Union commits to hold UNFI accountable for store closures and host a Resource Fair for affected workers on January 11, 2020
LANDOVER, MD (December 19, 2019) – Today, Shoppers informed employees at the White Flint Plaza store that the store will close by January 16, 2020. Today’s announcement comes shortly after the company announced plans to sell 13 locations and close four others.
Mark Federici, President of United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400, the union that represents Shoppers workers, gave the following statement in response to the announcement:
“This is the latest in a series of heartless decisions from UNFI to announce store closures in the midst of the holiday season. The hardworking men and women who put food on our tables should not have to spend the holidays worrying about how they will feed their families or where their next paycheck will come from.
UNFI has claimed that it wishes to divest from its retail operations in a “thoughtful” manner, but the company’s actions to date have shown little thought toward the employees who have made Shoppers a successful grocer for decades.
We intend to do everything in our power to hold UNFI accountable under the law and under our union contract. We will continue to make it clear that we expect our members to be taken care of in the event of their store closing, including:
- Significant severance pay
- Continuing healthcare coverage after a store closure
- Providing job search assistance and retraining
- Following our current collective bargaining agreement in any purchase agreements
“These demands are derived from the guidelines that the state of Maryland provides to employers seeking to lay off large numbers of employees in a responsible manner. There is no reason UNFI cannot follow these recommendations and assure us that every Shoppers associate is treated with dignity and respect.”
The union is hosting a Resource Fair for affected employees to provide financial assistance, community support and help with job training and placement. The event takes place on Saturday, January 11, 2020 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at UFCW Local 400 Headquarters, 8400 Corporate Drive, Suite 200, Landover, MD 20785.
The White Flint Plaza store is slated to close by January 16, 2020 and is located at 5110 Nicholson Ln, Kensington, MD 20895. The store employs around 50 union employees with an average of 15 years with the company and more than 800 years in combined experience.
UNFI previously announced plans to close or sell the following 17 other Shoppers locations:
Five Shoppers locations being sold to Compare Foods by January 2, 2020:
Shoppers #2396 – Alameda (5600 The Alameda, Baltimore, MD 21239)
Shoppers #2298 – Anchor Square (6500 Eastern Ave, Baltimore, MD 21224)
Shoppers #2343 – Colmar Manor (3831 Bladensburg Road, Colmar Manor, MD 20722)
Shoppers #2345 – Coral Hills (4801 Marlboro Pike, Capitol Heights, MD 20743)
Shoppers #2352 – King Shop (7051 Martin Luther King Jr Highway, Landover, MD 20785)
Six Shoppers locations being sold to Lidl by January 2, 2020:
Shoppers #2338 – Annapolis (2371 Solomons Island Road, Annapolis, MD 21401)
Shoppers #2295 – Brooklyn Park (5722 Ritchie Highway, Brooklyn Park, MD 21225)
Shoppers #2369 – Oxon Hill (6111 Livingston Road, Oxon Hill, MD 20745)
Shoppers #2340 – Takoma Park (6881 New Hampshire Avenue, Takoma Park, MD 20912)
Shoppers #2371 – Wheaton (2201 Randolph Road, Wheaton, MD 20902)
Shoppers #2337 – Rolling Valley (9274 Old Keene Mill Road, Burke, VA 22015)
Two Shoppers locations being sold to McKay’s on December 18, 2019:
Shoppers #2375 – Lexington Park (22599 MacArthur Boulevard, California, MD 20619)
Shoppers #2349 – Waldorf (1170 Smallwood Drive W, Waldorf, MD 20603)
Four Shoppers locations closing by end of January 2020:
Shoppers #2281 – Liberty Road (8212 Liberty Road, Baltimore, MD 21244)
Shoppers #2293 – Quarterfield (7858 Quarterfield Road, Severn, MD 21144)
Shoppers #2344 – Bull Run (10864 Sudley Manor Drive, Manassas, VA 20109)
Shoppers #2365 – Potomac Yard (3801 Richmond Highway, Alexandria, VA 22305)
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The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 represents 35,000 members working in the retail food, health care, retail department store, food processing, service and other industries in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.