Price Rite Rally Held in Buffalo April 28, 2009

Unions, Community Groups Ask Price Rite to be Fair to Workers in Buffalo

Is Price Rite wrong for Buffalo? Thats the question rally attendees asked Wakefern owned Price Rite Supermarket at a rally on April 28, 2009 in front of the Price Rite on 250 Elmwood Ave in Buffalo. Price Rite does not want their employees to have a union, even though Wakefern owned Shop Rite stores are unionized in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Delaware.

The unionized stores have better wages, company paid health care, a pension plan, guaranteed hours, a union contract. Frank DeRiso, President of UFCW Local One said. Price Rite does not want their Buffalo employees to have a union, and they are fighting hard against it. They are also fighting hard against the Employee Free Choice Act that would give Price Rite employees, and other Western New York workers the right to form a union without company interference. DeRiso added.

Wakefern and Price Rite have been vocally opposed to the Employee Free Choice Act. The Act if signed into law would give employees an easier method to form a union, without their employer blocking the effort. Studies have shown that Employer involvement and anti-union programs can be very effective in scaring employees out of a union.




A study from Cornell University scholar Kate Bronfenbrenner found that: * In 25 percent of organizing campaigns, private-sector employers illegally fire workers because they want to form a union. * Half of employers threaten to shut down partially or totally if employees join together in a union. * Ninety-two percent of private-sector employers, when faced with employees who want to join together in a union, force employees to attend closed-door meetings to hear anti-union propaganda; 80 percent require supervisors to attend training sessions on attacking unions; and 78 percent require that supervisors deliver anti-union messages to workers they oversee. * Seventy-five percent hire outside consultants to run anti-union campaigns, often based on mass psychology and distorting the law.

Frank C. DeRiso
President, United Food and Commercial Workers, Local One
International Vice President UFCW International
Will speak about the Employee Free Choice Act and how Wakefern has discriminated against employees who spoke out in favor of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Joe Renzi
Organizing Director, United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 328
Will speak about the Unfair Labor Practice Charges Local 328 has filed against PriceRite for discriminating against workers.

Allison Duwe
Executive Director of Coalition for Economic Justice
Will speak on poverty wages in the Buffalo Area and how Price Rite isnt helping matters with their wage scale and benefits.

Rev. Deacon James Anderson
Network of Religious Community
Will speak about the moral obligation that all companies have to treat all of their employees equal. Since workers at Wakefern owned-Price Rite and Shop Rite work for the same company, the workers should be treated equally.


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UFCW District Union Local One represents 20,000 members, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing, poultry, healthcare and transportation industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens Americas middle class by fighting for health care reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. Locally Tops and Quality Markets employees are members of UFCW Local One.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT UFCW LOCAL ONE, CALL 1-800-NYS-UFCW

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• UFCW
• UFCW Local One
• Union at Price Rite
• PriceRite
• Price Rite
• Wakefern
• ShopRite
• Shop Rite
• Union Rally
• Buffalo Rally
• Western New York Unions
• Unions
• Union

[pat974316]

fuck you....unions are shit...

[UFCWLocalOne]

@pat974316

You are reaping many of the benefits that the labor movement fought for - the weekend.

You can rail against unions, but then you utilize all the benefits for which union labor fought for decades and decades, like you know, Labor Day, the weekend, the eight hour work day, the end of child labor, jobs with health insurance, stuff like that.

So swear about unions at the same time want to fire up your grill all weekend and USE the benefits the Labor Movement has reaped.

[namniekib]

Unions want weekly dues.Lots of employees,very little hours for each.

[UFCWLocalOne]

Or is it better pay, benefits and working conditions, because if it were true what you are saying, every employer would INVITE a union into their stores now would'nt they?

[Applefan4232]

@LilynetteZenco Is Price Rite really a bad place to work? I just got called in for an interview on Thursday @12:30 pm and I wanted to know. I assume it is because while on the phone, she said I am coming in @12:30 on Thursday, she just flat out told me I am coming in @ that time. She never even asked me what time is good for me to come in? So I really want to know if Price Rite is a bad store to work at?

[LilynetteZenco]

PRICE RITE is an awful place to work let me just leave it at that

[kshredder31]

FAIR WAGES ARE THE BOTTOM LINE. Without unions America will fall into tyranny as it is doing.All anti union people deserve death.

[namniekib]

The most qualified,studious,industrious worker should get the most pay and hours.If you adjusted your policies according to that fundamental truth,I wouldn't be commenting right now.

[lozgod]

What reason do you think the company doesn't want you to unionize? I will tell you. So they don't have to pay you more, give you better benefits, or a better retirement package. They want to pay you the least they can, give you the cheapest benefits they can get away with and same for your retirement. It amazes me people don't want to unionize. It benefits them in so many ways.