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News
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Food Workers Union Welcomes Fresh Market to Westport
Not everyone was pleased to see the arrival of The Fresh Market in Westport. Members of Westport-based Local 371 of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union greeted today’s opening with picketers and a giant rat. The Fresh Market store is a non-union operation, and Local 371 contends it does not pay area standard wages and benefits. Shaw’s Supermarket, the former tenant, did employ union workers. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Bob Walter for WestportNow.com
Comments: Comment Policy
Ah, free speech!
HIDE THE CHEESE!!!!
What are the P&Z;regulations on that thing?
If it is true that tey pay substandard wages it is a disgrace!
A. Beasley, M.D.
If the unions don’t like them, chances are they’re doing the right thing.
No one is forcing anyone to work there. Unions had their place at one time, but their time has passed. Let’s hope it doesn’t ever go “union” if it does, it will turn into another S&S;.
They really helped the auto industry (at least the ones in Detriot).
And don’t forget Jimmy Hoffa, he was a real stand up guy.
You should have seen the union people yelling at some poor guy crossing the Post Road. He had to ask the police to escort him by the protesters (thugs?). What good way to earn support. :(
Ditto to what Mr. Werner and Mr. Raho posted. Fresh Market will earn my business.
Trader Joe has never had the “rat” outside, demonstratng that you can be nonunionized (which it is) and still pay decent wages and benefits.
Tell Fresh Market that Westport is still a Union town. Kudos to the folks at UFCW for continuing to promote area standards on behalf of the working people in Fairfield County.
We are? When did that happen (Westport a “union town")?
If qualified people are willing to work for the wages Fresh Market, or any other establishment, is offering and they are in excess of the statutory minimium wage, then by definition they are fair wages.
Yes, Jack, but the minimum wage fails to meet the requirements of a living wage. A living wage is not a lot for food workers to ask for.
Jonathan, if the “food workers” can’t live on minimum wage, then maybe the food workers should look elsewhere for a higher paying job! Once again, NO ONE is forcing them or anyone else to work there.
Who are you to define what a “living wage” is? By your logic, let’s make the minimum wage $50/Hour! Then for about 30 days your “food workers” would be living the good life, then reality would set in, and the cost of living would skyrocket and they’d be right back in the same situation. Just like what happens when the Gov’t increases the minimum wage every few years.
No full-time employee earning $9 an hour can afford to live in the northeast.
I do not believe that minimum wage jobs are intended to maintain a family. Their purpose should be to get a foothold in the job market, build employment skills (90% of life is showing up (on time)), and move up and on. Assistant Department Manager, Department Manager, Assistant Store Manager, Store Manager, Regional Manager . . . . VP of Operations.
“No full-time employee earning $9 an hour can afford to live in the northeast.”
Yet they do, unless they’re all driving in from the midwest each morning.
Tom and Philip have it right. The market determines the wage, and low-wage jobs have a legitimate purpose.
Jonathan
Maybe those full time workers making $9/Hour should find a higher paying jobs. It wasn’t too long ago, that working in a grocery store was something one did part-time to earn a few extra bucks, or what a high school student did to earn some spending cash. When did it turn into a career? If stocking shelves or running a cash register is the best a person can strive to be, then the fault isn’t with the store paying a “low wage” or “market wage”.
Why is it necessary to demean people working in certain occupations? It would be unwise to assume that everyone you see stocking shelves has been yearning for that occupation. Are you saying that if someone does not make a certain amount of money or have a certain title that that person is a slacker? So many people have lost their jobs in this still-difficult economic climate. The cuts include all categories. There is no shame attached to this. Any honest job should be worth considering. Doing one’s work well is a good thing in any economic climate. Doing one’s work at any job level with skill, initiative, dignity and good will also speaks to the character of a person.
Yes Elisabeth, that is EXACTLY what I said...go back and read my response again please. I was talking about a “career” choice, and if an individual should have to rely on a union to give them a better wage.
