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\u2019s website. <\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cA&P has informed the [union] \u2026 that it plans to issue WARN notices to all of our members working for the company,\u201d 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\u2019s message, however, also contained language expressing hope that the company would not carry out all of the intended firings. <\/i><\/p>\n
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. <\/i><\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Bankruptcy court records show that A&P filed a so-called \u201cSection 1113\u201d 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. <\/i><\/p>\n
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.<\/i><\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n The company also specifically asks that so-called \u201cbumping right\u201d 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. <\/i><\/p>\n Now as I understand it from other things I’ve read, these \u201cbumping rights\u201d 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.<\/p>\n The union is utterly opposed to anything that takes power away from the union, so they are challenging the section 113 motion.<\/p>\n \u201cThe UFCW today filed a strong objection to the A&P\u2018s 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.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Thatisall<\/p>\n ~The Angry Webmaster~<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n [yasr_visitor_votes size=”medium”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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. Continue reading ![\"nelson2\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/angry.net\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/nelson2.gif?resize=300%2C217\")
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