Date: Fri 06-Feb-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

business-union-Big-Y-boycott

Full Text:

Union Mail Campaign Urges Boycott Of Big Y

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

To protest Big Y Foods, Inc's, opposition to unionizing its supermarkets, the

United Food and Commercial Workers labor union has mailed thousands of

postcards to local residents urging that they not patronize the Big Y

supermarket.

Big Y is expected to open before the end of the month at Newtown Shopping

Center on Queen Street.

Locally, the workers at Grand Union and Super Stop & Shop are unionized and

represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) AFL-CIO, Local

371.

In the mailing, Local 371 asks that residents boycott Big Y and do their

shopping at Grand Union, Super Stop & Shop, and other supermarket chains whose

employees are represented by the union.

Brian Petronella, the secretary-treasurer of Local 371, said Tuesday, "We'd

like folks in Newtown... to shop in union stores."

The workers at Grand Union receive better fringe benefits than those provided

to workers at Big Y stores, he said. Big Y workers have to contribute toward

their fringe benefit plans while unionized workers do not, Mr Petronella said.

A union picket protest over Big Y's non-union stance may be staged on public

property near the new supermarket sometime after it opens, according to Mr

Petronella. Such a protest would involve the distribution of union leaflets,

he said.

Local 371 has an ongoing interest in unionizing the workers at Big Y, but that

firm's private ownership does not want unionization, he said.

Mr Petronella said Big Y workers do not have the job protections provided to

union workers under labor contracts. Mr Petronella alleged Big Y is

"arbitrary" in how it handles its workers.

Of all the large supermarket chains in the state, only Big Y and some Shop

Rite stores are not unionized, he said.

In past mailings in other areas by Local 371 protesting Big Y's non-union

stance, reactions from the public have been both positive and negative, Mr

Petronella said.

Local 371 and Big Y have been fighting over the unionization issue for 20

years, he said.

Big Y Response

Charles D'Amour, Big Y's chief operating officer, said allegations made by

Local 371 about the supermarket are "nothing new."

Claire D'Amour, Big Y's vice president for corporate relations, said Big Y

employees voted about ten years ago to decertify from the union.

People who work in supermarkets have the choice of working in either unionized

or non-unionized stores, she said, noting that people have a choice of the

company for which to work.

"We don't have any problem with getting people to work for us," Charles

D'Amour said.

People who formerly worked at unionized supermarkets have come to work for Big

Y, he said.

Big Y Foods, Inc, prefers to deal with its employees directly, instead of

through a labor union, Ms D'Amour said. Of the union's negative comments about

Big Y, Ms D'Amour said, "They're just inflammatory."

Big Y will leave it up to its employees to decide where to work, Charles

D'Amour said.

If Big Y is such a bad place to work, how can the company continue to open new

supermarkets and staff them, Ms D'Amour asked. The company operates several

dozen supermarkets in Connecticut and western Massachusetts. It has expanded

rapidly in the past several years.

The firm is continuing to hire workers for its Newtown store and will continue

to do so after it opens for business later this month, Ms D'Amour said. No

definite opening date has yet been set, she said.

The construction of Big Y by The Kasper Group is the main element of the

redevelopment of Newtown Shopping Center. The Big Y is almost six times the

size of the A&P Supermarket that was formerly in business at the center. The

former A&P building is being converted into a CVS store.