Business

Bashas' must deal with union at 9 sites

Grocer used unfair labor practices, an administrative law judge rules

By Becky Pallack

Arizona Daily Star

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.17.2007

Bashas' Inc. must bargain with a union that represents workers at nine of the company's 160 stores, an administrative law judge has ruled.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 99 originally charged a year ago that the grocery chain violated federal labor law when it didn't negotiate with the union before it changed a companywide health plan. The judge threw out that allegation, saying the union missed a filing deadline for the charge. Two more charges also were dismissed, but three charges stuck.

William G. Kocol, a National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge, ruled that the company engaged in unfair labor practices when it withdrew recognition of the union as the workers' bargaining representative and didn't give the union notice and an opportunity to bargain about the effects on employees before it closed two stores and installed self-checkout stations.

One of the two stores in question, at 13005 N. Oracle Road in Oro Valley, was closed in December and reopened as Ike's Farmers' Market in May.

The union contract — covering workers at that store, a Food City at 3923 N. Flowing Wells Road in Tucson and seven other stores statewide acquired by Bashas' with existing union representation — expired in 1994. No contract has ever been agreed upon, and the health-plan issue stalemated talks in 2002.

Employees at Bashas' other stores are not represented by unions.

"This is a huge victory for Bashas' Inc. workers in those nine stores" because the judge ordered the company to go to the bargaining table, union spokeswoman Katy Giglio said.

"We've made it perfectly clear that we always prefer good-faith negotiation," Giglio said. "They have made no attempt to accept that invitation and sit down with us."

The judge also ordered Bashas' to pay employees back wages for the money they would have earned in the stores that closed and to stop using the self-checkout machines until bargaining resumes.

Giglio said she didn't know how much the company will have to pay workers or how many are affected.

Larry Katz, an attorney for Bashas', said it's "not a significant amount."

The company didn't think it was obligated to bargain with the union because union officials stopped coming to the stores, collecting members' dues and representing workers' grievances, Katz said. The union never objected to changes being made at the stores until the health plan was changed last year, he said.

The company will acknowledge its obligation to meet with the union, but "whether an agreement is reached remains to be seen," Katz said. "The union can't force us to do what they want."

Additionally, there is little employee support for the union, he said.

Giglio said she doesn't know what worker support the union has because recruiters haven't been able to talk to some employees about their right to unionize.

A complaint about the lack of access to workers and another about some workers not receiving a 25-cent-per-hour wage increase are pending trial in November. Katz said the company is ready to give the workers a raise as soon as talks resume.

For more news about workplace issues, go to www.AzStarBiz.com.

● Contact reporter Becky Pallack at 573-4224 or at bpallack@azstarnet.com.

6 Comments on this story