Battle Lines: Elite, RTX work their way through ongoing picketing

Elite, RTX work their way through ongoing picketing

As Teamsters continue to picket, the two companies chosen to take over Associated Wholesale Grocers' operations in Springfield are focusing on keeping groceries moving.

Martin Street, of Elite Logistics, the company chosen to take over the warehouse, said it is operating with "nothing like a full staff," right now, and it is continuing to evaluate applications and hire permanent staff to fill 450 warehouse jobs.

As of April 5, Elite had hired 330 temporary workers to work two shifts in the warehouse. The temporary workers came from three companies that specialize in providing such workers to companies like Elite. Street said Elite has received 600 applications and should be able to fill its jobs from among those candidates. Of the 600 applicants, only five were former AWG warehouse workers represented by the Teamsters union.

"We have five who are prepared to talk to us," Street said.

Elite was offering the former AWG warehouse workers $15.85 an hour to work for it, while it was offering about $12 an hour to others with no warehouse experience. Street said the company expected to fill its warehouse jobs within six weeks.

On the trucking side, Ron Petrikin, an attorney representing Refrigerated Transport Express, said the company had an adequate number of owner/operators driving its trucks, but it was continuing to talk to drivers about jobs. Petrikin said that although virtually all the drivers were from Springfield, "I don't believe any of the Teamsters are driving for us at this time."

AWG officials were encouraging their former employees to apply for the jobs available at the distribution center.

"Permanent jobs are still available here and at similar wages to what these workers were paid. We encourage our employees to apply for those jobs," said Steve Dillard, vice president of AWG.

More negotiating or no negotiating

Jim Kabell, business manager of Teamsters Local 245, said he is continuing to urge AWG leadership to come back to the bargaining table for more contract talks. Dillard said the contract has expired and the company now has a five-year contract with Elite and a contract with RTX.

"The contract with the Teamsters has expired, and that's where that remains," Dillard said.

In a written statement, AWG President Doug Carolan said the negotiations had reached an impasse, which would result in the company enacting its agreements with third-party contractors.

"It is clear now that the union leadership never took our concerns seriously. As a result, we are forced to declare the impasse. It is our hope that the union leadership can seize the opportunities presented by the impasse to start negotiating with the third-party contractors for jobs in the warehouse. This would keep current warehouse workers employed at the warehouse," Carolan said in the statement.

The union is calling what's going on a company lockout, Kabell said, while Dillard said AWG officials consider the action a work stoppage by the Teamsters. Kabell said the company "ought to come back to the table and bargain in good faith."

The union has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board of bad faith bargaining on the part of AWG, Kabell said, in hopes that the NLRB will mandate the company's return to the bargaining table.

"The NLRB is a neutral investigating board, and they have the authority to investigate this and determine whether the company should begin bargaining again, and we believe they will conclude that they should," Kabell said.

The union filed its concerns with the NLRB March 31, Kabell said.

Since the contract expired, the company has attempted to hold effects bargaining sessions with the Teamsters to discuss severance packages for the workers, but those sessions have not yet been held.

As part of those talks, the company was prepared to offer former union drivers an option to purchase the AWG trucks for $100 a month for 24 months, for a total cost of $2,400 for a truck, Dillard said.

"The union rejected that offer," he added.

Protests and handbills

The union is urging the public not to shop at area AWG stores, hoping, Kabell said, to affect the company's economics.

"We think we've got more than a fair chance of getting (AWG officials) back to the bargaining table just from the economic pressures we're placing on them. Their member stores are not going to allow this to go on, and we're asking them to stand up on their hind legs and say no to AWG. These stores are the AWG members, and they have an equal vote in what goes on; they will not allow their loss of business to continue, and we want AWG to understand that," Kabell said.

The handbilling effort "will not go away" Kabell added.

The former AWG employees are entitled to strike pay, which is approximately $200 a week per union member. Kabell said the paperwork has been filed for such payments to begin. Beyond that, Kabell said, the union is attempting to get support from the community for its members, asking for food pantries to be established and for other donations.

Keeping business running

Dillard reported that, "All deliveries are on time, and each day gets better."

Street said that although the picketing on AWG property has, at times, made it difficult for the workers there, Elite has recognized that and prioritized to get shipments ready on time. Street said the company has concerns about safety and is busing employees to work in groups.

"Tensions out here have been high, and we've been taking all the right steps to keep people safe," Street said.

Those steps also included adding security guards at the AWG center and at local hotels where temporary workers have been staying.

Petrikin said RTX has taken even more drastic steps toward safety, filing a temporary restraining order against the Teamsters April 5. The order is to be in effect until April 20.

"We are hopeful that this will send a message to the leadership of the union that things have gotten out of hand. We hope they will exert their influence to see that the violence stops," Petrikin said.

He cited incidents of rock throwing and threats, broken windshields and trucks overturned. Kabell has said repeatedly that the union does not want to be involved in violence and has urged peaceful actions on the part of union members.

Associated Wholesale Grocers

AWG is a member-owned grocery distribution cooperative that had 374 member stores in Missouri in 1999. The company has three distribution centers: in Springfield, Kansas City and Oklahoma City. The cooperative announced that it would outsource the operations in Kansas City and Springfield to save money about $43 million and to become more efficient.

The company has reported ongoing losses of member stores due to increased competition in the grocery store industry, and cited those store closures and increased competition for the need to gain efficiencies.

TheTeamsters effort

Local Teamsters leader Jim Kabell calls this the fight of his members' lives. The workers are displaced from their jobs as a result of bad faith bargaining on the part of AWG, he said, and the union is urging the company to come back to the negotiating table in good faith.

The approximately 1,200 workers who have been displaced from jobs in the Kansas City and Springfield warehouses are involved in efforts to "place an economic burden" on AWG, Kabell said, by asking the public not to shop at the area's member stores. The union members are picketing and handbilling around the clock, he said.

Background

Associated Wholesale Grocers announced Feb. 1 it would outsource its warehouse and trucking operations in Springfield and Kansas City, and four companies were chosen to take over the operations. The outsourcing was to occur if negotiations with the Teamsters failed to yield a contract. The contract expired April 1, and the outsource companies took over warehouse and trucking operations April 2.

In Springfield, Elite Logistics, a division of Tibbett & Britten, was selected to manage the warehouse, while Refrigerated Transport Express was selected for the trucking operation. RTX represents a change in the way trucking works at AWG, in that the drivers are owner-operators, contract drivers who own their own trucks, and not employees of either AWG or RTX.

When the contract expired April 1, Elite and RTX took over at the Springfield warehouse. The former employees, represented by the Teamsters union, began picketing the AWG headquarters at Highway 65 and Division and at area grocery stores served by AWG. The union is also participating in a handbilling effort at AWG member stores, asking the public not to shop at those stores.