FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Olympia
Food Co-op refuses grocery orders in support of striking Teamsters
Olympia, WA. (Olympia
Food Co-op) December 28, 2012: After months of labor violations by their
main supplier, the Olympia Food Co-op says “no more” to United Natural Foods
Inc. The Co-op has refused to place orders with UNFI for one week, in support
of striking Teamsters members.
“The
Olympia Food Co-op will cost UNFI more than $100,000 in sales over seven days
by refusing to order through them. We hope this sends a strong message to UNFI
that the integrity of our supply chain is important to us,” said Harry Levine,
a staff member at the Olympia Food Co-op. “UNFI must end labor violations and
return to good faith bargaining.”
The
Olympia Food Co-op’s week-long refusal to order from UNFI follows on the heels
of a similar action by Central Co-op in Seattle.
UNFI’s
unfair labor practices have drawn the attention of the International Labor
Rights Forum (ILRF). The National Labor
Relations Board is investigating UNFI’s actions. Most UNFI warehouses are not
unionized.
Warehouse
workers and drivers at UNFI’s Auburn warehouse have been without a contract
since late August, at which time UNFI began an aggressive campaign against
their workers. According to the ILRF’s report, UNFI fenced the warehouse and
hired armed guards; sent letters home to their employees threatening their job
security; flew in UNFI workers from other areas and housed them in local hotels
in case they were needed to break a strike; held a hiring fair for replacement
workers at the warehouse during working hours; ceased overtime for union
workers; and gave choice jobs and overtime assignments to non-union replacement
workers.
The
union held a two-day strike to protest these conditions earlier this month,
followed by an unconditional return to work. Although UNFI agreed to the return,
they then rescinded their offer and refused to allow the Teamsters back,
permanently replacing 72 union members. The union returned to the picket line
on Thursday, December 13th.
UNFI,
an important distributor for natural food cooperatives in the northwest, has angered
cooperatives by shorting deliveries to co-ops. Some cooperatives went without
grocery deliveries for a week or more because of UNFI’s decision to “de-prioritize”
their stores.
“Mispicks
have increased from about three per order to nearly twenty per order since they
began using replacement workers,” Virginia Lange, a buyer at the Olympia Food Co-op
said. “We’ve also received orders that were 30% smaller than we ordered. Their
refusal to settle with the union is as bad for their business as it is for ours.”
A
letter from the Olympia Food Co-op’s Board of Directors to UNFI, sent in
October, urged UNFI to quickly and amicably settle with their workers. “It is
in UNFI’s own interest to provide a safe, productive work environment with
competitive wages and benefits,” the letter noted. “As a business that posts a
regular profit in a growing sector, you have every reason to do so.”
According to Supermarket News, in
the first three quarters of 2012, UNFI's net income rose 11.2%, to $66.2 million, on a 15.5% increase in sales.
The
Teamsters note that UNFI’s Auburn workers receive 25% lower wages than similarly
employed workers in the same area, and that UNFI continues to insist on a
physically demanding production standard. For instance, warehouse pickers would
be required to “pick” 100 products (cases) per hour, with a less than 3% error
rate.
About the Olympia
Food Co-op: The
Olympia Food Co-op is a member-based, not-for-profit, natural foods grocery
store with two locations in Olympia, WA. The Olympia Food Co-op has provided
healthy, organic and local food to the Olympia area since 1977, with an
emphasis on promoting social and environmental responsibility. The stores are
collectively managed and largely volunteer-run.
Contact:
Jayne
Rossman, Outreach
Olympia
Food Co-op
outreach@olympiafood.coop
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