Upscale shoppers of Saks Fifth Avenue were interrupted on August 21st by the yells and screams of dozens of members of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.

Union members accuse the store of taking unfair advantage of cosmetics department employees.

According to Frank Bail, President of Local 1102, employees of the Saks cosmetics department voted in favor of unionizing about 10 months ago. However, the exclusive establishment has not reached an agreement with union leaders. Saks management seeks to reduce employee commissions, vacation time, holidays and other benefits.

“These people are managing Saks in the same way as WalMart is managed. But Saks is not a discount store. Sooner or later Saks’ clients will understand that this is happening. We want Saks personnel—our members—to earn a decent salary,” said Bail.

Cosmetics employee Karen Overman-Mansky pointed out that Saks employees aren’t asking for more benefits than they are currently receiving, but only want to be part of a union. It seems unfair to employees to lose benefits as a punishment for wanting a union contract.

Other employees disagreed. Robert Jones, for example, said Saks employees don’t need a union and are well-served without one.