In particular, Herkert pushed a business model that included expansion of the non-union, primarily franchise-owned Save-A-Lot stores.  This banner is made up entirely of stores that sell discounted food and products, something that Herkert placed all of energy into in the hopes that this division would be the most profitable during the economic recession.  As it turns out, our banner, Shoppers Food and Pharmacy, is quite successful considering the competition in the area.

We’ve talked about this before on the blog but we are still number 3 in the DC Metro area, following behind Giant and Safeway.  Keep in mind that we don’t operate any stores in the District of Columbia and that bolsters our numbers even more.

We aren’t quite sure what’s in our future related to the potential sale that Supervalu is considering.  We’ll be waiting for word from the local union about this as soon as they receive information from our employer.  In the meantime, don’t believe the rumors going around and leave nothing up to speculation.  It’s clear our company is in turmoil but amidst all of this we still managed to secure a strong and fair contract.  We’ll get through this just like we have in the past–together.  Let’s remind Supervalu and our customers what solidarity looks like!

You can also find us on Twitter @Local400ACT and you can check out what’s going on at Giant and Safeway at http://occupygiantandsafeway.org and Occupy Giant and Safeway on Facebook.

With a unanimous vote of Local 400 members at Shoppers, we were able to secure a contract that secures some gains for us.  It’s an amazing victory considering the anti-worker behavior that was illustrated by management at the bargaining table.  Local 400 leadership recognized all of us at the meeting today and attributed our hard work to the delivery of this contract.

It the hard work of our Shoppers Advisory Committee members and other ACT!ivists like us that brought this contract home.  We also believe that the over 600 members that attended the contract meeting did so as a result of our worker-to-worker campaign.  We’d like to thank our fellow union members for their engagement, particularly those at Giant and Safeway that helped keep the pressure on our employer to do the right thing.  We also can’t forget our customers that contacted store management repeatedly to pledge their support and demand that the harassment against us stop.

Please see the press release from the Local union for more information and contact your Local 400 Staff Representative with any questions.

This is a two year agreement which will expire in July of 2014 so our work doesn’t end here.  Please join us so that we can continue to keep our fight for our rights alive.  We’ll see you back on the shop floor, where we’ve proven that real power exists!

Each of us is allowed to attend and the company has to let us off of work to do so.  It is their decision to keep the stores open during the contract meeting so it is management’s responsibility to ensure that customers are served while we are gone.  

Please do not miss this opportunity to have a direct say on your working conditions.  It will take all of us to raise our voices and stand united at the contract meeting to send a clear message to Shoppers that we will not be divided.

This has been a VERY difficult negotiation and we must all stand together.

Registration begins at 8:00 AM, Meeting begins at 9:00 AM

Martin’s Crosswinds

7400 Greenway Center Drive

Greenbelt MD 20770 

Please contact UFCW Local 400 if you have any questions regarding this process.  Entrance cards were mailed some time ago to all Local 400 members at Shoppers to your address on file.  Please be sure to bring these with you for quick admission.

We’ll see you on July 12 at 8:00 AM!

Please do not rely on the word of the company as it pertains to these negotiations.  Your Local 400 staff representatives remain your primary source of information so please check with them for any questions that you might have.  You may reach Local 400 staff at 1-800-638-0800.  We hope to have more details soon about the contract meeting to share with you regarding exactly what we will be doing on that day.  In the meantime, please stay engaged on the shop floor and in your communities.  Our work doesn’t end until we have a ratified agreement!

Please visit your local Shoppers, even if you are not a customer, and tell store management that you demand that they cease their intimidating actions against the workers on the shop floor.  We need your help because it has become clear that Shoppers focus is not about taking care of their employees and customers.  They are doing everything that they can to ensure that the company survives at whatever cost–even if it’s on our backs.

Please spread the word and join us!

We’re calling on you NOW to stop your threats, your retaliation, your intimidation, and to just negotiate an agreement that is fair and just.  It’s a simple request and it’s the least you can do after all of the hard work that we’ve done for you over the years.

You’re trying to break up our Shoppers family and no one likes a home-wrecker.

Management may believe that this negotiation is like a game of chess, scrabble, poker, etc. but rest assured it is by no means a game. We depend on our pay and benefits to take care of our families. We count on the fact that our customers continue to come back to see us when they do their weekly grocery shopping. We recognize that despite Supervalu’s financial blunders in the past, they are on track to bring their numbers back into the black.

Let us remind you–this is not a game, this is our lives. We hope that our company management team is reading this and they reconsider when they decide to retaliate on us for standing up for our customers and our stores. We take this very seriously…and we hope you will start to do so as well.

There’s only a few more days until July 7 and we are far away from reaching an agreement. Shoppers: The timer is running out and it’s time to bargain in good faith.

Over the last week, we’ve received word that several of our fellow members of our advisory committee have been given words of warning from store management that violate our legal protections under the National Labor Relations Act.  We’ve been told in some cases that we can’t talk to customers at all and that our negotiations are an “internal” matter.  This is completely inaccurate.  What happens as part of this negotiation can and will impact our customers.  Some of us have even been approached by management when we are off the clock, shopping as customers ourselves.

In response to these illegal tactics, UFCW Local 400 advised us that they have filed labor charges against Shoppers management.  Our Local is standing firm that we are within our rights and that our employer is attempting to have a chilling effect on the activism that we’ve been engaging in as part of our fight for a contract in 2012.

We will continue to stay active and engaged. We know our rights, even if our employer pretends as though they don’t.  We think it’s very sad that our employer has resulted to tactics like this, especially since we work hard each and every day to keep them profitable.  We also think that it’s a real shame that the company bargaining team doesn’t seem to understand what a crippling effect the cuts that they’re proposing to our benefits, wages, and working conditions could have on our families and lives.

We urge you to please contact corporate customer service at 1-855-746-7737 and demand that management cease their retaliatory behavior.  We deserve to be treated with dignity and since we have the opportunity to work in a union shop then we have every right to have a say in our working conditions.  Please make a call daily to let them know that you support us!  

We’ll keep you updated as further developments occur.