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Social responsibility Sainsbury's style:
British retailer has top US labour leaders arrested when they tried to talk to workers

The arrogance of British multinational Sainsbury's in dealing with Massachusetts supermarket workers has sparked a battle that is putting national labor movement leaders on the front lines of direct confrontation at Shaw's stores in the Worcester area.

The president of UNI Commerce affiliate UFCW, Doug Dority, and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney were arrested while trying to communicate with Shaw's employees about their right to representation and their rights to the terms under their union contract. Sweeney and Dority were visiting workers at a Shaw's store in the Worcester area who have been denied union representation by their company.

Despite the fact that the workers' union, UFCW, is the legal representative of the workers, the company has repeatedly denied workers access to their union representatives.

Labour movement ready to confront Sainsbury's

"The labor movement and its national leaders are ready to confront the foreign owners of Shaw's to protect the American right to have a voice at work. And we're ready to go to jail for the rights of workers. The right to a voice at work is the 21st century civil rights movement," said Doug Dority, UFCW International President.

In February, Shaw's management unilaterally declared that workers had no right to union representation and shredded its contract with union workers in 11 Worcester-area Shaw's stores.

Workers pay triple price for health insurance

In an attempt to drive workers away from their union, Shaw's announced that it would triple workers' cost for health insurance, increasing the workers' share of family health insurance from about $25 to $77 a week. Management attributed the increase to a switch from the existing plan to a union health plan; and, well placed rumors let it be known that if employees backed away from the union that insurance costs for workers would remain the same. In reality, the actual cost of health insurance for the company would have been lower under the union plan. There was no reason to threaten to raise the workers' cost for insurance, except to bully workers as part of the union-busting campaign.

Shaw's has also implemented unilateral changes in working conditions including a recalculation of paid holiday, sick, vacation and personal time. The changes were made retroactive so that workers were immediately charged for past holidays that had been provided under the union contract.

Workers take Sainsbury's - Shaw's to court

On May 28, 2002, the UFCW filed a class action grievance to restore lost time to any of the affected 1,700 Shaw's employees who lost time.

"The UFCW is committed to representing Shaw's workers. We will take whatever action necessary to protect their workplace rights," said Dority.

The UFCW represents more than 1600 Shaws employees at 11 stores in Central Massachuset and has made a commitment to stand by workers and restore their full rights and benefits of the union contract. UFCW Local 1445 has filed a class action grievance against Shaw's demanding that all vacation and other time off be returned to workers.