My work hours were cut in half at the beginning of the year [View all]

[bigtree]

MY company is profiting pretty handily though. My union, UFCW Local27, is keeping tabs on the company with a new website (http://occupygiantandsafeway.org/) as we inch toward the expiration of our contract and the hopeful expectations (and demands) for a new one. Here's their take on the state of the company I've worked at for 29 years, Giant Food:


Jan 19 2012

A fair contract shouldn’t be a thing of the past at Giant

Giant Ahold has a pretty interesting timeline under their Company History section of their website. Have you seen it?

If not, take a look: http://www.giantfood.com/about_us/company/company_history.htm

Various landmarks are noted on this journey through time–as they should be because they are major accomplishments for any company. One example that we found was that in 2002 Giant reached $5 billion in sales. This is an amazing feat and something that makes us very proud! Sadly, we discovered that we weren’t mentioned anywhere on this timeline. In fact, during the last 30 years worth of Giant’s various highlights, we have taken concessions to ensure that the company remains profitable. We’ve sacrificed in a major way but we’re still being left out of the big picture.

We’re facing cuts in our work hours with less full time employment available in the stores. Many of us are working multiple jobs to support our families. The company is clearly profiting yet our store managers tell us that they might not be able to make payroll in the stores for the week. We aren’t complaining about hard work–we just think a fair contract that alleviates the stress we’re under is long overdue. Our fellow union members with 25 years of service or more at Giant regularly tell us that it hasn’t always been this way.

We’ve been there all along. It’s our hard work that has secured the company’s success. It’s our world-class customer service that keeps our customers coming back.

Remember us this negotiation…we haven’t forgotten and neither will our customers.

read: http://occupygiantandsafeway.org/2012/01/19/a-fair-contract-shouldnt-be-a-thing-of-the-past-at-giant/


Giant remains profitable in a down economy

Giant/Ahold workers in Maryland, DC and Northern Virginia are just now learning exactly how important they are to their company, which is headquartered in the Netherlands. Defying world-wide economic problems, their Dutch-owned company continues to boom, thanks to sales and profits generated by its U.S. holdings, which include Giant. Last year in its annual report, Ahold USA reported 29.5 billion euros in sales for 2010. Its three grocery chains in the U.S. accounted for nearly two-thirds of that volume. Royal Ahold International bought Giant Food in 1998. Since then its U.S. operations have been generating half the firms volume and profits.

read: http://occupygiantandsafeway.org/2012/01/17/giant-remains-profitable-in-a-down-economy/


Thanks for reading . . .