Bankruptcy Judge Gives Go-Ahead for Mass Firings of Unionized A&P Grocery Workers

[marmar]

The mass firings of workers at the A&P supermarket chain is set to begin in mid-September, following action this week by a federal bankruptcy court approving a plan to quickly shed some 2,500 jobs at the ailing grocery retailer. The job cuts are a first step in a broader plan to dismember the entire 300-store chain, with expected job losses of 15,000 or more.

First on the chopping block are 1,018 workers at 10 stores in Pennsylvania and New Jersey whose jobs will be terminated September 19, according to official notices filed with state labor agencies. Those job cuts are to be followed in short order by an additional 15 store closings in Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware, where about 1,500 additional grocery workers will be forced on to the unemployment lines in the next two to three months, court documents detail.

Adding insult to injury, A&P managers met with leaders of the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) union last week to inform them that the company did not intend to honor existing collective bargaining agreements, union officers told rank-and-file members. (The contracts cover workers at several chains owned by A&P, including A&P, Pathmark, Waldbaums, Superfresh, and others.) Discarded workers may be denied severance and vacation pay, seniority rules are to be ignored, and a long list of other unilateral contract changes must be accepted by the union, according to an announcement from Harvey Whille, President of UFCW Local 1262 in Clifton, N.J. A&P managers demanded that the union officers accede to concessions, according to Whille’s statement, otherwise the company would go to court to have the contracts revised or cancelled by the judge.

Both A&P and UFCW were tight lipped when contacted by In These Times for additional information and comment. A&P spokesperson Brian Shiver would only say “we’re not commenting.” UFCW Region 1 Director Tom Clarke, who heads a coalition of 12 UFCW locals with A&P contracts, did not respond to phone calls or e-mail messages. ...................(more)

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/18260/bankruptcy_judge_gives_go_ahead_for_mass_firings_of_unionized_ap_grocery_wo

[SamKnause]

1. All the protections and rights for the corporations.

Zero protections and rights for the labor.