Yes, Tom, sixteen million Americans do indeed rely on a labor union for collective bargaining. It seems to me that the food workers union is simply trying to protect local workers against the unfair labor practices as seen in similar non-union establishments in Connecticut.
Thank you Jonathan for that little “factoid” I’m feeling so much better now.
Maybe I haven’t been clear enough?
NO ONE IS FORCING THE EMPLOYEES OF FRESH MARKET TO WORK THERE.
Please enlighten me...what “unfair labor practices as seen in other similar non-union establishments in Connecticut” are you referring to? But then again, that begs the same question, that, if the employees of this fictional establishment you are referring to, are being treated unfairly, then why are they working there? In the past, when I wasn’t happy with the company I was working for, I LEFT IT, and found a place to work I was happy at. I didn’t rely on the union to force a company to pay above market wages for the task at hand.
Regardless of Fresh Market’s decision to go non-Union, the workers of Connecticut will greatly benefit from Senate Bill 560. This bill, introduced by Senator Kennedy, shall allow workers to fairly vote on whether or not they want a union, without any threats indicating that they will lose their jobs for simply discussing the idea of joining the union. As the spokesperson for Fresh Market himself, said on this matter, the employees shall indeed choose!
With that, you can be confident that the employees will benefit from the hard work that the union is putting into their informational picket this week along the Post Road.
And Tom I’d be happy to recall a news story from a local establishment. When Stew Leonard’s fired their Head Baker, a long term full-time employee, because he needed some time off for a family matter, the employee had not the same support to fight his case that a union employee would have received.
It’s already illegal to interfere with union organizing activities. But the unions don’t seem to understand it goes both ways. Witness the boycott by SEIU of Whole Foods because they’ve been voted down there repeatedly.
Yes Jonathan, it’s more commonly know as “Card Check”. This little gem of legislation will do away with the private ballot, put gov’t in charge of private business decisions and ultimately drive business out of the country, thus putting more people out of work. Sounds great doesn’t it? Yep, that will sure benefit the workers of CT.
Regarding the story at Stew’s...why should Stew’s have to accommodate? The employee in question knew the time off policy. My guess is that the employee wasn’t performing to the job requirements. If the employee was valuable the store would have made accommodations, just like any other business would for a valuable employee.
And yes Jonathan the union is working so hard isn’t it? Standing doing nothing productive but harassing people going about their day.
The little gem of legislation is called “The Employee Free Choice Act”, which unlike the name implies, actually doesn’t give the employee freedom at all of a private vote, hence the card check.
Keep the government off our backs, and just let the free markets work. Is that asking too much? This is still America isn’t it? Freedom of choice, don’t want to work for non-union wages, don’t. Don’t want to support a non-union store, don’t, shop elsewhere.
Jonathan, don’t shop Fresh Market. And if you don’t mind, please give me a list of area markets that are union so that I may pass them by.
And I hope you have only union workers at your home, lawn care, child care, etc.
As for me, I’m going to hire the best person and reward them so that I may retain them. If they don’t find this agreeable then either party can terminate the agreement at will.
Understood, Tom, people are not completely informed from just driving by 30mph on the Post Road, without actually talking to the union representatives, but the people in this community have always been concerned about peoples’ rights.
The employees of Fresh Market shall indeed choose the future of the quality of their employment, and the people within our community shall also likewise decide whether or not it is prudent to pay Fresh Market prices knowing that such a business compensates their employees at a rate of half of local area standards.
But Mr. Damast, all the protesters at Fresh Market wanted to do was yell and intimidate. They created a hostile environment. It seemed like a mob mentality. Very heavy handed. Seems like they need to hit a college and go to Marketing 101.
NLRB oversees the requests for voting for unionization. If the FM workers decide not to embrace a union. Will the FM consumers be left alone at that point or with the protesters act like spoiled children and have tantrums until they get their way?
Its nice to see people working at a job rather than sucking are system dry.Isnt that better Jonathan.
Curious...does anyone know if the build-out of The Fresh Market store was performed by union labor?
Next entry: James H. Awad, 79
Previous entry: Fresh Market Opens in Former Shaw's Supermarket Space
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