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Post Info TOPIC: Dropping the Union?
Anonymous

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Dropping the Union?
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Our store mgr got back from a meeting he and others spent the week at and one of the things they talked about was dropping the Union.  Has anyone else heard about this?  I know our union kinda sucks but i would be more scared not having one at all and being walked all over by managment.



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Well, I have to be honest! The Union is good for employees by making the managers have to go through proper procedures to fire some one, buuuutttttt! The Union is bad cause there are lazy employees. These lazy employees are only lazy because of the union. I don't want to see employees lose their job, but if your not doing your job, then you shouldn't be working. Just a few days ago I dealt with 2 people who have been working with Kroger for 25 + years. They both do nothing but bark orders. Neither of them are Leads or management, but they think they don't have to do anything because they've worked there for so long. They are both around my age and both of them excuse for not lifting was they were too old and have worked for Kroger so long. They had me do the lifting. These were 50-70lb boxes of raw chicken. I lifted them, put them on the cart, drug 500 lb or more from the back to the Deli (twice), then lifted them again and put them away. Let me remind you, I'm around the same age as them and neither of them could do it nor could the 2 that were younger than me. This is all because of the UNION. So I don't care if they get rid of the Union. I'm not worried about losing my job, because I work!!!



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Anonymous

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I agree it would be good as far as being able to fire lazy people.  There are some people that need to go but I am more worried despite culling the bad fruit from the tree that I'll still lose out on benefits.  I can barely afford to set aside for a 401k. I like that we get a pension. I know people in the pharmacy and the most they get is a 3% to 5% match on their stock and they don't get paid as much as they could at CVS and other pharmacies.  The other thing is what stops them from deciding to make department heads salary based? How many are gonna get stuck working 10 to 12 hour days for that or work 6 days for the same pay.  Maybe they will pay them more but they're gonna wind up living there.   I wouldn't be guaranteed any breaks.  I do good work for our company. They like me but even now I've been taken advantage of and made to work where others wouldn't or scheduled to work where they had no one to work that they could depend on.  Then again, being able to fire them could fix it and maybe I wouldn't suffer for it anymore. It's just 15 years in I feel invested and it worried me we would all take a hit both compensation and benefit wise.



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Anonymous

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There's a lot wrong with the union that represents Kroger employees. A lot. By no means is it the kind of union that we need or deserve and the union certainly doesn't hold dear the core principles that unions are supposed to be based upon. That being said...

Do you really want management to have the ability to fire you on the spot? Even if you are a great worker that puts forth the effort everyday to get things done... all it takes is one manager that is having a bad day to take out his/her frustrations on you and/or use you as a scapegoat for a department's troubles. If you think just because you show up everyday and give (what you believe to be) 100% that you have nothing to worry about at a non-union Kroger, then you are putting far, far, far too much faith in people - not just management, but your co-workers too, who could make up all sorts of stuff up and try to get management to can you if they don't like you - for whatever reason.

Do you really want to rely on the "kindness" of Kroger corporate for stuff like paid time off in the form of vacation/personal days? What about breaks? How about overtime pay? Do you really want to depend on the "generosity" of Kroger corporate for regular pay raises? Yeah, you may argue that none of that stuff is very good now under the union, but considering how Kroger is as a company, do you honestly think Kroger would suddenly be that more generous if the union was gone tomorrow? 

We all complain about the union and rightfully so - the union has failed us in a number of ways. However, if you think the solution is to dump the union and let Kroger call every single shot, then you're going to have a heck of a lot more to complain about down the line (you just better not do it at the store while on the clock, otherwise a manager may just come along and tell you to clock out, go home, and not come back).



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Anonymous wrote:

There's a lot wrong with the union that represents Kroger employees. A lot. By no means is it the kind of union that we need or deserve and the union certainly doesn't hold dear the core principles that unions are supposed to be based upon. That being said...

Do you really want management to have the ability to fire you on the spot? Even if you are a great worker that puts forth the effort everyday to get things done... all it takes is one manager that is having a bad day to take out his/her frustrations on you and/or use you as a scapegoat for a department's troubles. If you think just because you show up everyday and give (what you believe to be) 100% that you have nothing to worry about at a non-union Kroger, then you are putting far, far, far too much faith in people - not just management, but your co-workers too, who could make up all sorts of stuff up and try to get management to can you if they don't like you - for whatever reason.

Do you really want to rely on the "kindness" of Kroger corporate for stuff like paid time off in the form of vacation/personal days? What about breaks? How about overtime pay? Do you really want to depend on the "generosity" of Kroger corporate for regular pay raises? Yeah, you may argue that none of that stuff is very good now under the union, but considering how Kroger is as a company, do you honestly think Kroger would suddenly be that more generous if the union was gone tomorrow? 

We all complain about the union and rightfully so - the union has failed us in a number of ways. However, if you think the solution is to dump the union and let Kroger call every single shot, then you're going to have a heck of a lot more to complain about down the line (you just better not do it at the store while on the clock, otherwise a manager may just come along and tell you to clock out, go home, and not come back).


