Monday Mornin' One Liners: Nov 4 - Nov 7th: Burkle to Chair A&P

#A&P

Ron Burkle will chair A&P under the new buyout plan.

The proposed new board of directors would also include two designees each from Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Mount Kellett Capital Management; one director selected by the United Food and Commercial Workers union; and A&P’s chief executive officer, Sam Martin. The former two companies are combining with Yucaipa on a $490 million deal to buy A&P out of U.S. Bankruptcy Court and operate it as a privately held company, as reported first in SN Thursday. The plan is predicated upon savings as a result of a new labor deal with the UFCW, which has yet to be reached.
Read more: http://supermarketnews.com/retail_financial/burkle_ap_1104/?cid=upd#ixzz1d1mrohwR

The Bergen Record: A&P Deal Called Positive for Unions, Business.

Wall Street Journal: Yucaipa keeps A&P in its Grocery Basket.

More @ Reuters, Progressive Grocer.

The Westbury Times profiles a Local 338 member working at Waldbaum's and how the A&P bankruptcy is affecting workers.

Patch highlights how A&P's negotiations have been affecting local workers in Long Island.

#Industry
Best Yet will take over for a shuttered Waldbaum's in Patchogue, Long Island.

The National Labor Relations Board accuses Target of intimidating workers at Valley Stream before their union vote this past June.

There's a Thanksgiving Food Drive at Dix Hills Stop & Shop.

King Kullen opened a new store Friday in Garden City, Long Island.

Rumors of a new "high-end" supermarket could be opening in Southampton.

30 workers at Master Food in Flatbush have been overworked and underpaid, Local 338 helped them win back wages and a union contract!

Workers at a Flatbush supermarket who charged they were illegally stiffed on their wages for years settled a lawsuit for $300,000 - and a union contract.

The 30 workers at Master Food on Church Ave. charged they worked 12 hour days, six or seven days a week, for as little as $3.93 an hour, and never got required overtime pay. Read more: @ Daily News

#Politics

Prioritizing attacks on NLRB at the expense of Jobs:
 According to a new report from American Rights at Work in 2011 alone Republicans have launched nearly 50 attacks on the National Labor Relations Board. 

The AFL-CIO says it right: "The assaults on workers’ rights comes at a time when most Americans say jobs are the nation’s No. 1 priority."

Check out the report along with some interesting graphics here.

  

AFL-CIO Blog: For the third time in a month, senate repbulicans kill "Rebuild America Act," an act which would create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

The AFL-CIO Blog also lists Verizon and 29 other very large corporations who haven't paid taxes since 2007.

Unions supply food for thousands of Occupy Oakland protesters.

UFCW Blog: 80,000 Jobs aren't enough to re-start our economy.

Nov. 4: Week's End News

SN: A&P Agrees to Deal to Emerge from Bankruptcy

A&P Receives $490 Million Commitment to Sponsor Plan of Reorganization:
Agreement with The Yucaipa Companies, Mount Kellett and Investment Funds Managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management Positions A&P to Exit Chapter 11 as a Private Company in Early 2012Here's A&P's Press Release.

Since the announcement, the UFCW A&P Negotiating team has released two statements, the first here and second here.

Workers at Bob's Discount Furniture Stores continue to organize throughout the Northeast.

The landlord of a Pathmark in Lackawanna is telling Pathmark, "shape up, or ship out!" Blaming A&P's old un-renovated Pathmark for the shopping center's demise.

Southhampton Village has drafted a new law altering zoning regulations for supermarkets, in order to allow King Kullen to build a new store.

Fresh & Easy debuts an express store format.

Nov. 4th: Update to all UFCW/RWDSU Members Working at A&P or Subsidiary Company

The following message is from the UFCW/RWDSU A&P Negotiating Team

November 4, 2011

Attention all UFCW/RWDSU Members Working at A&P or Subsidiary Company:

A&P has filed a motion in the Bankruptcy Court asking approval to enter into agreements with Yucaipa and certain note holders. Those agreements would form the basis of a plan of reorganization and an investment in A&P of $490 million by Yucaipa and those note holders. This investment is conditioned on obtaining concessionary labor agreements on a very fast time frame. The Motion is scheduled to be heard by the Bankruptcy Court on November 14, 2011.

The UFCW and UFCW Local Unions will be meeting on Monday, November 7, 2011, with Ron Burkle of Yucaipa, one of the investors in this proposed transaction. We are pleased, given his past experience in the grocery business, that he will be involved in this proposed transaction. The Monday meeting will review these investment proposals and the path forward to try to reach new labor agreements.

We will further communicate with you following the meeting with Ron Burkle and advise you of our progress.

In Solidarity,

UFCW A&P Negotiating Committee


Download the printable format below: 

Nov. 3, 2011: Statement from UFCW/RWDSU Negotiating Committee on A&P

The following is a statement is from the UFCW/RWDSU A&P Negotiating Committee:

Attention all UFCW/RWDSU Members Working at A&P or Subsidiary Company:

This morning, A&P announced in their stores to members that it reached an agreement with financial institutions to bring the company out of bankruptcy in early 2012 as a private company and begin the turnaround process.

While this is generally good news, there are details relative to the management direction of the company still being reviewed. Negotiations with the UFCW and the RWDSU Council for new labor agreements are still not concluded. It is very important to realize that the financial arrangement to bring the company out of bankruptcy is contingent upon labor agreements that are modified from their present form. Our labor agreements will be different than those we are presently working under.

On Tuesday, the UFCW bargaining committee reviewed Yucaipa’s proposal to finance an effort to emerge from chapter 11. We will continue to review announcements from Yucaipa and A&P as they will affect our future contract.

We are still reviewing the details of today’s announcement by A&P. We will examine closely whether or not it meets the objectives of the bargaining committee of local unions.

It is important for UFCW and RWDSU members to remain unified and in contact with their local union representatives with any questions that you may have regarding the discussions between the UFCW and A&P representatives.

In Solidarity,

UFCW A&P Negotiating Committee


Download the print version below:

UFCW OnPoint: Volume 12, Issue 6

Check out the latest edition of OnPoint from the International!