ACME Terminates Employee's Collective Bargaining Agreement

Acme Markets told its largest union Wednesday that it was unilaterally terminating its contract, effective April 30.

The union, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776, has scheduled a Monday meeting for its 2,700 Acme employee members to discuss options - a strike, the possibility of a lockout, or working without a contract.

"Acme is trying to avoid their responsibility [to pay into the workers' health fund] by terminating the contract," said Wendell Young 4th, who heads the union local.

The payment to the joint employer-employee fund is due May 1, Young said.

Two calls to Dan Dosenbach, Acme's vice president of human resources and labor relations, were not immediately returned.

Acme's corporate parent, the Albertsons grocery-store chain, is controlled by an investor group led by Cerberus, a New York-based private-equity firm.

Other investors include Philadelphia-based Lubert-Adler Partners, Kimco Realty Corp., Klaff Realty L.P., and Schottenstein Real Estate Group.

The investor group purchased Albertsons in a deal that closed in the spring of 2013.

Young said Acme clerks have been working under the terms of a contract that expired two years ago in February.

"Once the new company came in, they asked us to be patient," Young said. "They wanted to do a little clean up and a little fix up." Young said he agreed.

Young said the stores, which had been neglected under the previous owner, have improved and "they've had some good results but they don't want to share."

Young said that once the contract has expired, either side can withdraw from the relationship with seven days notice.

The two sides last bargained on April 21, he said. "We actually made some progress," Young said.

Local 1776 covers Acme workers in Pennsylvania.

Other UFCW locals represent workers in southern New Jersey, the shore area and Delaware.

Those three locals have already settled.

"Their circumstances are different," Young said.

Because Local 1776 represents the oldest of the chain's 112 stores, its workers are older, they have seniority and tend to be higher-paid. They also work in Southeastern Pennsylvania, where health costs are higher, he said.

Young said Acme also owes the 2013 payment to the fund.

Young said the employee meeting is tentatively set for 7 p.m. Monday at the Liacouras Center at Temple University.

Source: Philly.com