Update on Pathmark Bankruptcy Developments

 

 

A ruling on severance for the remaining stores has still not been officially made by the bankruptcy judge. However, we have the following written confirmation from Chris McGarry, Chief Administrative Officer of A&P:
 

1. A & P will pay severance to all laid-off employees unless he or she is offered an equivalent position with substantially similar terms;

2. A & P will pay severance to all employees facing layoff who are currently out on disability or workers' comp.;

We are still working each day to guarantee the same level of severance pay for all Pathmark members affected by store closures and trying to find more buyers for the unpurchased Pathmark stores. We are also meeting with our Union employers every day in an effort to get our members interviews and permanent job opportunities in their existing stores to keep as many of you working as we can.  Please review the chart below for a full updated list of our Pathmark stores.

For the members of Pathmark’s 623 and 663, we have confirmed that your severance will be paid within 30 days of the October 18th closing date.  Severance will be paid out in a lump sum payment. If you have any questions about your level of severance please contact your respective Union Representative: Pathmark # 663: Joe Waddy 516-214-1349, jwaddy@ufcw1500.org. Pathmark # 623: Joe Castelli, 516-214-1360, jcastelli@ufcw1500.org. 

 

 

Resource Fairs:

 

The next Resource Fair is in NYC on Friday, October 23rd. The Fair is 9:30 am - 6 pm at RWDSU: 370 7th Avenue, New York, NY. 

 

For more information you can visit www.ufcwmemberresources.com.

 

Please do not hesitate to contact us for any questions, concerns or issues.

Light the Night Walk

On Saturday, October 17th, join us and walk in the Leukemia Lymphoma Society's Light the Night Walk. 

This year is extra special, we'll be walking in honor of our former President Frank Meehan, who passed earlier this year to Leukemia.

The walk kicks off at our Union Headquarters (425 Merrick Ave. Westbury, NY) at 4:30 PM. We'll have food and you can pick up your team shirt before heading over to Eisenhower Park at 6 pm.

All walkers will receive a t-shirt (pictured on the left) which honors Frank Meehan and his tireless fight to end cancer.

If you cannot attend the walk at Eisenhower Park, you can find a walk near you at lightthenight.org.

  

 You can also join our team or make a donation to our team here.

Upcoming Resource Fairs for A&P Workers

Reminder: Tomorrow is the Suffolk County Resource Fair for UFCW/RWDSU members being displaced due to the A&P bankruptcy.

The Department of Labor will be conducting trainings and workshops on resume writing, job search assistance, unemployment benefits, transferable skills and much more.  Potential employers will also be at the Fair conducting interviews.

Upcoming Fairs:

• Thursday, October 15, 2015 - 9:30 AM - 6:00 PM - IBEW Local 25 - 370 Motor Parkway, Hauppauge, NY 11788.
   
• NYC: October 23rd @ RWDSU: 9:30 AM - 6 PM

More on Resource Fairs: At our last Resource Fair in Nassau County over 100 members interviewed for new jobs and participated in the NY Department of Labor trainings on resume writing, transferable skills and more.

The New York City date has been booked and will be October 23rd at RWDSU. Please RSVP here.

Continue to visit www.ufcwmemberresources.com for more information.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for any questions, concerns or issues and visit our Pathmark Update page for all archived updates.

 

UFCW/RWDSU LETTER TO MEMBERS ABOUT A&P STORES AUCTION ENDING

To our members who work at A&P,

We understand that the A&P stores auction has been an uncertain and stressful period for all of you and your families. Please know that you are not facing this tough time alone. The UFCW International, RWDSU, and your Local Union are completely committed to helping you and your families in every way we can.

As of today, the A&P stores has auction concluded with a number of stores not being sold. We do not know if any further auctions or sales will occur and we are extremely disappointed to say that these unsold stores will most likely close within the coming weeks.

Local Union Representatives will be reaching out to members in affected stores and staff at our offices will be readily available to address any questions or concerns. Please know that our primary focus going forward will be helping you and your family move forward into better jobs and lives.

For stores that were sold, we are actively seeking opportunities to negotiate with new owners so that we can quickly secure jobs and peace of mind for those members and their families, but not all buyers have agreed to meet.

We realize how frustrating and confusing this process can be and have launched a website, www.ufcwmemberresources.com, which will give you quick access to information about resource fairs, resume writing, and other critical services that may be available to you.

To help you and your family, we encourage everyone to attend a local resource fair if they can. A schedule of these fairs can be found at www.ufcwmemberesources.com. Your Union Representative should also have details.

These resource fairs are designed to help you with resume writing, job applications, job search, health care information and obtaining new skills. They also provide attendees with in-depth information about how to sign up for programs that are designed to help them and their families.

