The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 23 has reached a tentative agreement with Giant Eagle tonight nearly 6 weeks after bargaining began.
The details of the agreement are not being released to the public until members have an opportunity to hear about them but the bargaining committee is unanimously recommending the agreement to membership.
What is this woman protesting?
Giant Eagle workers and United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) members staged a silent protest outside of the Squirrel Hill Giant Eagle in Pittsburgh Wednesday evening.
The workers claim that they have been harassed since negotiations started in May for a new contract.
On Tuesday, the UFCW filed charges against Giant Eagle with the National Labor Relations Board for unfair labor practices. According to a press release:
The group is charging the company with squelching worker’s right to free speech and threatening employees if they wear member stickers or talk about their contract.They also say that they've been interrogated regarding their support of the union.
“We should not lose our constitutional protections the minute we clock in” said Derek Watson, an employee of Giant Eagle and union member. “They are trying to take away our rights like they own us and that is not only unfair, it’s not legal.” He and other workers have had a number of threats levied against them by store managers in recent weeks.
The protest on Wednesday consisted of about 50 workers and supporters. They taped over their mouths to symbolize Giant Eagle's attempts to silence them in the workplace and marched from the corner of Forbes & Murray to the store and then lined up in front of it for about 20 minutes before they turned and marched back.
(More photos after the fold)
I shop there regularly and have for over 10 years.I didn't see an employee from the store.Wonder why??
ReplyDelete"The group is charging the company with squelching worker’s right to free speech and threatening employees if they wear member stickers or talk about their contract.
ReplyDelete“We should not lose our constitutional protections the minute we clock in” said Derek Watson, an employee of Giant Eagle and union member.
So, this genius is complaining about Giant Eagle trying to make sure they do their jobs and work on Union activities? If they want to try and convince other employees/customers of their plight and efforts to unionize, here's an idea - DO IT ON YOUR OWN TIME! You DO NOT have a right to Unionize on Company time. Plus, keep your little badges and T-shirts off... wear what's prescribed.. nothing more.
Rrich10e.. Here's your answer.. Bwwaacckk, Bwwaacckk, Bwwaacckk. It's easier to hire outside goons than take a stand. Could it be that Giant Eagle employees *don't* favor the Union? Naaaahh, couldn't be, could it?
This group is ALREADY unionized and has been for many years, with the legally protected right to communicate accordingly. They DO to their jobs - quite well. One member was threatened with arrest by management for having a union-related discussion ON HIS OWN TIME.
ReplyDeleteIt's pathetic that a company that brought in 8.2 billion (with a "b") last year - on the backs of these workers - pays wages so low that more than half of them qualify for public assistance that we ALL pay for. I didn't bring in 8.2 billion last year. Did you? And if you did, that would explain your position.
And Rich - the protesters represented several stores where the attempted "silencing" was experienced.