We have seen a lot of underhanded attacks by union officials and their front groups to expand their forced-unionism power, but the United Food and Commercial Workers Union’s (UFCW) effort to embarrass Arizona’s Bashas’ Supermarket might hit a new low.
A group calling itself “Hungry for Respect,” funded by the UFCW, issued a report claiming the supermarket was selling expired baby formula. Of course, the group claimed that the report was in the “public interest” and had nothing to do with the fact that Bashas’ was in the midst of negotiating a contract with the union.
To their credit, Bashas’ and its employees appear to be standing tall. As their spokesman said, the union’s real motive is to pressure them into entering a labor contract without conducting a vote among its workforce (remember the Card Check Bill Big Labor is pushing in Congress). He pointed to other grocery store chains, such as Food Lion, which a UFCW-affiliated group accused of selling outdated formula at stores in Virginia in 1995 — allegations that later proved to be trumped up by the union and their front groups. He also said the union’s long-term strategy is to chip away at Arizona’s Right to Work Law.
Bashas’ is said to be ready to take the union head-on, and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in marketing and advertising to combat UFCW’s message.
Arizona readers take note. Bashas’ appears to be one company that won’t take union intimidation targeting their employees and customers lying down.