Good day all. A long time ago, I remember my mother taking me to a supermarket. It was the only one in the area and it was called A&P. That market closed a long time ago and the building was demolished for something else.
Now A&P has filed for bankruptcy and it looks like they are going to close down. This means thousands of people are going to lose their jobs. Why is this different from any other story of a failed business? A&P Markets was unionized in a big way. Now all those jobs are going away and the Unions aren’t happy about it. Here are the details from In These Times:
About 25,000 grocery workers can expect to be fired this week as mid-Atlantic regional supermarket chain A&P goes forward with plans to sell or close all of its 300 stores, according to Bruce Both, President of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1500, and other sources. Both, head of a large UFCW local in the New York City metropolitan area, sent the message to union members in a post on Local 1500’s website.
“A&P has informed the [union] … that it plans to issue WARN notices to all of our members working for the company,” Both wrote on the Local 1500 website. He explained that Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) letters are required by federal law when a company like A&P intends to fire large numbers of its workers. Both’s message, however, also contained language expressing hope that the company would not carry out all of the intended firings.
A separate report from the respected Supermarket News website elaborated that the termination notices would apply to all of about 25,000 A&P employees in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, and Maryland.
That covers all the stores I believe. It’s always sad when this happens, but A&P simply couldn’t compete with all the markets that aren’t unionized. Now what is really pissing off the unions is what A&P did when they filed for bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy court records show that A&P filed a so-called “Section 1113” motion on August 11, the same day that the WARN notices were announced. Under that section of the law, bankruptcy court judges are empowered to cancel or modify existing labor contracts.
In the massive Section 1113 filing, A&P specifically asks that those sections of the existing UFCW collective bargaining agreements covering severance payments to fired workers be cancelled. It stated that the cost of severance payments under existing contracts was so high that it would endanger the ability of A&P to wind down the company in an orderly way.
Oh that isn’t going to make the unions happy. In point of fact, it’s going to drive them nuts. However, that isn’t all that A&P is asking for.
The company also specifically asks that so-called “bumping right” be eliminated. Many UFCW contracts contain such provisions, which allow veteran employees who lose their jobs because of store closings to transfer to similar jobs at other stores within the chain. This would have special impact on the 25 stores which the company has already announced will be closed in September and October, where some of those workers currently have bumping rights to transfer to other stores that are remaining open.
Now as I understand it from other things I’ve read, these “bumping rights” means that if a store closes, the people from that store, provided they have more seniority, can go into another store and take over the jobs of people who have less seniority. Basically, someone who has been given their WARN notice, and expects to have a couple of months to look for a job while still getting a paycheck, could walk in and find that they have been laid off and someone else has been given their job for however much longer the store remains open. That’s going to make an awful lot of people real happy.
The union is utterly opposed to anything that takes power away from the union, so they are challenging the section 113 motion.
“The UFCW today filed a strong objection to the A&P‘s 1113(e) motion to impose immediate changes to its collective bargaining agreements with UFCW local unions. Local Unions joined in the UFCW objections and also filed their own objections. Counsel for both the UFCW and UFCW local unions will also appear in court on Monday at 10 a.m. to object to the motion and participate in the hearing.”
The old saying about getting blood from a stone comes to mind. There is a reason that A&P filed for bankruptcy. They are broke. A major cause will be shown to be the unions outright greed. Once again, they managed to price their membership right out of a job. I would not be surprised if the court grants all the motions submitted by A&P. Soon enough, once A&P stops paying it’s soon to be former work force, the union’s bank accounts will run dry. Then they to will fail.
The thing about bloodsuckers is that if you take to much, your host dies and you go hungry. It happened in Detroit, it happened with Hostess and now it’s happening with A&P. The managers are trying to find someone stupid enough to buy them, but there is no way anyone would be dumb enough to take over a business that was unionized if they didn’t have to. There is a reason unions are having a hard time organizing businesses. The work force knows that unions aren’t out there to help the rank and file, they are only there to take care of the union, generally at both business and memberships expense.
Thatisall
~The Angry Webmaster~
[yasr_visitor_votes size=”medium”]
There actually WAS a time when unions were not only useful but desperately needed. But that day was before my FATHER was born. Arguably even before my grandfather.
These bloodsuckers have outlived their usefulness by AT LEAST 70 years, probably 100. Time to get rid of them.
Businesses being what they are, the tide will swing back, and the day may come again when unions are again needed. That day is not today and it won’t be for AT LEAST another decade… if then.
Unions rely on ignorant, uninformed workers. When the workforce is educated and has access to plenty of information, they can deal with management themselves, in most cases. That’s why so many union locals are collapsing in Wisconsin. The members never wanted to be part of a union and when given the chance, bolted.