Labor pains on Lynnway

LYNN – Intermittent rain and splashes from passing automobiles didn’t deter a group of PriceRite employees from carrying protest signs outside the Lynnway supermarket to denounce the company’s resistance to unionization.”This is the Fourth of July and workers are rallying to ask PriceRite to live up to American values,” said protest spokesman Jim Carvalho, a member of Local 1445 of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). “Grocery workers, union members and staff are asking customers to help send a message to PriceRite: Let workers have the freedom to choose a union.”The protest outside the store at 396 Lynnway was held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Employees and supporters walked the property perimeter and waved signs at the entrances to the parking lot.”PriceRite calls itself an American company and says they and their parent, Wakefern, have a commitment to the community, but many PriceRite workers are given only part-time hours, without the job security that’s so important in these tough economic times,” said Carvalho. “They want to improve their jobs, but PriceRite won’t allow workers the freedom to choose a union without company interference. In fact, workers at PriceRite stores say they’ve been harassed and even threatened when they tried to form a union.”Kathy Freedman, human resources manager for PriceRite, said employees in Lynn have made no demands related to unionization. “Our employees repeatedly have told the union they are not interested, so this rally is really the union trying to gain public support and awareness,” she said.According to Freedman, none of the PriceRite stores have union members among their employees. “Our company is a non-union company,” she said. “And we’re proud of our growth. We opened the Lynn store fairly recently and a number of stores since, all while our competitors are closing or laying off people. We’re also proud of what we can offer in terms of value to our communities in these tough times.”Freedman said PriceRite promotes from within the company, providing security and job opportunity.”If a store’s employees were to elect to join a union, then the company would sit down to discuss a contract,” she said. “But our employees are not being intimidated to join one.”Jeffrey Bollen, secretary and treasurer of UFCW Local 1445,said the informational picket was held in Lynn because workers at the store have expressed keen interest in joining the union. “They’ve indicated they would like to join our union and the company is taking steps to prevent them from doing that and interfering with their rights,” he said. “We have some unfair labor practice charges at one of the other stores filed with the National Labor Relations Board where the employees are being harassed and threatened for attempting to join us.”As a business strategy to keep prices down, PriceRite stocks a limited selection of brand-name grocery products. There’s no butcher shop or meat room. Customers shop out of the box and pack their own groceries at checkout. The store does not provide bags but plastic sacks can be purchased on site for 10 cents. Personal checks are not accepted.The Lynn supermarket opened in spring 2007, becoming PriceRite’s 31st store.The Connecticut-based company now has 49 stores in the chain in Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.