        If the Union backed up the hard workers I would say keep it, but they don't. They back up the lazy ones, this is wrong. We just lost 2 hard workers in 1 week and we still have the ones who do nothing. This is why the Union isn't good. 



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Get to your department, get off your phone, and do your job! 

Anonymous

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^Again, you're putting an awful lot of faith in your fellow co-workers and management if you think non-union is the way to go. It may very well be true that you and some others at your store are hard workers, but there's no guarantee you and the others are going to viewed as the hard workers you are in the eyes of everyone at your store.



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Guru

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I hope this never happens, unions aren't perfect by any means but not having a union would be worse. People think working for walmart is so great because the higher pay, but they don't treat their workers any better. At least we get to fight back, they can't.

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You know I always hear these "You can get fired for NO REASON!" Horror stories regarding Kroger or retail in general, but I have yet to actually see it happen, and usually when I hear half-stories about it online, it sounds like the individual did somethings to bring it on themselves that they're leaving out or editing to make them sound sympathetic.

Even with employees in probationary period where, supposedly, they have zero rights and really CAN get fired for any dumb reason, the ones that don't make it past 45 days repeatedly sh** the bed, time and time and time again.

Union, or no Union, low wage retail jobs are gonna have more wiggle room for errors than higher-paying "skilled" jobs.

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Anonymous

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From my understanding only the employees can decertify a union by voting on whether to still have a union but yes Kroger could try and bust the union. I know the union are not like they used to be but the only reason that we can have breaks insurance, pensions, etc. is because of a union. Kroger would treat you like crap if we were non union. Kroger would get rid of people that they do not like in a heartbeat. If co workers told lies on you you would not have any way to fight those charges you would be fired right then. Before you wish for something think before about it or  it could come true and you would not be happy at all. 



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Anonymous

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Every store manager in the country that operates a million dollar store went to that meeting. Just another way of kroger micromanaging store managers implementing their stupid fresh and friendly bs on us and exploiting the workers to doing more work. I guarantee u if the union was non existent at kroger all dept heads woukd be salaried prob 35 to 40k a year working 10 hour days 5 or 6 days a week oh and if comany is coming expect to work a 12 hour shift then come back the next day with a smile on your face.



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Anonymous

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Anonymous wrote:

Every store manager in the country that operates a million dollar store went to that meeting. Just another way of kroger micromanaging store managers implementing their stupid fresh and friendly bs on us and exploiting the workers to doing more work. I guarantee u if the union was non existent at kroger all dept heads woukd be salaried prob 35 to 40k a year working 10 hour days 5 or 6 days a week oh and if comany is coming expect to work a 12 hour shift then come back the next day with a smile on your face.


So that's where my store manager was. And here, I thought he was on vacation! But yeah, it doesn't surprise me. Rather than gather the store managers to discuss ways of improving operations within Kroger stores for the better of all (you know, the company, the customers... the employees...), instead Kroger spent who knows how much money to transport/feed/whatever the store managers and other higher-ups to discuss how to deal (rather than work with) the union and ways of putting even more work on the backs of employees without compensating them accordingly. That's just how this company operates... and that's why conditions are as bad as they are in stores and only getting worse.



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Anonymous

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myopinion wrote:

Well, I have to be honest! The Union is good for employees by making the managers have to go through proper procedures to fire some one, buuuutttttt! The Union is bad cause there are lazy employees. These lazy employees are only lazy because of the union. I don't want to see employees lose their job, but if your not doing your job, then you shouldn't be working. Just a few days ago I dealt with 2 people who have been working with Kroger for 25 + years. They both do nothing but bark orders. Neither of them are Leads or management, but they think they don't have to do anything because they've worked there for so long. They are both around my age and both of them excuse for not lifting was they were too old and have worked for Kroger so long. They had me do the lifting. These were 50-70lb boxes of raw chicken. I lifted them, put them on the cart, drug 500 lb or more from the back to the Deli (twice), then lifted them again and put them away. Let me remind you, I'm around the same age as them and neither of them could do it nor could the 2 that were younger than me. This is all because of the UNION. So I don't care if they get rid of the Union. I'm not worried about losing my job, because I work!!!


 I agree with most of what you said, but the union also keeps my job at 22$ a hour. Meanwhile people in other districts are making literally half of what I make for my job. 

Its a necessary evil. Remember if Kroger's says it, or wants it, there is a 100% chance it will hurt employees and a 100% chance it will hurt customers.



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Anonymous wrote:

From my understanding only the employees can decertify a union by voting on whether to still have a union but yes Kroger could try and bust the union. I know the union are not like they used to be but the only reason that we can have breaks insurance, pensions, etc. is because of a union. Kroger would treat you like crap if we were non union. Kroger would get rid of people that they do not like in a heartbeat. If co workers told lies on you you would not have any way to fight those charges you would be fired right then. Before you wish for something think before about it or  it could come true and you would not be happy at all. 


        Kroger treats me like crap anyway! Yes, they'd be able to fire me just because they wanted to without the Union, but let them. I'd find me another job somewhere else. If they were to come up to me today and say I was fired I would just hand them my name tag, clock out and leave. Union doesn't do me any favors. Union backs up those who have worked at Kroger for years. Union allows those employees to be lazy and do nothing. That doesn't help me. That puts more stress on me and makes my work days worse. 



