Some members of the United Food & Commercial Workers International allege their paychecks bounced.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
Some Haggen employees who are members of the United Food & Commercial Workers International have alleged their paychecks bounced in the wake of the grocer’s bankruptcy filing.
Nearly 80% of Haggen’s workers belong to a union, which is fighting to ensure employees don’t lose their jobs.
“It is quite clear that the Haggen’s management team have made some very serious strategic missteps, especially during its most recent growth,” wrote leaders of Washington’s UFCW 21 in a September 9 letter to its members in the Puget Sound area.
(SOURCE: OregonLive.com)
The grocer confirmed that some employee checks did bounce.
Haggen released the following statement: “The issue has since been resolved and associates should have no issues with cashing or depositing payroll checks at this time. There have been no issues with direct deposit. In order to help our associates, Haggen will cash payroll checks in our stores should they encounter any issues with third-party banks.”
Dan Clay, president of Portland-area UFCW Local 555, told members in a September 9 letter that union attorneys are collecting information about the filing to protect workers.
According to the Oregonian story, the president of a California local union branch wasn’t as careful with his words.
“Now they leave behind a mass of broken lives and stores, all because they couldn’t see beyond the end of their own quarterly report,” [president of UFCW 770 Rick Icaza] said.
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