To help members find new jobs, we have arranged for local union grocery stores to participate in these events so that they may conduct interviews and accept applications from attendees for job openings that they may have now or in the future.

We know that this is an incredibly difficult time for you and your family. We are here to help. We are a union family and we will stand together to get through this.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your Union Representative or your Local Union.

Final A&P Auction Update

Today was the final day for the public auctions of the remaining A&P stores.  Only 15 stores were auctioned today, 14 were purchased and one was adjourned. Three stores represented by Local 1500 were auctioned and purchased today:  Pathmark 603 was bought by Foodtown. Pathmark 634 (previously reported as purchased by Bogopa Food Bazaar) was out-bid today and bought by a Real Estate Firm called Lee & Associates. Pathmark 611 was unfortunately purchased by Best Yet Markets. All auctioned stores, including the stores auctioned last week, are scheduled to be reviewed and finalized in bankruptcy court on Friday October 16th.

All remaining stores that have yet to be auctioned or those that have been adjourned are still available for sale to any buyer that contacts A&P or their real estate representatives before October 16th.  A&P & its bankruptcy representatives have the exclusive right to open up the bidding for any store or group of stores at any time in the future in an effort to sell them before they close. 

 

We are still contacting and meeting with Union employers every day in an effort to find buyers for our remaining stores and keep as many of you working as we can.  Please review the chart below for a full updated list of our Pathmark stores.

For the members of Pathmark’s 623 and 663, we have confirmed that your severance will be paid within 30 days of the October 18th closing date.  Severance will be paid out in a lump sum payment. If you have any questions about your level of severance please contact your respective Union Representative: Pathmark # 663: Joe Waddy 516-214-1349, jwaddy@ufcw1500.org. Pathmark # 623: Joe Castelli, 516-214-1360, jcastelli@ufcw1500.org. 

 

For members in the balance of the stores that go unsold during the auction process, the judge hasn’t formally ruled on your level of severance yet, but we expect that decision to be made some time on or after October 16th.  All of the UFCW Local Unions and our bankruptcy professionals have been pushing the court aggressively to ensure that all members negatively impacted by this process get the same level of severance, regardless of when a store closes.  Please do not hesitate to reach out to your Union Representative with any questions you may have.

 

Resource Fairs:   This week we held our Nassau Resource Fair at our Union Office. Over 100 members attended and met with the Department of Labor, received resume writing tips and were interviewed by perspective employers. The next resource fair is Thursday, October 15th in Suffolk County at IBEW Local 25 in Hauppauge, RSVP here.  We strongly encourage all members to attend the Resource Fairs.   There will also be a Fair in New York City.  The New York City date is still tentative, once it is confirmed we will let you know. In the meantime you can visit www.ufcwmemberresources.com for more information.   Please do not hesitate to contact us for any questions, concerns or issues.

 

 

Thank you,

Bruce W. Both

President

UFCW Local 1500

 

 

For all archived Pathmark updates, visit: www.ufcw1500.org/pathmarkupdates

 

 

 

 

—IMPORTANT A&P BANKRUPTCY DATES —

Friday, September 11th The Bankruptcy Court will hear UFCW's objections to A&P’s KERP (corporate bonus plan).

Monday, September 28th (tentative) Bid Deadline: All qualifying bids on the stores are due into the Bankruptcy Court. The Bankruptcy Court will announce what Tier I stores have agreements to be sold and what stores will be sold at the auction on 10/1 & 10/2.

Thursday, October 1st and/or Friday, October 2nd The auction for the remaining unsold and or closed stores will be held (depending on number of stores, dates could extend).

Friday, October 2nd (tentative) Bidders can file objections to the sale of stores in the Bankruptcy Court. The UFCW can also file objections to bids made on the stores.

Friday, October 16th A hearing will be held regarding the objections to the sales filed to the Bankruptcy Court. At this stage, the UFCW will have a voice during the auction process to make recommendations on bidders. For instance, if two companies place a comparable bid on the same store and one is a union employer, while the other is non-union, the unionized store would have an advantage and they should likely win the bid.   A hearing will be held on A&P's filing of a 1113(c).   Bid winners will be formally announced.

—UPCOMING UNION EVENTS —

Resource Fairs: You may have read that we will be hosting workshops and resource fairs for members displaced by the A&P bankruptcy in our September Newspaper.

 

There will be two other fairs in our area, one in Suffolk County on October 15th at IBEW Local 25 in Hauppauge, RSVP here. There will also be a Fair in New York City.  The New York City date is still tentative, once it is confirmed we will let you know. In the meantime you can visit www.ufcwmemberresources.com for more information.

 

Please do not hesitate to contact us for any questions, concerns or issues