Union Files Grievance Against Haggen, Albertsons and Vons

In a statement released to the press Monday, the United Food & Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 770 announced that it has filed a formal grievance against Haggen, Albertsons and Vons for illegally laying off and reducing workers.

The UFCW Local 770 also says that the three grocers failed to fully inform workers about job protections, and failed to adhere to legally binding protections negotiated by their union.

“We will not stand idly by as management tries to pull the wool over their employees’ eyes,” said Rick Icaza, president of UFCW Local 770. “These companies have misled and mistreated their employees either through gross self-interest or gross incompetence, either of which is unacceptable. Real people are suffering loss of wages, health care, seniority, and outright loss of their jobs. We will do everything in our power to hold management accountable and return our members to their jobs with full benefits intact.”

“The charges, detailed in official complaints called grievances, cite Haggen, Albertsons, and Vons illegitimate dismissal of senior workers, disabled workers, and prior plans to close a large number of stores shortly after Haggen’s acquisition of nearly 150 Albertson’s locations,” says the statement.

Commenting on the 146 stores Haggen acquired and the planned closure of some of those stores, the statement further states: “The union believes Haggen planned all along to shut and sell those stores, thus deceiving their employees and depriving them of their livelihood.”

The official grievance states:

The Company violated the collective bargaining agreement and deprived bargaining unit members of their rights under the contract in the way it handled and implemented the sale of Albertsons and Vons stores to Haggen.

These violations caused each affected employee to lose all their contractual rights, including but not limited to, seniority, wages and benefits they enjoyed at Albertsons.

We have reached out to Haggen, Albertsons and Vons for comment. Albertsons/Vons/Pavilions Spokesperson Carlos Illingworth issued the following statement:

“We have not seen the details of the grievance. Our reaction is that the union’s media statements about Albertsons and Vons, that we have reviewed thus far, are completely without merit.”

Haggen also responded to the allegations and issued the following statement:

“Haggen has great respect for the labor unions’ role in supporting our associates. We care about the people who work for Haggen and are disappointed that factors beyond our control have led to layoffs and closures in some of the new communities where we had expected our stores to thrive. The assertion that “Haggen planned all along to shut and sell those stores,” as alleged in by the union in its grievance, is completely and unequivocally false. Throughout this process, Haggen has abided by the terms of the union contracts and is continuing to do everything it can to ensure the success of all of our stores and employees.”