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Get to your department, get off your phone, and do your job! 

Anonymous

Date:
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myopinion wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

From my understanding only the employees can decertify a union by voting on whether to still have a union but yes Kroger could try and bust the union. I know the union are not like they used to be but the only reason that we can have breaks insurance, pensions, etc. is because of a union. Kroger would treat you like crap if we were non union. Kroger would get rid of people that they do not like in a heartbeat. If co workers told lies on you you would not have any way to fight those charges you would be fired right then. Before you wish for something think before about it or  it could come true and you would not be happy at all. 


        Kroger treats me like crap anyway! Yes, they'd be able to fire me just because they wanted to without the Union, but let them. I'd find me another job somewhere else. If they were to come up to me today and say I was fired I would just hand them my name tag, clock out and leave. Union doesn't do me any favors. Union backs up those who have worked at Kroger for years. Union allows those employees to be lazy and do nothing. That doesn't help me. That puts more stress on me and makes my work days worse. 


With the union, you have job security. You might be okay with a manager coming up to you and firing you on the spot, but plenty of us like not having to worry about being out of a job (and having no income) all of a sudden. Being out of a job doesn't mean the bills stop coning. I've already said the union has its problems and drawbacks, but it's better than nothing. 

Maybe you need to change departments/stores if you're in such a bad work environment. It's what I did and I haven't regretted my decision in the slightest.



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Senior Member

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Anonymous wrote:
myopinion wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

From my understanding only the employees can decertify a union by voting on whether to still have a union but yes Kroger could try and bust the union. I know the union are not like they used to be but the only reason that we can have breaks insurance, pensions, etc. is because of a union. Kroger would treat you like crap if we were non union. Kroger would get rid of people that they do not like in a heartbeat. If co workers told lies on you you would not have any way to fight those charges you would be fired right then. Before you wish for something think before about it or  it could come true and you would not be happy at all. 


        Kroger treats me like crap anyway! Yes, they'd be able to fire me just because they wanted to without the Union, but let them. I'd find me another job somewhere else. If they were to come up to me today and say I was fired I would just hand them my name tag, clock out and leave. Union doesn't do me any favors. Union backs up those who have worked at Kroger for years. Union allows those employees to be lazy and do nothing. That doesn't help me. That puts more stress on me and makes my work days worse. 


With the union, you have job security. You might be okay with a manager coming up to you and firing you on the spot, but plenty of us like not having to worry about being out of a job (and having no income) all of a sudden. Being out of a job doesn't mean the bills stop coning. I've already said the union has its problems and drawbacks, but it's better than nothing. 

Maybe you need to change departments/stores if you're in such a bad work environment. It's what I did and I haven't regretted my decision in the slightest.


   I've been trying to do both, but they keep promising me a promotion 'Lead'. According to my Union contract, I still have 5 months until I can make a transfer request or the other store has to be closer to me. Another way is managers to agree on the transfer. The manager at the store I'm at, won't agree to it and both stores are about the same distance from my house. I have also been told I could put in my 2 weeks notice, then apply at the other store. According to the Union if I put in my notice Kroger can put me on the 'Do not rehire' list. All mishaps of the Union. Like I said, They don't do me any favors. 



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Get to your department, get off your phone, and do your job! 

Anonymous

Date:
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Anonymous wrote:
myopinion wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

From my understanding only the employees can decertify a union by voting on whether to still have a union but yes Kroger could try and bust the union. I know the union are not like they used to be but the only reason that we can have breaks insurance, pensions, etc. is because of a union. Kroger would treat you like crap if we were non union. Kroger would get rid of people that they do not like in a heartbeat. If co workers told lies on you you would not have any way to fight those charges you would be fired right then. Before you wish for something think before about it or  it could come true and you would not be happy at all. 


        Kroger treats me like crap anyway! Yes, they'd be able to fire me just because they wanted to without the Union, but let them. I'd find me another job somewhere else. If they were to come up to me today and say I was fired I would just hand them my name tag, clock out and leave. Union doesn't do me any favors. Union backs up those who have worked at Kroger for years. Union allows those employees to be lazy and do nothing. That doesn't help me. That puts more stress on me and makes my work days worse. 


With the union, you have job security. You might be okay with a manager coming up to you and firing you on the spot, but plenty of us like not having to worry about being out of a job (and having no income) all of a sudden. Being out of a job doesn't mean the bills stop coning. I've already said the union has its problems and drawbacks, but it's better than nothing. 

Maybe you need to change departments/stores if you're in such a bad work environment. It's what I did and I haven't regretted my decision in the slightest.


 

What department you come from?



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Is this a regional thing or a company wide thing? If it is company wide I am worried, the two managers at my store, one in particular are bad enough as it is WITH the union, I cant imagine how it would be if there wasnt one. Our union is good, they are proactive and I have actually seen reps visit the store several times since I was hired back in Feb. It would really suck for two of these managers to have the power to fire people on the spot.



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Guru

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. . . only the employees can decertify a union by voting on whether to still have a union . . .

Correct answer.



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