r/petsmartunion

▲ 51 r/petsmartunion+1 crossposts

Working list of enforceable union demands. Reply with suggestions.

(Credit to u/Feel-A-Great-Relief for creating this list. I wanted to share it as its own post to help boost feedback.)

Working list of enforceable union demands. Reply with suggestions.

Note: Document still work in progress, subject to revisions

This list was formed after speaking with dozens of petsmart workers. I would love to hear your feedback! Message 

STORE ASSOCIATES DEMANDS:

  • $17.50 minimum wage, higher in areas with higher cost of living
  • Annual 5%, inflation adjusted, raises
  • Minimum guarantee of 25 hours per week for part time workers
  • Affordable health, vision, & dental insurance for workers working 20 hours per week for past 3 months
  • Any job promotions MUST include pay raise commensurate with additional responsibilities
  • Paid lunch breaks
  • Minimum of 6 associates on the floor (cashiers included) per shift
  • 12 weeks parental leave
  • Flea treatment free or heavily discount for employees to prevent employees bringing fleas to work (Employees more likely to foster stray animals
  • Associates CANNOT be reprimanded for following store policy, despite customer complaints at associates following policy (Ex: Sale refusal)
  • Fully stocked PPE for associate’s duties and easy to said PPE (PPE examples: gloves, eye protection, aprons, masks, ect)

CASHIERS DEMANDS:

  • Minimum of 2 cashiers per shift to handle long lines of customers (TIRED OF BEING ONLY CASHIER ON FLOOR—TOO MUCH TO DO!)
  • Chairs!
  • Can take 15s & lunch

PETCARE DEMANDS:

  • Minimum of 2 pet care workers per shift to properly care for store animals
  • 1 hour overlap between shifts to ensure proper handoff of petcare responsibilities
  • Species appropriate habitats for pets sold
  • Better equipment for pet care
  • Higher standard of animal care for animal breeder vendors
  • Petcare workers CANNOT be expected to do vet tech work as substitute for ACTUAL vet care
  • Higher pay commensurate with the additional pet receiving duties & increased technical work of pet care workers
  • Longer and more complete training for pet care workers
  • All managers MUST be trained on how to safely medicate animals and how ISO works.

STORE DEMANDS:

  • Higher budget for building maintenance
  • Clean source of drinking water for employees
  • Store repairs must be timely and permanent (No more temporary patches that continuously fail). Work orders (excluding emergencies) must be completed in 7-14 business days
  • Supply shortages notifications instead of not sending any product at all. Many eastern stores are dealing with a cleaning chemical shortage

PET HOTEL DEMANDS:

  • Overnight pet hotel staff MUST be reinstated to ensure pet safety

DOG TRAINERS DEMANDS:

  • 50% commission on classes sold, which is industry standard & commensurate with work load
  • Higher budget for training supplies to ensure trainers no longer must purchase own supplies
  • More administrative time for contacting PPs, filing paperwork, & selling classes
  • Additional time for studying material and creating lesson plans
  • Clearly defined path for bringing demo dog to work

SALON DEMANDS:

  • Pass holiday & weekend surcharge onto salon workers rather than corporate keeping it
  • Higher pay
  • Better equipment
  • Workers no longer expected buy consumables, like cologne
  • Reimbursed for past salon purchases
  • No longer pay for repair & maintenance of equipment
  • Stools
  • Having one dedicated bather/groomer per shift who isn’t booked and can handle walk-ins
  • Reinstatement of the salon manager position
  • Groomers required to take legally mandated breaks. Management no longer pressures them to work through breaks
  • No more overbooking/double booking on the groomers
  • Groomers GET commission
  • If PP demands refund, still give the groomer base level/hourly and not remove what they earned entirely.
  • Requiring pet parents to put in a credit card to have their dog groomed. Currently if the PP doesn’t pay the stylist doesn’t get paid.
  • Ease of refusal for dogs
  • Remove where it says extra brushing fee for doodles and go ahead and establish that in the price, PP’s frequently complain about that.
  • Proper education (such as pamphlets) for PP’s on their dog’s coat types and how to care for it + how to desensitize their puppy to certain tools/sounds

