Monthly Archives: April 2016

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ordered the El Super grocery store chain to pay 549 current and former employees a total of $363,000 in back pay. The NLRB began mailing letters notifying affected employees of the forthcoming payouts late last week. The payouts are part of an agreement the company signed to settle unfair labor practice charges that the vacation rights of El Super workers, who are also members of the UFCW, were violated by the company.

“El Super UFCW members are about to see the benefit of working together with their union,” said UFCW Local 770 President Ricardo F. Icaza.

There are 319 current El Super employees due to receive back pay totaling $255,694.38, and 230 former employees are to receive $108,052.49.

In July 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted the NLRB’s petition for a preliminary injunction that prohibited Bodega Latina Corp., El Super’s parent company, from making unilateral changes to its vacation policy.

One month later, Bodega Latina agreed to settle unfair labor practice charges filed by the UFCW that claimed that the company’s unilateral changes to the vacation policy violated their federally protected labor rights. Under the terms of the settlement agreement with the U.S. Government, El Super agreed to restore the company’s vacation policy, and eliminate unilateral changes that required employees to work at El Super a year before they were eligible for annual leave benefits.

Fermin Rodriguez, an El Super cashier and member of the UFCW Local 770 negotiating committee, said, “This is a significant victory, but we are still fighting to win fair wages, a 40-hours guarantee for full-time workers, stronger seniority protections, adequate paid sick days, dignity and respect!”

Mr. Rodriguez was reinstated to his position at El Super #13 in South Los Angeles as a part of El Super’s agreement to settle charges that his termination in January 2015 violated his right to speak out in support of his union.

On Saturday, the hard-working men and women of Stop & Shop reached tentative agreements for a new contract with their employer in New England. The tentative agreements will cover 35,000 members of UFCW Locals 328, 371, 919, 1445 and 1459 if members ratify. The local unions will hold ratification votes next week.

The previous contracts expired in late February, and members have continued to work and serve their customers without a contract for 42 days. The negotiating committees and local union leadership have met with the company 57 times over the past three months to come to a fair deal.

The hard-working men and women of Stop & Shop have been joined in their fight for fair contracts by customers, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal, Edward J. Markey, Chris Murphy, and Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Treasurer and member of Stop & Shop’s founding family, Deb Goldberg, the combined 700,000 union members of the Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island State AFL-CIO Councils, and the 1.3 million members of the UFCW International Union.

The New England Council of the UFCW made the following statement after the tentative agreements were reached:

“Today’s agreements are the result of unity and solidarity from all of our members who work for Ahold and its banner grocery stores. Our goal was to work together, beat back the company’s concessionary demands and negotiate a better life for our incredible Stop & Shop members. Working together, we have reached a tentative agreement that all sides can agree is fair and equitable.

“Today’s agreement is also a measure of how our union family can work together to ensure that our members can earn a better life. If our members choose to accept this contract in the ratification process, this will be a victory not just for working people in New England, but for our communities and for all of the union families who came together to stand up for good jobs.

“While the negotiating process is always a challenge, and as we await our members’ ratification of the contract, we must thank the customers we serve, our communities, and our extended UFCW union family.

“By standing together, we have all made a difference in people’s lives, and that is something we can all be proud of.”