bay?
Once a petition is filed, Mud Bay is required to follow national labor law. By law:
- We can’t ask about, or address, the reasons some Muddies are interested in union representation
- We can’t make promises to Muddies in order to sway their vote
- We can’t ask Muddies how they might vote or how they feel about the UFCW
- We can’t require Muddies to attend meetings or have discussions around this issue
- We would love to answer any questions you might have of us though, so please keep asking us — and the UFCW — the tough questions.
Don’t the UFCW dues just go right back to Mud Bay?
No. None of your UFCW dues payment comes back to Mud Bay in any form. Not one penny.
In 2024–2025, UFCW 3000 collected just over $35 million in member dues and $57 million in total revenue, according to its financial reports on file.1
However, the UFCW spent less than a third of its revenue representing members. The rest was used to pay for things like:
- Political contributions
- Hotels
- Theme parks
- Lobbying
Won’t the UFCW be a part of Mud Bay once elected?
No. The UFCW is a separate organization whose activities — including member representation, political contributions and lobbying — are funded by member dues.
Aren’t the wages and benefits at other unionized pet retail stores significantly better?
We certainly haven’t found that. In our opinion, Mud Bay provides a very competitive wage and benefits package.
We encourage you to compare Mud Bay’s wages and benefits with unionized pet stores like Seattle’s Downtown Dog Lounge. The UFCW 3000 negotiated a contract for their employees and got them a 20% retail discount. As you know, Muddies receive a 40% discount (without a union).
Check out the benefits flyer for a more complete comparison of DDL’s contract wages and benefits versus Mud Bay’s.
Are you threatening to remove benefits if a union is elected?
No. Mud Bay is highlighting the benefits Muddies already get without having to pay the union.
No one — not Mud Bay and not the UFCW — knows what the result of bargaining would be. Benefits could be better, they could be worse, or they could stay the same.
If we talk or express our opinions to our manager, could our manager get fired?
No. You can, and should, talk to your manager at any time if you have any questions about what union representation could mean for you.
If they can’t answer your question, they will find the answer or guide you to it.
- United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 3000. (2025). Labor organization annual report (Form LM-2) (File No. 543-341). U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards. https://olmsapps.dol.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=939918&rptForm=LM2Form ↩︎