uncharted.ca

To put an end to such practices, working people's allies to the Los Angeles City Council have passed a worker retention ordinance. Through the proposed Grocery Worker Retention Ordinance (GWRO), the City seeks to sustain the stability of a workforce that forms the cornerstones of communities in Los Angeles. GWRO request to the "incumbent grocery employer" to provide the the "successor grocery employer" (the entity operating the establishment occupation classification of all employees employed by the incumbent grocery employer at the time transfer. This list is used to effect the following retention requirements of the Ordinance:

* Retention, for a transition period of ninety days, by the successor employer of those grocery employees who have been employed by the incumbent grocery employer for at least six months.
* Upon a determination by the successor employer that fewer grocery employees are required, employer's grocery employees based on their respective seniority within job classifications.
* Employees from the incumbent grocery employer may only be terminated for cause; and
* Following the transition period, the successor employer must perform written performance evaluation for each retained grocery employee and consider offering each retained grocery employee continued employment if the employee's performance was satisfactory.

To put an end to such practices, working people's allies to the Los Angeles City Council have passed a worker retention ordinance. Through the proposed Grocery Worker Retention Ordinance (GWRO), the City seeks to sustain the stability of a workforce that forms the cornerstones of communities in Los Angeles. GWRO request to the "incumbent grocery employer" to provide the the "successor grocery employer" (the entity operating the establishment occupation classification of all employees employed by the incumbent grocery employer at the time transfer. This list is used to effect the following retention requirements of the Ordinance:

* Retention, for a transition period of ninety days, by the successor employer of those grocery employees who have been employed by the incumbent grocery employer for at least six months.
* Upon a determination by the successor employer that fewer grocery employees are required, employer's grocery employees based on their respective seniority within job classifications.
* Employees from the incumbent grocery employer may only be terminated for cause; and
* Following the transition period, the successor employer must perform written performance evaluation for each retained grocery employee and consider offering each retained grocery employee continued employment if the employee's performance was satisfactory.

Worker retention is heavily supported by local unions, and grocery workers who have been affected by a transfer in ownership have testified before the council at least twice, offering horror stories of poverty and despair following a sale. Those workers said the parent company of Albertsons is planning to close several of its unionized stores and replace them with non-union Whole Foods markets.

“I think it sends a message to the broader business community, let along food retailers, that politicians are hostile to our interests,” Larkin added.

Few contemporary nations seem more divided politically than the United States. Beyond the partisan rancor, however, polling data point to a broad consensus on core values and suggest that if the institutions of governmental and corporate power were accountable to the public will, the United States would be persuing very different policies both domestically and internationally. These institutions have been at odds for so long with core values and interests of the nation that most people have given up hope of any change. The residual frustration, however, runs high and represents a powerful latent political force. - David Korten