Shopping at Shaw's

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

I thought some might be interested in this article re: Shaw's replacing striking workers, as many in the Davis area shop there:

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/03/24/shaws_hiring_strikers_replacements/

If you would like to contact Shaw's to tell them what you think of the situation, you can go to: http://www.shaws.com/pages/cert/contactUs.php

Comments

[trtls.livejournal.com]

Thanks for bringing this up, I saw the strikers the other day and wondered what they were picketing. I personally hate Shaw's (part of Albertson's) and this doesn't help their chances.

[blacktigr.livejournal.com]

I used to go to Shaw's every Saturday. It's really annoying to go to a different store that I don't know as well, but I am not shopping at a non-union grocery store. My (retired) union electrician father would have a hissy fit.

[ron_newman]

This particular Shaw's store has always been non-union, according to the people I talked to there.

It varies by store?

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

I had no idea...

[ron_newman]

Also: Shaw's to lay off 4 percent of store workers

We have helped cause this ourselves by using self-service checkout machines.

[tfarrell.livejournal.com]

I might shed a tear if it wasn't that I choose to use the self checkout machines because the live human cashiers are so frequently very slow and/or incompetent.

[lizzielizzie.livejournal.com]

Agreed.

Then again, I can't stand to use the self checkouts at Hannaford's stores, because they ALWAYS foul up. Without fail. And then I have to wait for a guy to come over and clear it anyway.

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

If you go the Porter Square Shaw's at around 8-9 in the morning, you get the older cashiers who have been working there forever, and they're great. I have pretty much stopped going to Shaw's, though, and I have been avoiding it since the strike began. I won't go back until it's over.

[infinitemorning.livejournal.com]

Personally, I hate self-checkouts and never use them, but apparently I'm an outlier.

[craigindaville.livejournal.com]

They (and other major chains) have caused me to only use self-checkout machines because with 20 lanes available for cashiers, usually only 4 or 5 are actually open. I never buy more than a hand-basket's worth of groceries, so it's always faster to do self-checkout.

Now, if they hired more cashiers and actually had them working, I'd use that option instead.

Not sure about that...

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

I use those machines only when there is a longish line. Which means that they should have employed more people to begin with (or at least optimizes their use).

[smoterh.livejournal.com]

Good for shaws. They called the union's bluff. I'm still gonna shop there. At least they are hiring in this economy.

[ron_newman]

Unions are there to protect the interests of the workers who belong to them. Why would you support a large rich multinational corporation in preference to its employees? And they are not hiring, they are laying people off.

[sunshineyellow.livejournal.com]

The worker's interests are not always automatically right. Unions are there to put the workers on a more equal playing field with the owners, but both sides still have to duke it out.

[smoterh.livejournal.com]

The employees voluntarily walked off the job because they felt they deserved more in terms of salary/benefits. It seems to me that they are demanding more then a market equilibrium would would dictate otherwise shaws wouldn't be hiring replacements. Apparently there are people out there that are happy to accept what Shaws is offering.

I feel that it's only fair that people can choose to shop elsewhere because they feel that shaw's is too expensive, so should Shaws be allowed to 'shop' for the employees that work for them, if the current ones demand too much.

[pjmorgan.livejournal.com]

Agreed, I was going to write something similiar but was afraid I'd be flamed because only one viewpoint is allowed in Somerville and others who don't share that view are automatically "evil".

Personally I feel that monopolies are bad, whether they be corporate monopolies (which there are laws against) or employee monopolies (which laws protect).

I feel that if an employee doesn't like their wage/conditions, they should change jobs. If an employee doesn't show up for work (eg strike) they shouldn't be surprised if they are let go. They don't own the company. Also FYI the companies are owned by real human beings, even if that happens through a corpoate ownership structure (which is necessary to diversify risk in large companies).

I use the self checkout in order to save Shaw's money and make the economy more efficient. Its not like that causes people to be unemployed-the money saved is channeled to other uses. If labor saving technology eliminated jobs forever, very few people would be working. A type of job goes away, but a new job takes its place.

[ron_newman]

Putting on my moderator hat for a minute .... all viewpoints are welcome here.

I agree with this but...

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

It's complicated. I also know that I would feel very different about this if my relatively privileged situation changed (privileged due to hard work and certain talents, let's be clear) and bad luck forced me to be stuck with one of these Shaw's jobs.

[tfarrell.livejournal.com]

I still think the best reason for not shopping at Shaws is that they seem to charge the highest prices, often for some of the least selection of fresh foods.

Seconded

[vonelftinhaus.livejournal.com]

+1
I am utterly astounded by the prices @ Shaws! Not just stuff that is unique to the store but universal stuff you can get anywhere they easily charge 50cents to $1 more

Re: Seconded

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

In my opinion, Shaws thrives on location and that's about it around here.

I want Market Basket to go into the winter hill Star Market location.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

i somehow always seem to save the most at shaw's. i've tried other places and it just doesn't cut it. maybe it's the brands i'm buying, don't know. my shaws card always treats me well though.

however, i agree the checkers do not. i actually often pick the longer lines to stand in just so i can have my items on the belt and waiting so i can watch to make sure the prices come out right as they ring them. just today (in cambridge) i bought a bag of brown-ish bananas (for banana bread) from the discount cart in the back and the guy kept trying to ring them in with the regular code. i told him 'there should be a sticker on the bottom, they're discounted' to which he replied 'oh right!' and then rang them in anyway EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS A BARCODE AND THEY COULD JUST BE SCANNED.

it was probably a 70 cent difference, but just the principle of the thing, they can't pay attention even when it makes their life easier. infuriating. i try to use the self checkout when i can but even those things are always a bitch.

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

In my experience, If you go to Shaw's and only buy what's on huge sale, you will pay less for those items. If you need specific things and aren't only buying what's on huge sale, you can wind up paying twice as much as someplace like Market Basket for the same brands and products.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

I've found that the self checkout machines refuse to scan things that have manager's special bar codes on them (things from the dented/discontinued rack, etc). Maybe that doesn't apply to old produce.

Does anyone know a good place to dumpster dive for produce?

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

yeah, generally, if i have any produce at all, for the sake of people waiting behind me i'll go to an actual person. unfortunately, this guy was just an idiot more focused on being 'wacky checkout guy' than just doing his job correctly >:|

Perhaps of further interest

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

Response from Shaw's:

Thank you for contacting us regarding our Shaw’s stores. We appreciate your interest and value your opinion. As we continue to weather the strike, we have an obligation to protect our business and the livelihoods of our other 25,000 associates in New England. That’s why we have notified the union that we are starting the process of hiring permanent replacement workers. We are extremely disappointed that it has come to this. This difficult business decision comes only after the union rebuffed our request earlier this month for a contract extension that would have allowed for continued productive negotiations. They also have voted down or otherwise dismissed two contract offers that were not only fair and reasonable, but also realistic in our current business environment. We continue to talk with a federal mediator, and the union is still able to accept the contract offer that is currently on the table, which would increase wages, provide exceptional health care, and offer excellent pension and retirement benefits.