MESA, Ariz. – An administrative judge has ruled that grocery store operator Bashas' violated the federal Labor Relations Act by not consulting with a union on workplace changes and withdrawing its recognition of the union.
The ruling by a National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge found that the Chandler-based grocer did not negotiate with members of the United Food and Commercial Workers union before installing self-serve checkout stations in unionized stores and didn't consult with the union before closing two stores, including one in Apache Junction.
The ruling issued last week by Judge William G. Kocol affects only nine stores previously owned by ABCO Foods or ASI grocery stores which were unionized at the time Bashas' bought them. Workers in other Bashas stores are non-union.
Jim McLaughlin, president of UFCW Local 99, said the ruling makes it clear that employees at the affected stores are still represented by the union.
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Bashas representatives contend they won the key fight because Kocol threw out a union charge that the company should have negotiated changes to a health plan that had required the grocer to pay part of workers' premiums. The judge ruled the union missed a filing deadline to raise that issue.
"They've lost what they really wanted to win," said Larry Katz, an attorney representing the company.
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