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Grex > Aaypsi > #32: What's up with picketters at Meijers? | |
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| Author |
Message |
pegasus
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What's up with picketters at Meijers?
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Jun 5 01:53 UTC 1994 |
What's with the Picketing at Meijer? Anyone know? The sign put up by the
store says the folks aren't Meijer employees, so what's it about?
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| 28 responses total. |
srw
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response 1 of 28:
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Jun 5 05:45 UTC 1994 |
An announcement appeared in the mail that the
United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 954 in Toledo
filed unfair labor practices charges against Meijer on behalf of a
member (Kelly King) who worked at Meijer's in Toledo. She claims that
"Meijer wanted to bully me and other workers into accepting an unfair
contract with substandard wages and minimum benefits."
She makes other accusations, too. I haven't seen Meijer's side of this story.
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robh
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response 2 of 28:
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Jun 6 01:08 UTC 1994 |
I work at Meijer, and all I know is, the picketing in Toledo
isn't working, so they're bringing it up here in the hopes that
Meijer will actually be affected somehow.
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pegasus
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response 3 of 28:
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Jun 6 18:17 UTC 1994 |
are the picketters picketting all Mejiers? Or just here cause it's close
to Toledo?
Pattie
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shf
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response 4 of 28:
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Jun 7 00:19 UTC 1994 |
The Taylor store now has pickets. Might as well spit in the wind.
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srw
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response 5 of 28:
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Jun 7 04:07 UTC 1994 |
I just went to the Meijer on Saline Road. They had signs up saying that
the picketers were not Meijer employees, and they apologized for the
inconvenience. There were, however, no picketers in sight.
Have they given up already? The store was mobbed.
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wjw
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response 6 of 28:
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Jun 8 18:43 UTC 1994 |
I dont' have any sympathy for the strikers at all considering first
of all that they are picketing a store that's not involved in their
dispute (it's not even the same union in Ohio if I understand correctly)
and, hey, if you don't like the grocery store you work for, get a
job at some other grocery store. It looks like an excuse to sit on their
butts for a while.
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katie
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response 7 of 28:
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Jun 8 20:20 UTC 1994 |
Meijer checkout people seem uniformly snotty these days; doesn't matter
which store I visit.
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kami
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response 8 of 28:
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Jun 9 01:02 UTC 1994 |
Mostly all seem pleasant enough to me, as usual, although not all are entirely
competent.
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pegasus
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response 9 of 28:
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Jun 9 15:08 UTC 1994 |
I've noticed the bagging skills of the cashiers has gone down dramatically
over the last year or so. Also, the waiting lines have increased, no
matter when I seem to go. In the middle of the day, in the evenings, it's
pretty much the same: all the lines are about 3 deep and backing up into
the aisle.
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roz
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response 10 of 28:
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Jun 11 13:26 UTC 1994 |
I (finally) saw pickets at the AA-Saline store and took a flyer from
them. Same story as told above; they're complaining about unfair
practices, etc. My guess is that they're targeting the AA employees
for solidarity purposes more than the customers. I always think carefully
about crossing a picket line, but if their fellow union members are
crossing it, they don't have a prayer of stopping me. I think they
should save their credibility for a rainy day.
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robh
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response 11 of 28:
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Jun 11 18:24 UTC 1994 |
To clarify some points:
Yes, the Ohio Meijer stores are in a different union.
They're picketing the Michigan Meijers in the hope that
Meijer will actually be affected. (The Toledo stores
made very little money to start with.)
The baggers are incompetent because we're so short on staff that
we'll hire anything that breathes. I expect to see chimpanzees
in uniforms sometime soon. They might be better than some of
the new people we're getting...
The picketers (who work for Kroger, the UAW, and various other
union places around here besides Meijer) aren't always out
there, no. Don't ask me why. I know they're never out there
when I got to work at 7 AM, and they're usually there when I
leave in the afternoon.
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srw
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response 12 of 28:
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Jun 11 19:28 UTC 1994 |
I also saw picketers this time, but I couldn't see any visible effect
upon traffic in the store at all.