CURBSIDE, STORE PICKUP ORDERS, & SHIP FROM STORE DEMANDS:

  • Create dedicate position to handle large volume of curbside, store pickup, and ship from store orders

ALWK (Associate Lead With Keys) DEMANDS

  • Same protection as other managers

CEL, ASL, & MIL DEMANDS:

  • Upcoming restructure CANNOT demote or let go any current CELs, ASLs, or MILs
  • Any replacement positions must pay equal to, or greater than, current positions
  • Compliance with 15 minute breaks for managers, no more skipping breaks
  • Job responsibilities must be dispersed evenly between managers

HR DEMANDS:

  • All HR investigations must be completed within a timely manner

CALL CENTER DEMANDS:

  • Outside, third-party consultants MUST be brought in to address rampant sexual harassment & other abuses by management
  • $17.50 minimum wage
  • Annual 5%, inflation adjusted, raises
  • Affordable health, vision, & dental for workers working 20 hours per week for past 3 months
  • Any job promotions MUST include pay raise commensurate with additional responsibilities
  • Proper training on new systems and tools and/or following promotion
  • 12 weeks parental leave
reddit.com
u/starkofthemidwest — 5 days ago
▲ 91 r/petsmartunion+1 crossposts

Uh oh, Corporate!

It looks like I forgot to care! You'll see my facebook post eventually. Not a single thing I said was false... At least I didn't openly discourage anyone from replacing me. It's just a warning about working conditions!

You have no idea who all has been dragged into this.

u/starkofthemidwest — 7 days ago
▲ 27 r/petsmartunion+1 crossposts

Petsmart Bird Supplier Investigated by USDA. 1900 animals over their legal limit.

Wow. I thought the grooming salon situation was bad.

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But, no, this is bad. Petsmart... are we trusting Creekside to change?

Trigger warning: Animal cruelty (euthanasia methods)

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3.153(a)(1)(i)

Primary enclosures.

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Approximately 25% of the breeding cages (primary enclosures) had sharp points associated with water access. Water access is via nipple waterers that is shared by two cages. To allow access to both cages the wire mesh dividing the cages is cut next to the water nipple. The cut wire results in a sharp point that could injury the bird.

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Enclosures with sharp points can result in injury to the animals

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The facility must remove the sharp points from the enclosures which could injure the birds.

To be corrected by May 21, 2026.

​

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3.153(a)(2)

Primary enclosures.

A primary enclosure for fledgling birds housing an approximate 50 birds had insufficient perching space.

The enclosure had two perches, measuring approximately 10 and 18 inches. The licensee stated that some perches had been removed because the birds chewed on them. A lack of perching puts strain on the bird’s feet and legs. Birds that rest by perching must be provided with a sufficient number of perches to comfortably hold all the birds in the primary enclosure at the same time, including birds that are ranked low in a dominance hierarchy.

To be corrected by May 12, 2026.

​

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3.158(a)(1)

Cleaning, sanitization, housekeeping, and pest control.

Unsanitary conditions were observed in and around budgie cages and on water lines, characterized by heavy accumulation of droppings, feather dust, seed hulls, and old food. Perches and bars are covered in caked-on waste, and cage floors contain feces-covered broken and intact eggs along with significant piles of dried and fresh feces. Such accumulation is detrimental to budgie health. Excreta and food waste must be removed from the primary enclosures and from under and around primary enclosures as often as necessary to prevent excessive accumulation of feces and food waste, to prevent soiling of the birds contained in the primary enclosure, and to reduce disease hazards, insects, pests, and odors.

To be corrected by May 19, 2026.

​

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3.158(b)(1)

Cleaning, sanitization, housekeeping, and pest control.

Facility personnel stated that they do not sanitize the cages the birds are housed in. Not sanitizing cages can pose a significant health risk to the birds. Primary enclosures and food and water receptacles for birds must be sanitized as often as necessary to prevent accumulation of dirt, debris, food waste, excreta, and other disease hazards.

To be corrected by May 19, 2026

investigations.peta.org
u/starkofthemidwest — 13 days ago