More Bad News for A&P Supermarket Workers as Judge OKs Assaults on Union Contracts

[marmar]

(In These Times) Union members at the A&P supermarket chain took a financial beating in federal court this week, as the company’s senior managers renewed their legal assault on the labor contracts covering some 25,000 employees in six mid-Atlantic states. The worst is yet to come for the low- to moderate-income grocery workers, however, as the judge in charge of the case made only limited rulings while indicating he may move more forcefully against the union as mass firings go forward.

“There is nothing to be happy about for anybody,” says Wendell Young IV, President of Local 1776 of the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) union. A&P is moving steadily forward with its plan to dismiss all the unionized employees at its 300 stores, and Judge Robert Drain eased the way September 2 by agreeing to cuts in severance pay for the first wave of discarded workers. Further, he acted to undercut job protection provisions in contracts for the union members that will remain temporarily on the payroll.

But Judge Drain declined to cancel key labor contract provisions outright, as A&P executives had requested. That step remains a possibility as the A&P bankruptcy court proceedings continue, Young says, and some union leaders are expecting that in the near future.

Most severe of Judge Drain’s actions this week was to approve cuts in the severance benefits to about 2,500 workers already fired by the company. A&P executives had asked that UFCW contract provisions covering severance benefits be cancelled, and that the company be allowed to make payments representing just 25 percent of the contractual amounts. The union objected strongly to this, and Judge Drain sought a compromise, Young says, ultimately settling on 52 percent. Such cuts will fall most heavily on the more senior unionized workers at the company, who have accrued greater severance rights as they toiled year upon year for the company. ....................(more)

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/18364/ap-grocery-bankruptcy-layoffs

[yeoman6987]

1. Dang. We have been doing pretty good with judges lately and then

Boom! We get slaughtered. We can't seem to win them all unfortunately.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. This is a strange slant...

originally the workers were to get almost nothing, now they are to get a lot more than nothing.

That might not be great, but it's not as bad as portrayed.

[The2ndWheel]

3. Judge Drain

Good name for a movie character.

[lindysalsagal]

4. The war on unions is real

They're not kidding. They're coming for all of us. They want to turn america into India. That includes your schools.

[Starry Messenger]

5. The ruling class has moved their fights to the courts.

We are getting slaughtered there. If Scalia ever goes after the big fish like he wants to, we are going to be back to pre-Wagner act levels.