supermarkets
News and articles about work, policy and workers' struggles in retail and the food industry around the world.
Grampian foods workers on strike tomorrow
The T&G union has confirmed that around 1,000 workers at Grampian foods will be on strike tomorrow around the country.
The strike will be about half the number of workers who originally voted to strike and a week late, as reported by libcom two weeks ago, this is due to the T&G entering negotiations at several sites across the UK.
Grampian foods workers to strike
Workers at several Grampian foods processing plants will go on strike on Tuesday in a row over pay.
Around 2,000 workers will be involved in the strike at plants across the UK including Perthshire, Edinburgh, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Essex, Somerset and Wales. 24-hour strikes were also held at sites in Sandycroft, Flintshire (site of the recent airbus wildcats), and Llangefni in October over the same issue.
Iceland workers to strike over Christmas
365 workers at the Iceland distribution depot in North London will begin a series of one and two day strikes starting on the 8th December.
The workers are formally emplyed by DHL, but any pay increases have to be first authorised by Iceland according to the T&G union. The depot, which employs 250 warehouse operatives and 115 drivers supplies food to 180 Iceland stores in London, the South East and East Anglia. The T&G expects the strike to affect stocks in Iceland stores during the run up to Christmas.
Walmart workers walk out on wildcat
Workers at a Wal-Mart in Florida went out on wildcat earlier this week over scheduling arrangements. According to both workers and the company, this is the first such action against the company ever to occur in the US.
Around 200 workers, or close to the entire shift, walked out of the store in Hialeah Gardens at 9am Monday.
NZ: Trolley jam in support of locked out supermarket workers
A number of customers blocked aisles in a New Zealand supermarket yesterday in support of locked out employees.
Customers filled shopping trolleys with goods then used them to block the aisles of the Foodtown Tauranga supermarket. Each trolley included a message of support for the locked out workers.
2003-2004: Los Angeles supermarket strike
The history of a huge five-month strike and lockout of 70,000 supermarket workers in California, which ended in defeat.
The walkout was against cuts in benefits, and run almost entirely by union leaderships. While the supermarkets lost $2.5bn in profits, they succeeded in beating the strike and imposing the cuts.
Notes on Another Defeat for Workers in the US
Every little hurts - supermarket power in Britain
Richard Griffin explores the power of the supermarkets and finds a rapacious monster at our doors
Sittingbourne in Kent is not famous for much. It does though claim to have the longest High Street in Britain. If you had walked along it forty years ago you would have passed four fish mongers, seven butchers including a specialist pork one, no less than nine green grocers, four bakers and not a single supermarket (the first one arrived in the mid 1970s).
Spain: Mercadona supermarket strike
Workers at the logistics centre in Sant Sadurni d'Anoia, Barcelona of the Spanish Supermarket chain Mercadona are entering the fourth month of their indefinite strike.
The strike is organised by the CNT anarcho-syndicalist trade union.
Mercadona, whose slogan translates as "supermarkets of trust", is Spain's biggest national supermarket chain by sales, with 990 outlets across the country and 54,000 workers. The company likes to pride itself on its claim that 100% of its staff have permanent contracts.
Spain: Supermarket strike in Barcelona to enter second month
This Saturday the 22nd of April will mark the end of the first month of an indefinite strike in Barcelona by workers at the Sant Sadurni d'Anoia logistics centre for the major Spanish Supermarket chain Mercadona.
The dispute began with the sacking of three members of the anarcho-syndicalist union the CNT working at the centre, the culmination of a campaign of threats by the company against workers unionising at the centre. Even before a strike was declared the company brought in scab workers, attempting to preempt the actions of their own employees.
Asda distribution depots set to strike
Workers at Asda distribution depots across the UK are set to strike.
The GMB union is balloting thousands of members in the company's 19 distribution depots which supply the entire supermarket depot, after talks over a dispute at the Dartford depot broke down late last week.