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wjw
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response 13 of 28:
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Jun 13 23:48 UTC 1994 |
I just have to get in a comment re robh's remark that meijer cant
find help. I just can't see people complaining that there is no
work avaliable. Get a job at meijer's, while you look elsew{w3h{ere!
Work your way up the ladder to dept mgr or store mgr!
So what if it's low pay, it's a start.
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dc
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response 14 of 28:
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Jun 21 10:53 UTC 1994 |
Re #11 Are the Meijers around here hiring for part time or for
full time? I have experienced situations in which work
place management chooses to be short handed instead of
allowing more employees work full time, as they say it
costs too much.
Re #13 The part where people complain about the lack of work
did not show up on my screen. Can you tell me where that
is? Or, is this something that happens to you?
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arnie
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response 15 of 28:
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Jun 21 12:47 UTC 1994 |
I think Meijer is looking for both full time and part time work.
Maybe #13 is confusing attitudes. People often discuss what is
the primary focus of their life at their time,..kpojiophp
menue
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robh
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response 16 of 28:
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Jun 24 11:01 UTC 1994 |
Well put. >8)
At this point, Meijer is taking anybody warm and breathing for
howver many hours they want, as long as it's between 16 and 40.
And if you want more than 40, that can probably be arranged.
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pegasus
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response 17 of 28:
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Jun 25 00:34 UTC 1994 |
Rob,
What's the going rate of pay at Meijers?
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robh
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response 18 of 28:
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Jul 2 11:33 UTC 1994 |
No idea, I know they cut it dramatically shortly after I was
hired. (But my pay stayed at the same rate. >8)
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dc
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response 19 of 28:
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Jul 4 18:35 UTC 1994 |
According to the _Agenda_, The Toledo United Food and Commercial
Workers (Local 954) has been carrying out informational leaflet-
ting at the Meijer stores in Ann Arbor since early June. They
are asking that people boycott the Meijer stores in response to
management demands that workers in Toledo take a cut in benefits
and hours.
The local 954 has hired picketers to join them. The picketers
are paid because the Toledo union local is not large enough to
staff picket lines out of their area. The Ann Arbor Meijer workers
are by contract not allowed to join the picket lines.
This brings up a couple of questions.
If the Ann Arbor Meijer stores are so deperate for workers, why
aren't they bringing in the Toledo workers, who have transportation.
They could even arrange several on one shift and encourage car pooling.
It seems this would help resolve the Meijer stores need for labor
and the Toledo peoples need for food and shelter. With the
the Meijer management wouldn't feel the need to cut their benefits.
Why does this have to be such a problem?
(Last Question)
The Ann Arbor Meijer employees, are siting contract restraints
as their reason not to strike. Isn't it always illegal to strike?
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srw
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response 20 of 28:
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Jul 4 19:05 UTC 1994 |
Absolutely not. Laws interdict striking in certain industries, but
certainly not grocery and retail workers. The only law they would break
if they struck is the "breach of contract" law.
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roz
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response 21 of 28:
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Jul 5 01:20 UTC 1994 |
Steve is right. Public employees, such as police, firefighters
and teachers (!!) are forbidden by law to strike. It seems to me
that if the local Meijer employees chose to honor the picket line,
they could, the way many university faculty will refuse to cross an
AFSCME picket line, for example.
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robh
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response 22 of 28:
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Jul 6 12:55 UTC 1994 |
Re 19 - Good question, Dana. Goddess knows we'd hire them if they
wanted to work here.
But it's definitely not illegal for grocery/retail workers to
strike.
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pegasus
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response 23 of 28:
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Jul 6 15:40 UTC 1994 |
Bill (who's dad works for GM and is therefore a member of UAW) thinks
that it may be illegal for a union to hire people to picket. Anyone
know for sure?
Pattie
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srw
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response 24 of 28:
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Jul 6 17:02 UTC 1994 |
It's misleading as heck, but I wonder what law would make it illegal.
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